On February 2 we celebrate World Wetlands Day, which aims to highlight the importance of these ecosystems and raise awareness among the population about their delicate situation. This year, under the slogan “It’s time for wetland restoration”, the aim is to promote measures aimed at the recovery and revitalization of degraded wetlands. Although they occupy only 3-5% of the earth’s surface, wetlands play a key role in the natural environment, providing food, raw materials, genetic resources for medicines and hydropower, as well as filtering and cleaning water and renewing underground aquifers. They are also crucial economic engines in sectors such as agriculture and fisheries, cleaning the air, acting as large carbon sinks , and helping to control floods and mitigate droughts.

They also contribute to the promotion and protection of biodiversity, since 40% of the species live or reproduce in them.

Spain is the third country in the world with the most wetlands included in the Ramsar List, with a total of 76 enclaves designated as Wetlands of International Importance, which are places of refuge and rest for migratory birds. To protect these spaces, in 2022 the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) approved the Strategic Plan for Wetlands to 2030, which seeks to guarantee the maintenance of the habitats and species they support, and their capacity to provide essential ecosystem services, as well as to promote their recovery and value the services they provide. However, wetlands are one of the planet’s threatened ecosystems, suffering the impact of drought, pollution and other factors motivated by human activities. Thus, almost 90% of the world’s wetlands have been degraded since the eighteenth century and 35% have disappeared in the last 50 years. Currently, in addition, 25% of all wetland-dependent species are threatened with extinction.

DRIVING WETLAND RESTORATION

The MITECO Biodiversity Foundation supports, manages and coordinates different projects that contribute to improving the conservation status of wetlands and the restoration of these key ecosystems. Thus, the LIFE Marbled Teal project aims to reverse the risk of extinction of the marbled teal, one of the seven species declared “in critical condition” in Spain. The challenge is to achieve a minimum of 125 breeding pairs throughout the country, acting in 7 of the 13 critical sites where 83% of the breeding pairs in our country are located.

To this end, the recovery of more than 3,000 hectares of wetlands is proposed, a habitat on which the species depends for subsistence and reproduction.

In addition, the Biodiversity Foundation supports projects within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (RTRP) that contribute to the protection of these ecosystems. Through the call for grants to promote actions aimed at the restoration of river ecosystems and the reduction of flood risk in Spanish urban environments, the PREDRA project pursues the restoration of the habitats at the mouth of the Algar River, which constitutes a coastal wetland of high importance for the migration of birds along the Mediterranean and in its role as an ecological corridor.

For its part, RESTAURALCÚDIA works on the renaturation of wetlands in the ecological corridor of the Bay of Alcudia (Balearic Islands), PluSSS promotes the restoration of a wetland and the recovery of a regatta section in the urban environment of the Ibaeta neighbourhood and reduces the risk of flooding in Donostia, and Hidronet Baix Ter promotes the recovery of old wetlands and flood zones in the lower course of the River Ter to try to slow down the flow of water and reduce the risk of overflowing, which also contributes to the recovery of biodiversity and the improvement of the ecological status of aquatic systems. On the other hand, through the call for grants for the promotion of the bioeconomy and the ecological transition, the BIORESILMED initiative seeks to reverse the loss of biodiversity and increase the climate resilience of Mediterranean landscapes in the Ebro Delta and of coastal wetlands and agricultural landscapes in the interior of Granada, Almeria and Murcia. For its part, RESALAR proposes the restoration of 16 hectares of salt flats and other spaces on the Mar Menor coastline and its biodiversity to reduce the impact of intensive agriculture, strengthen the resilience of the coastline to climate change and improve the ecosystem services they provide to society.