Solutions

The Bêche River is a tributary of the Amblève catchment, situated in the Haute Ardennes. The region was once characterised by the abundance of high-value moor habitats, that were perceived as poor or marginal land. In a context of forest loss and sinking profits from peat cutting, national policies incentivised the draining of moorlands and bogs, so the land could be dedicated to more profitable uses, namely forestry and wood production. As a result, large areas of moorland were replaced with spruce forests. Read more

Recently, a project adopted by the Italian government at the initiative of WWF and ANEPLA aims to involve more than 80 municipalities in restoration measures in in 37 sites, including restoring 1,500 hectares of wetland. Read more

Plans to construct multiple dams and hydropower plants along the Vjosa River and its tributaries threatened one of the best-preserved wetlands in Europe. These projects would have altered the river's free-flowing nature, disrupted its unique ecosystems, and impacted the livelihoods of local communities dependent on its natural resources. Read more

The Danube has a long-standing tradition of transboundary cooperation, which has evolved from the first agreements relating to navigation to a growing interest in the preservation of water quality and the environment. With rising interest in environmental protection, in 1994 eleven riparian States signed the Danube River Protection Convention resulting in the creation of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River. Read more

The restoration of the Peene Valley is one of the biggest and most ambitious projects to restore wetlands across Europe. This valley represents one of the largest contiguous fen areas in Central Europe. Peat extraction, wetland draining and polderisation during the times of the German Democratic Republic had caused severe degradation of the original floodplain-mire system. Read more

The De Weerribben and De Wiede National Park in the Netherlands is home to the largest fen-peatland system in North-western Europe. For centuries, this biodiversity-rich landscape was shaped by a combination of human activities, especially peat cutting for fuel. As the profitability of peat cutting declined, the local economy shifted towards other activities such as reed cutting, which required careful water-level management and prevented natural succession of peatlands to woodlands. Read more

A 17 km stretch of the river was re-meandered to restore natural floodplain connectivity. This intervention aimed to reduce flooding risks in downstream areas and improve water quality by decreasing stormwater overflows and diffuse pollution. Read more

In 2000, an Agreement was reached between the Greek, Macedonian and Albanian governments to create the Prespa Park, the first transboundary protected area in the Balkans. The Agreement committed the countries to establish permanent structures for collaboration Read more

These pilot actions led to the establishment of a Standard for certifying for blue carbon projects (for seagrass meadows and tidal marshes) in the region of Andalusia. Two areas of degraded marshland (tidal marshes) were restored in the Bay of Cádiz, covering 365 hectares in total. Read more