Wetlands International European Association

ended

WI-EA’s proposal for 2022 aims to strengthen the implementation and enforcement of the EU´s environmental and climate objectives. The activities proposed in this application combine EU level advocacy with innovative wetland solutions, national and/or local level implementation, knowledge development, training, capacity building and outreach to help achieve the ambitions of the Green Deal and the EU’s global commitments. WI-EA will work to create momentum for wetland solutions by working to: i) halt and reverse the EU’s loss of habitats and species by helping in 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 establish a new Trans-European Swimways Network as a visible flagship to protect migratory fish and catalyse free-flowing rivers targets; ii) 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; iii) achieve EU Climate Objectives on Mitigation and Adaptation by helping in achieve zero emissions by embedding ambitious targets, mobilising finance and delivering knowledge and know-how for the conservation and restoration of peatlands. Deploy and upscale “natural sponges” as innovative nature-based solutions to address increasingly frequent European floods and droughts; and iv) 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.