New Policy Brief and Country Fact Sheets: ALFAwetlands promotes Wetland Conservation in Europe

How can wetlands and peatlands help mitigate the climate crisis and biodiversity loss? A new Policy Brief and accompanying Country Fact Sheets from the ALFAwetlands project show the potential for the restoration of European wetlands based on the EU Nature Restoration Regulation.

The Michael Succow Foundation, in collaboration with Wetlands International European Association, has published a Policy Brief and country-specific Fact Sheets as part of the European ALFAwetlands project. These publications highlight the critical importance of wetlands—especially peatlands—for climate and biodiversity protection. 

The Policy Brief examines how EU policies can support the restoration of degraded wetland ecosystems, with a particular focus on the Nature Restoration Regulation (NRR). This regulation sets legally binding restoration targets for EU Member States and emphasises the urgency of environmental protection measures. 

For Austria, Belgium, and Germany, specific Country Fact Sheets provide detailed analyses of NRR restoration measures on peat soils currently in agricultural use in accordance with Art. 11.4 NRR. These resources offer valuable insights for national strategies and decision-makers to advance the implementation of restoration measures. The Country Fact Sheets present case studies from various ALFAwetlands Living Labs: The Zwarte Beek Valley in Belgium, Lake Neusiedl in Austria and the Upper Peene Valley in Germany. 

You can find the Policy Brief and Country Fact Sheets here: alfawetlands.eu/policy-briefs 

« Back
In the EU project ALFAwetlands, the Michael Succow Foundation is working in the Upper Peene Valley on strategies for sustainable, wet peatland use. Over 15,000 hectares of peatlands, two-thirds of which are drained, cause significant greenhouse gas emissions. Photo: Michael Succow Foundation/Sophie Hirschelmann [Translate to EN:] Verbreitung organischer Böden in Deutschland und schematische Darstellung der Wiederherstellungsziele gemäß der Wiederherstellungsverordnung Art. 11.4 auf derzeit landwirtschaftlich genutzten org. Böden Deutschlands im Vergleich zur Größe Berlins (eigene Darstellung GMC, basierend auf Daten der Global Peatland Database) Distribution of organic soils in Germany and schematic representation of the restoration targets according to the Nature Restoration Regulation (Art. 11.4) for currently agriculturally used organic soils in Germany, compared to the size of Berlin (illustration by GMC, based on data from the Global Peatland Database).