Advancing Wetland Conservation: Launch of the European Wetland Map

The European Wetland Map is a groundbreaking resource that brings together the most up-to-date geospatial data on peatlands and wetlands, including floodplains, coastal areas, and other mineral soil wetlands. By integrating existing datasets into a unified and accessible format, the EWM makes these crucial ecosystems more visible, enabling better analysis, understanding, and management. 

The European Wetland Map (EWM), is a collaborative effort involving the projects ALFAwetlands, WET HORIZONS, and the EUKI project Building the European Peatlands Initiative. This partnership highlights a shared commitment to improving the understanding and sustainable management of Europe’s wetlands. 

Officially released on World Wetlands Day, February 2, the European Wetland Map (‘EWM’) significantly enhances the state-of-knowledge on wetlands across Europe by locating, assessing and merging the latest geospatial data. It combines various GIS data on wetland types and their distribution – not only for peatlands, but also wetlands on mineral soil – in one most comprehensive, easily accessible resource.  

"Over a period of two years, we collected, checked and merged more than 200 geodatasets on wetlands and especially peatlands from various sources. Now we are happy about this standardised dataset that makes widespread European wetlands visible and enhances their analysis, understanding and management", says Dr. Cosima Tegetmeyer of the Greifswald Mire Centre, one of the map’s developers. 

 Users can freely download the European Wetland Map for their own analyses. Politicians can find out where current land use and infrastructure might be at increasing risk by flooding in times of climate change and adjust decisions accordingly. With the EWM it becomes visible which land overlaps with peatlands and wetlands – even if wetland features are no longer visible due to drainage, as in many of Europe’s former extensive floodplains and peatlands. 

Involved Organizations 

The European Wetland Map has been developed as part of the research and innovation projects ALFAwetlands – Wetland Restoration for the Future and WET HORIZONS, both funded by the Horizon Europe Framework Program of the European Union. The EWM is also part of the project Building the European Peatland Initiative: A Strong Alliance for Peatland Climate Protection in Europe (Grant Agreement No. 81290291), funded by the European Climate Initiative (EUKI) under the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). The Michael Succow Foundation, partner in the Greifswald Mire Centre, is part of the projects ALFAwetlands Project and Building the European Peatlands Initiative. 

Explore the Map Today 

Access the newly released map here: https://zenodo.org/records/14745285 

 
 

« Back
European Wetland Map (EWM): A groundbreaking resource with up-to-date geodata on peatlands and wetlands Image: Greifswald Mire Centre European Wetland Map (EWM): A groundbreaking resource with up-to-date geodata on peatlands and wetlands Image: Greifswald Mire Centre