Wetlands International European Association (WI-EA)

ended

WI-EA’s proposal for 2024 aims to strengthen the implementation and enforcement of the EU´s environmental and climate objectives and combines activities on EU level advocacy with innovative wetland solutions, national and/or local level implementation, knowledge development, training, capacity building, and outreach. We aim to capitalyse on the Green Deal opportunities for wetland solutions by working to: 1. Halt and reverse the EU’s loss of habitats and species by helping achieve the EU Biodiversity Strategy’s 30% protected area target and legally binding nature restoration targets. Support management of migratory waterbirds with international flyway-scale monitoring and expand the Trans-European Swimways Network to advocate for the protection of migratory fish and catalyse reaching the 25,000 km target for free-flowing rivers. 2. Improve the quality of the EU’s water resources and soils by Strengthening implementation and enforcement of freshwater-related Directives and scale-up solutions such as barrier removals. Protect and improve high-carbon soils by pioneering climate-friendly alternatives to drainage-based agriculture on peatlands. 3. Achieve EU Climate Objectives on Mitigation and Adaptation by helping achieve zero emissions by embedding ambitious targets, mobilising finance, and delivering knowledge and know-how for the conservation and restoration of peatlands both in Europe and beyond it through EU external actions. Deploy and upscale “natural sponges” as innovative nature-based solutions to address increasingly frequent European floods and droughts, while incorporating wetland solutions for adaptation and disaster reduction. 4. Ensure that the Green Deal transition is sustainable by Ensuring Fit for 55-related legislation contributes to solving both the climate and nature crises together and greening the EU’s global footprint to prevent GHG emissions and the degradation and loss of wetland ecosystems.