Wetlands International Europe was awarded one of nine landscape and seascape restoration initiatives recently announced by the Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme, managed by the Cambridge Conservation Initiative in partnership with Arcadia. The new planning project over the next two years joins the programme’s growing network of landscape and seascape restoration practitioners.
The meandering Latorica river flows from Ukraine into Slovakia. It forms a unique landscape of oxbow lakes, soft and hardwood floodplain forests, grasslands, and meadows. This is an important migration corridor and breeding habitat for rare and threatened bird species, and also a significant number of indigenous fish species. Despite a patchwork of protected area designations, the landscape and biodiversity are threatened by climate change and decreasing water availability.
Through a combination of reconnecting and seasonal rewetting of floodplains, as well as active transboundary management, the project envisions a restored wetland landscape. That landscape extends up to 38,000 ha and will support abundant biodiversity, flood and drought protection, whilst also providing sustainable livelihoods from nature friendly land management. Stakeholders from both countries will be brought together to share knowledge and understanding to co-develop a framework for the restoration of the landscape.
The project is made possible by the active collaboration of government and NGO partners in Slovakia and Ukraine, including: the Slovak Nature Conservancy, BirdLife Slovakia, Slovak Water Management Enterprise, Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute, Department of Ecology and Natural Resources of Zakarpattia Oblast of Ukraine, Uzhgorod interregional Water Management of the State Agency of Water Resources of Ukraine, and Ukrainian NGOs Danube-Carpathian Programme and Ekosphera.
Project updates will be shared on the project webpage
More information
The Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme aims to restore natural ecological processes, species populations and habitats for a better and more sustainable future. It signals a shift away from a narrative of ‘slowing declines’ and ‘no net loss’ to a positive and creative conservation agenda in which the potential of our land and seas is recognised. The Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme is managed by the Cambridge Conservation Initiative in partnership with Arcadia, a charitable foundation that works to protect nature, preserve cultural heritage, and promote open access to knowledge.
Photo credit: Milos Balla