Wetland4Change
Wetlands as a climate adaptation tool — from research across the Mediterranean to application at Lake Vaya
Euro-MED0200309 · Interreg Euro-MED · Wetlands-based solutions for climate change adaptation, risk prevention and mitigation
Via Pontica Foundation’s role
Receiving partner
Duration
51 months
Status
Ongoing · transfer phase
Total budget
€2,571,556.89
EU funding
€2,057,245.51 (80%)
Partners
12 organisations from 7 countries
The challenge
The Mediterranean Basin is the second most severely affected region by climate change in the world. At the same time, almost half of the natural Mediterranean wetlands have been lost since 1970 — to agricultural intensification, urban sprawl and the overexploitation of water resources.
That is a double loss: first of the habitats themselves, and second of the services they perform for free. Wetlands lock carbon into their sediments and absorb water during floods — precisely the two things the region needs most.
The problem is that these services rarely make it into management plans or institutional decisions. What is missing are standardised assessments, comparable data and the mechanisms through which a wetland’s contribution can be taken into account in territorial planning.
What the project does
Wetland4Change is a test-and-transfer project. During the test phase two wetland-based solutions were validated — one for carbon sequestration, the other for flood regulation — at five pilot sites: the Albufera near Valencia (Spain), the Camargue (France), the Oristano lagoons in Sardinia (Italy), Lake Kerkini (Greece) and the Struma catchment (Bulgaria), the last two forming a transboundary pair.
In parallel, the Euro-MED Wetlands Climate Solutions Platform was built — a spatial decision-support tool that brings together harmonised information on the location, extent, condition and ecosystem services of wetlands, with a focus on their capacity to sequester carbon and regulate floods.
The project is now in its transfer phase. The validated methodologies are being carried into new territories through a giver–receiver model: the scientific partners who developed them train and support the organisations that will apply them on the ground. The aim is not another publication but for the solutions to enter real water and wetland management plans, spatial planning and policy.
The new receiving territories are Lake Vaya (Bulgaria), Lake Ilarion (Greece), Andalusia (Spain), the Litorale di Ugento Regional Nature Park (Italy), the Seine estuary (France) and the Sava river basin (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
Via Pontica’s role
Via Pontica is a receiving partner and applies the project’s solutions at Lake Vaya. The work begins with an assessment of the territorial context and the available data, mapping the stakeholders and adapting the methodologies to local conditions. Data collection, participation in the training programme and hands-on application at the site follow — for both solutions, carbon and flood.
The results do not stay on paper: they feed into a management strategy and into decision-making for the sustainable management of Ecopark Vaya. The foundation also hosts the local transfer workshop, at which the methodology is presented to Bulgarian stakeholders.
Methodological support comes from the lead partner, the University of Forestry, which also acts as sub-giver for the Bulgarian territory and takes part in the technical exchanges and training together with us.
Partnership
| Organisation | Country | Role |
|---|---|---|
| University of Forestry — Faculty of Ecology and Landscape Architecture | Bulgaria | Lead partner; sub-giver for Bulgaria |
| Goulandris Natural History Museum — Greek Biotope/Wetland Centre | Greece | Scientific partner; sub-giver |
| University of Valencia — Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity | Spain | Giver partner for the carbon solution |
| MEDSEA — Mediterranean Sea and Coast Foundation | Italy | Project communication; sub-giver |
| Tour du Valat Foundation | France | Giver partner for the flood regulation solution |
| University of Malaga — European Topic Centre | Spain | Giver partner; result amplification coordinator |
| Via Pontica Foundation | Bulgaria | Receiving partner — Lake Vaya |
| Network of Cities with Lakes | Greece | Receiving partner |
| Andalusian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces | Spain | Receiving partner |
| Litorale di Ugento Regional Nature Park | Italy | Receiving partner |
| Public Interest Group Seine-Aval | France | Receiving partner |
| AZUR Association for Risk Management | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Receiving partner |
The project is co-funded by the European Union under the Interreg Euro-MED Programme.