Our stories
Coastal wetlands have provided humanity with a wide range of benefits and life-enhancing qualities since the dawn of time. But now they’re disappearing at an alarming rate.
Our stories showcase Mediterranean coastal wetlands, the people who protect them, and the challenges they face.
Help us to preserve and restore Mediterranean wetlands – Become one of the MedWetland Watchers
Screenshot of the home page of the ''MedWetland Watchers'' appHelp us to preserve and restore Mediterranean wetlands - Become one of the MedWetland Watchers Coastal wetlands offer unique nature-based solutions to some of our most pressing challenges, and can benefit...
Help us to preserve and restore Mediterranean wetlands – Become one of the MedWetland Watchers
Since 2017, a coalition of conservation bodies – ‘MedIsWet’ – have been on a mission. It’s their aim to raise awareness of the particular importance of wetlands on Mediterranean islands, and drive regional efforts to save them.
So why are island wetlands special?
Read our stories
Help us to preserve and restore Mediterranean wetlands – Become one of the MedWetland Watchers
Since 2017, a coalition of conservation bodies – ‘MedIsWet’ – have been on a mission. It’s their aim to raise awareness of the particular importance of wetlands on Mediterranean islands, and drive regional efforts to save them.
So why are island wetlands special?
Past, present and future: Mediterranean wetlands in everyday life
Ghar el Melh is among Tunisia’s most precious coastal heritage. It was the first North African and Middle Eastern city to receive Ramsar’s Wetland City Accreditation Award, in recognition of its formal engagement in efforts to support wetland protection and sustainability, and the area is drawing increasing numbers of visitors as it becomes better known.
Ghar El Melh: pêche, agriculture et tourisme… le défi !
Ghar El Melh incarne un potentiel conséquent dans divers secteurs socio-économiques. En effet, l’agriculture, la pêche et le tourisme représentent trois activités fortement ancrées dans la région.
Ghar El Melh, un joyau à polir …
Ghar El Melh, une région côtière au nord-est de la Tunisie, se situe à une cinquantaine de kilomètres de Tunis. Région, car Ghar El Melh n’est ni une ville, ni un village. Ghar El Melh est d’une rare richesse qui se décline en une histoire atypique, un écosystème d’une diversité particulière, des métiers pérennisés et transmis et des traditions cultivées et nourries.
The Buna River delta: working together for a more sustainable future
In terms of their ecological value, the wetlands in Albania’s Buna River delta are seen as the most important in the Eastern Mediterranean. From its coastal dunes to its forests and low karst ridges the area contains a wide diversity of geological types…
Island wetlands: 14,000 reasons for action
Since 2017, a coalition of conservation bodies – ‘MedIsWet’ – have been on a mission. It’s their aim to raise awareness of the particular importance of wetlands on Mediterranean islands, and drive regional efforts to save them.
So why are island wetlands special?
The drones of Oristano
From above, the drone commands a view of the Gulf of Oristano, Sardinia, the blue sea bounding the yellow, green and brown fields of May, tractors moving slowly along the tracks and the rectangle of young corn below. The small humming spot settles, then begins to make regular zigzags across the rectangle of the crop.
Saving the Salina
Do you know what connects an artisanal table condiment, 250 species of birds, and a Balkan state’s application to join the European Union?
Not many people would respond ‘an artificial wetland’, but that’s the surprising answer. Specifically, we’re talking about the salt pans at Ulcinj, Montenegro – and we’ll explain the connection in a moment.
Ulcinj Salina, important bird habitat in Montenegro, was registered as state property
The salt pans in the south of Montenegro have been entered into the cadastre of the city of Ulcinj as state-owned land. This finally settles the question of ownership, which has been a long lasting dispute with the salina‘s insolvency administration.
Ghar El Melh, pour un tourisme responsable, inclusif et durable
Ghar El Melh offre chaque année à des milliers de vacanciers un cadre fort agréable. Mais au-delà de cette image idyllique, la lecture de la situation touristique aboutit à un état des lieux assez alarmant.
Hear the stories of our Mediterranean Wetlanders
Here you can find the powerful and moving stories from Wetlanders who share their links with wetlands, and their experiences and actions to preserve those ecosystems of high ecological value.
Why you should care about wetlands
Mediterranean Wetlands are vanishing, and we need them in order to survive.
Help us #RestoreNature and wetlands today!
2021: it’s now or never for Mediterranean wetlands
Why is it so important to protect island wetlands?
Island wetlands provide invaluable services right across the basin. They store and purify the water island communities need to survive, and they produce fish, food, salt, reeds and other economic materials. They cool hot summer air. In terms of biodiversity, island wetlands provide unique habitats for endemic and endangered species, as well as hosting some of the most important sites for birds in the whole of the Mediterranean, both native and migratory.
I Bless the Rains Down in Africa
Earth Day 2020: Wetlands, Earth’s key to Fighting Climate Change
Since 1970, Earth Day has created a symbolic opportunity for all of us to remember how important it is to make sure we take care of the planet and its resources. The 2020 edition will focus on climate action. Climate change represents the biggest challenge to the future of humanity and the life-support systems that make our world habitable.
Too Much of a Good Thing? Wetlands and Nutrients
Read the article also in FR | AR
Not only do wetlands serve as a nature-based solution for the accelerating devastation caused by the climate emergency, but they also provide a filtering and cleansing function, similar to the human kidney, for our water that is more and more polluted by modern agriculture’s excessive dependence on chemical fertilisers. Our water is also increasingly degraded by urban development and the often untreated waste and pollution that results.
The Ancestral Wetlands of Ghar El Melh: Feeding the Mind, Body and Soul
The Ancestral Wetlands of Ghar El Melh: Feeding the Mind, Body and Soul Have you ever taken a bite from a fresh tomato grown by a traditional farmer in Tunisia’s Ghar El Melh wetlands? It’s a delight for the palate – but it’s so much more than that. Behind this...
‘Amicus Certus in re Incerta Cernitur’ – a Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed
Read the article also in FR
Wetlands offer holistic contributions to addressing the planetary crises through their various intrinsic functions and attributes – what scientists, and increasingly much of the concerned public, are now calling Nature-based Solutions, or NbS in our acronym-crazed world!
Danilo: the Fisherman of Cabras
“In the old times fishing began in September, now we start in March. Everything has been intensively exploited for decades, and we are now paying the consequences. The rain is irregular, the reeds die and some species become extinct because of the exceeding salinity of the water”, explains Danilo, a fisherman in Oristano. “We do our best. We respect the fish while it grows, we take care of the lagoon, it’s our home, but it is a bigger problem than us, and despite the subsidies we barely survive.”
One Flew Over a Flamingo’s Nest
As Europe plots the elements of the EU Green Deal, its specifics due out in 100 days, March 2020, and the Climate COP ends in Madrid, Off Your Map reminds our leaders that wetlands play a critical role in addressing both our biodiversity & climate crises.
Stormy Weather
In coming decades the climate crisis will cause a rise in the frequency of catastrophic natural events. For the nearly 180 million people living in the Mediterranean coastal area, from Barcelona to Cairo, this means surviving an increasing number of extreme storms and flooding, and counter-intuitively longer-lasting droughts and less overall rainfall.
Coast Day 2019
Each year on 25 September, Mediterranean countries celebrate ‘Coast Day’: this celebrates the importance of coastal areas as natural, cultural and socio-economic resources that contribute to sustainable development.
Breaking News: Amazing victory for Montenegro’s bird paradise!
Read the article also in FR | AR
At long last, the salt pans of Ulcinj Salina have been declared a national protected area! For the past 15 years, the Center for Protection and Research of Birds of Montenegro (CZIP), partner of BirdLife, has fought tirelessly to block a controversial building development poised to destroy one of Europe’s most important migratory bird resting and breeding sites.