Results of the EU LIFE project "Reviving Wetlands - Sustainable Management of Wetlands and Shallow Lakes"

Since its beginning in July 2001 the EU LIFE project has gathered an amount of knowledge and could achieve sustained success in its aim for a sustainable management of wetlands and shallow lakes.

Forty months is a relatively short time for the realisation of such a complex model project and not all of the environmental benefits could come to the fore within this period but will appear in the forthcoming months and years. Nevertheless, a large number of encouraging, forward looking experiences and results will follow from the Reviving Wetlands project.

Integrated Management Plans

The main goal was to develop management plans for the two representative wetlands in Spain and Greece in co-operation with the respective local communities, authorities and stakeholders in a participatory approach. The focus was on the restoration and sustainable development of the wetlands while benefiting the social and economic needs of the local population. As a result, the two integrated management plans have been developed to manage a wetland zone with a size of over 1,000 ha in La Nava, Boada (Spain) and the Nestos area (Greece). The management plans include a concept for the extensification of 8,000 ha agriculturally used land and a concept to foster sustainable tourism in the region. Aims and specific measures of the management plans are the result of an iterative and integrative process involving the relevant stakeholders of both areas. Despite the successful development of the management plan in both cases the co-operation between the NGOs and the authorities was difficult. There are various reasons for these problems: limited resources (funds and labour), conflict of expertise, different priorities and objectives with respect to nature and the environment or even misunderstandings in the past or aspects of competition. At the end of the LIFE project it was not clear whether or not the two management plans would be used and implemented - fully or partially - by the authorities in charge.

In both project areas buffer zones on 57 ha were established aiming at the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus loads from concentrated effluents. At Nestos an area of 19 ha of valuable biotopes was cleaned from refuse, the old lake banks were restored or new water banks installed. Furthermore, in the Boada wetland as well as at the Nestos lagoons innovative green filter systems were  introduced to remove nutrient loads.

Education, tourism management and lobbying
The installation of visitor infrastructure such as an interpretation trail, an observation platform and brochures in different languages was an important step in order to foster sustainable tourism development in the areas. It will help to reduce negative impacts of visitors on sensitive zones around the wetlands. Visitors and nature conservation will benefit from these measures as this infrastructure will make it easier to experience nature while visiting the wetlands and their surroundings.

As environmental education is fundamental  for the promotion of sustainability the partner organisations in Spain and Greece organised presentations in several school classes and informed the pupils about the importance of protecting and restorating  the local wetlands. On-site excursions to local biotopes were carried out as well. Furthermore, media work, information panels and two new mobile exhibitions were developed.

In the framework of the project in Spain and Greece several international work camps took place. More than 200 young people from six European countries participated in the work camps and actively supported the nature conservation organisations with practical work and at the same time gained various experiences and insight into the culture and nature of the regions.

As a result of the lobbying activities of Fundación Global Nature (FGN), La Nava was accepted as a Ramsar wetland in November 2002. Laguna Boada also fulfils the criteria of the Ramsar treaty. The Spanish partner FGN has submitted all necessary data to the environmental authority of Castilla y León with the request to apply for Ramsar status for this wetland as well.

Exchange of Know-how

The exchange of experience and information was an important objective of the project. Therefore, three workshops and four training courses were organised  bringing together local and international experts and stakeholders. One workshop was held at each project area, one international workshop was carried out in the framework of the 8th Living Lakes Conference in Norwich, UK. More than 100 managers and decision-makers participated in the four training courses on wetland restoration and management carried out at Lake Constance (Germany) and in the Broads National Park in East Anglia (England).

The final conference of the LIFE project was held in Friedrichshafen, Germany, in October 2004, attended by more than 60 international and national experts. The main topics were the implementation of management systems to restore wetlands, the Water Framework Directive, practical examples from Spain and Greece and transferability and dissemination of the project results to other regions.

The conference also addressed the problems, challenges and solutions for the implementation of management measures in wetland areas. Case studies from other areas completed the conference.

A detailed and illustrative description of the experiences and results obtained in the project can be found in the manual "Reviving Wetlands – Sustainable Management of Wetlands and Shallow Lakes".