Climate change is driving more frequent and severe floods, droughts, and storms; yet our budgets still focus on recovery after disaster, not prevention. This year’s theme for the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR), “Fund Resilience, Not Disasters,” reminds us that we must shift our priorities from crisis response to crisis prevention. 

Wetlands are nature’s first responders. They soak up floodwaters, replenish aquifers, protect shorelines, and shield communities from storms and droughts. But when drained, paved, or polluted, their loss magnifies disasters, turning what should be natural buffers into sources of vulnerability. Investing in wetlands is one of the most effective, affordable, and proven ways to reduce disaster risk. It is an insurance policy. They are natural infrastructure that pays back many times over in avoided damage, restored biodiversity, and stronger local economies. 

Reconnecting the Latorica River Floodplain 

At the border of Slovakia and Ukraine, the Latorica River once meandered through a vast floodplain. Over the decades, drainage and dikes transformed it into a confined channel, turning floods into droughts. Without wetlands to hold winter water, soils dry out earlier, crops suffer, and groundwater levels drop. In 2024, Wetlands International Europe and partners launched the “Reconnecting the Latorica River Floodplain” project, supported by the Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme. Despite working in a transboundary and war-affected area, progress has been remarkable. A joint Slovak-Ukrainian steering committee now coordinates efforts to re-meander the river, restore floodplains, and revive local livelihoods. Once complete, the project will reduce downstream flood risks, recharge groundwater, and regenerate biodiversity, demonstrating that wetland restoration can also serve as a peacebuilding initiative. This initiative embodies what “funding resilience” means in practice: investing in nature and cooperation rather than rebuilding after disaster. 

Sponge Solutions in Toledo, Spain 

After devastating floods in 2023, experts in Toledo, Spain looked for long-term solutions. Wetlands International Europe and its member CIREF produced a rapid assessment showing that degraded catchments could be redesigned as “sponge landscapes”, restoring wetlands, meanders, and ponds to retain rainwater during storms and slowly release it in dry months. The results inspired further investment. By 2024, Toledo had become a demonstration site under the EU-funded Horizon project SpongeBoost, testing large-scale water retention measures across Europe. In parallel, Spanish partners, supported by Suntory Beverage & Food Spain, identified concrete sites to implement natural sponges that would protect villages, stabilize groundwater, and replenish rivers. These “living infrastructures” cost less than concrete flood defences and provide co-benefits: cleaner water, cooler microclimates, and thriving biodiversity. Across Europe, the sponge approach is now gaining political traction, with calls for an EU Water Resilience Strategy and an “EU Sponges Facility” to fund similar measures continent-wide. 

Restoring Peatlands & Promoting Paludiculture 

Wetlands are not only about rivers and coasts. Europe’s peatlands (bogs and fens) are another quiet powerhouse of resilience. They store nearly a third of the world’s soil carbon, act as water regulators, and buffer communities from both floods and fires. But when drained, they emit carbon and lose their capacity to absorb water, turning from allies into amplifiers of disaster. Through years of advocacy, Wetlands International Europe helped ensure that peatland restoration and paludiculture, farming on rewetted peatlands, are now part of the EU Nature Restoration Regulation and the Carbon Removal Certification Framework. This means peatlands can now receive EU funding for climate and disaster resilience. 

Projects like PaluWise, launched in 2025, are demonstrating how farmers can transition to wet crops such as reeds and sphagnum moss. These water-tolerant plants allow agriculture to continue on re-wetted soils, cutting emissions while restoring flood protection. As we like to say: farming wet helps us stay dry. 

MYRIAD-EU: Tackling Systemic Risks with Nature-Based Solutions 

Disasters don’t occur in isolation. Floods trigger energy outages, droughts affect food systems, and cascading risks ripple across societies. The MYRIAD-EU Horizon project, in which Wetlands International Europe participates, is helping Europe understand and manage these interconnected risks. 

By integrating wetland restoration into multi-risk scenarios, from flood control to heat stress reduction, MYRIAD-EU demonstrates how nature-based solutions enhance resilience across various sectors. Whether protecting food systems in Spain, energy infrastructure in the Netherlands, or communities in Eastern Europe, wetlands emerge as a unifying solution for addressing complex risk management challenges. This systems-thinking approach strengthens the case for wetlands as essential infrastructure, not just for ecology, but for Europe’s economy, security, and social well-being. 

Beyond Europe: Investing in Wetlands for Global Resilience 

Europe’s responsibility and opportunity go beyond its borders. Through the Global Europe Programme, Wetlands International Europe is helping the EU bring the same nature-based vision to its external action. From the Pantanal wetlands of Brazil and Paraguay to the High Andean salt flats threatened by lithium mining, the Inner Niger Delta in Mali, and the mangrove coastlines of Indonesia, wetlands are the foundation of resilience, sustaining water systems, buffering climate extremes, and supporting peace and stability. The EU Wetland Partnerships Initiative, championed by Wetlands International Europe, calls for the EU to make wetlands a Global Gateway flagship, aligning climate, biodiversity, and development finance. 

These partnerships would connect EU leadership, investment, and local action to accelerate wetland restoration and strengthen the resilience of communities and ecosystems in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. By investing in wetlands abroad, the EU helps secure global water cycles, stabilise the climate, and reduce disaster risks, demonstrating that building resilience beyond Europe’s borders also reinforces resilience at home. 

Investing in Wetlands: A Path Forward 

These stories, from the Latorica floodplain to Toledo’s sponges, to Europe’s peat bogs, and beyond, highlight how investing in wetlands is also investing in resilience. Unlike grey infrastructure, which ages and can fail, healthy wetlands are self-sustaining; they adapt and strengthen over time. Moreover, the returns are enormous. In other words, money spent today to fund wetland projects will save far more in avoided disaster losses tomorrow. 

The 2025 IDDRR theme “Fund Resilience, Not Disasters” calls for exactly this shift. It urges policymakers, donors, and development agencies to redirect funds toward prevention. We must heed this call by prioritizing wetlands. Practically, this means: 

· Policy integration: Ensure wetlands are central in DRR and climate strategies. We urge governments to embed wetland restoration goals in national climate plans, water management programs and infrastructure budgets. 

· Financial incentives: Create funding streams for wetland projects. This could be public grants, carbon payments for peatlands, or agri-environment subsidies for wetland farming (paludiculture). The EU’s CRCF is a great start, but support is also needed at national and local levels. Development banks and climate funds should earmark more resources for wetland conservation, just as they do for dams or seawalls. 

· On-the-ground projects: Scale up proven initiatives like those at Latorica, Toledo and PaluWise. Donors can sponsor feasibility studies, capacity-building and community participation to accelerate these projects. Supporting NGOs and local authorities working on wetlands yields immediate local benefits. 

· Partnerships and awareness: Engage multiple sectors, water utilities, agriculture, urban planners, farmers, and youth, in wetland solutions. The more sectors recognize the value of wetlands, the more champions we have. Wetlands International and others have shown how to build these coalitions; now policymakers must listen and act on their science-backed recommendations. 

Ultimately, funding wetlands is about giving nature a helping hand so it can provide us with protection. As global experts have noted, wetlands are “critical hydrological infrastructure” for our societies. They deserve the same priority and funding that we give to roads, bridges, and treatment plants.

This International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, let us commit to funding resilience, not disasters. By investing in our wetlands now, we are building water-secure, climate-proof communities. The success stories in Slovakia, Spain and across Europe show the way. Policymakers and funders: the solutions are clear, the science is compelling: wetlands work. It’s time to act on that knowledge and make wetlands a centerpiece of our disaster risk reduction.