March 14 is the International Day of Action for Rivers, a date proclaimed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) that seeks to defend the care and protection of river water bodies as the main sources of clean water and awareness of this fundamental natural resource for the planet. Rivers are an essential part of ecosystems as they are key elements within the hydrological cycle. In addition, they are home to enormous biodiversity and help mitigate droughts, floods, recharge aquifers, and serve as means of river transport. In addition, river systems are part of the most dynamic and rich landscapes in the world.

They are necessary for human development and provide numerous services to the population, thus improving people’s well-being.

Despite this, its social and ecological functionality is in a critical situation on a planetary scale, mainly due to the rapid expansion of agricultural and urban uses. Since the 1960s, artificial surfaces have grown uncontrollably, absorbing thousands of kilometres of the world’s river network. In addition, the latest Global Risks Report of the World Economic Forum points out that the risks we face as a society in the next decade include the increase in disasters and extreme natural phenomena, the lack of mitigation and adaptation to climate change, the loss of biodiversity and the collapse of ecosystems and large-scale environmental damage. For all these reasons, we are facing challenges that need to be addressed immediately and that include the decrease in the quality of water resources, the increase in the potential risk of flooding, the fragmentation of river ecosystems that disturbs the natural flow of rivers, the decrease and alteration of natural aquatic biodiversity, the degradation of riverside Iberian forests or the decrease in ecosystem services provided by rivers. The Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) contributes through the 2021 call for grants to the restoration of river ecosystems and the reduction of flood risk in Spanish urban environments, within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (RTRP), funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU, with an endowment of 75 million euros. Thus, 37 projects have been launched with actions that aim to contribute to the recovery of groves and riverside forests, the increase of river space, the setback of motes, the recovery of old channel branches, the renaturalization of the river bed and the plains in urban areas for flood lamination. In addition, they also focus on the elimination of transverse barriers in rivers, the permeabilization of obstacles, the control of invasive exotic species, the stabilization of banks with bioengineering techniques, and the removal of concrete and breakwaters, among other proposed actions. In the set of selected initiatives, there is agreement on the application of Nature-based Solutions that, in addition to promoting the restoration and increase of biodiversity and the environmental values of rivers, contribute significantly to reducing flood risks in their urban sections. According to the National River Restoration Strategy (ENRR), Spain today has 60% of surface water bodies in good ecological condition.

The objective for 2030 is to restore and reconnect structurally and functionally 3,000 kilometers of Spanish rivers. A challenge to which the Biodiversity Foundation will contribute, beyond the projects within the framework of the RTRP, through ERDF funds and in line, not only with the ENRR, but with more global environmental plans, such as the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the European Green Deal and the EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change.