WaterLANDS restores wetland sites across Europe that have been decimated by human activity and lay the foundations for scalable protection across much wider areas.
The project undertakes hands-on restoration of specific wetland sites, covering an initial 10,500 ha, and creates best practice models that can be applied to wetland restoration at other sites. By engaging with local communities and stakeholders, the project will ensure that wetland restoration results not only in environmental gains, but also social and economic benefits for the communities involved.
Our role is to connect the policy and governance work with communication, dissemination and upscale wetland restoration. We propose transformative roadmaps and advocacy tools for decision-makers and practitioners in ecological restoration and contribute to the achievement of international targets such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the EU Green Deal. These tools are promoted to the relevant stakeholders and the general public across the EU.
Duration: 12/2021-11/2026
Funded by European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement No 101036484 (H2020-LC-GD-2020-3)
Field sites: 6 action sites and 15 knowledge sites
| Partners | Country |
| University College Dublin | Irland |
| Landscape Finance Lab | Austria |
| Prospex Institute | Belgium |
| Balkani Wildlife Society | Bulgaria |
| World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Bulgaria | Bulgaria |
| Estonian Fund for Nature | Estonia |
| Estonian State Forest Management Centre | Estonia |
| Tootsi Turvas | Estonia |
| University of Tartu | Estonia |
| Geological Survey of Finland | Finland |
| University of Eastern Finland | Finland |
| Plan Bleu | France |
| Tour du Valat Fondation | France |
| Michael Succow Foundation | Germany |
| Community Wetlands Forum | Irland |
| ERINN Innovation | Irland |
| LIFE IP Wild Atlantic Nature | Irland |
| University of Venice | Italy |
| We are here Venice | Italy |
| Provincie Groningen | The Netherlands |
| Radboud University Nijmegen | The Netherlands |
| Staatsbosbeheer | The Netherlands |
| Wageningen University | The Netherlands |
| Wetlands International Europe Association | Belgium |
| Wetlands International | The Netherlands |
| Centrum Ochrony Mokradel (CMok) | Poland |
| University of Warsaw | Poland |
| Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC) | Spain |
| Uppsala University | Sweden |
| IUCN UK Peatland Programme | United Kingdom |
| Natural England | United Kingdom |
| University of Leeds | United Kingdom |
Assembly meeting in Bulgaria 2023.
More information can be found on the WaterLANDS website or their X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn page.