Working with nature to shape a healthier future for Europe’s rivers

Europe’s rivers are under threat from numerous pressures including habitat loss, pollution and dam construction, which are all occurring alongside the rapidly growing impacts of the climate crisis. There is a pressing need to change how we manage our river catchments to ensure both nature and human communities can thrive.

Recent research strongly suggests that natural processes can play a vital role in shaping new approaches to managing our rivers and floodplains. So-called nature-based solutions harness and boost natural processes to help benefit both people and nature.

For example, natural buffering of flooding can be encouraged by reconnecting a river with its floodplains after years of being trapped in concrete channels. Or the availability of safe, filtered drinking water might be increased by restoring wetlands which can naturally filter water across a catchment. And planting so-called ‘riparian zones’ of trees and other vegetation along river banks can help provide valuable biodiversity habitat, keep water bodies cool, and lock up carbon to help mitigate climate change.

In short, by helping nature thrive, nature-based solutions can help tackle some of the most pressing issues faced by humanity, such as climate change, human health and sustainable food and water provision.

These lofty goals are increasingly backed up by evidence. A 2020 WWF report outlines how nature-based solutions are vital to help reduce risks from extreme river flooding, manage water scarcity and drought risk, and improve water quality in catchments. A 2021 Deltares report shows that nature-based solutions can help drive climate change adaptation. It highlights that ‘making room for rivers’ by restoring their natural flows across floodplains is the most sustainable and cost-effective solution to mitigate the effects of worsening floods across Europe.

The MERLIN project recently released a new infographic showing the value of nature-based solutions to help restore Europe’s rivers. Its ‘Vision for Europe’s rivers’ illustrates how five different kinds of management measures can help produce a range of valuable benefits for people and nature.

The infographic shows how nature-based solutions can be deployed all the way along a river catchment. In the mountainous headwaters, it illustrates how ‘rewiggling’ rivers across their natural floodplains can help boost biodiversity and provide valuable spaces for recreation. Further downstream, it shows how measures such as ‘green cities’ and wetland restoration can help buffer flood and drought risks, and help boost carbon storage in the landscape.

You can access versions of this infographic in multiple languages on the MERLIN website.

A drop on a hot stone? Making space for stream restoration in Portugal

The MERLIN project is supporting nature-based solutions in freshwater restoration projects across Europe. The restoration of streams across the Sorraia floodplains in Portugal takes place in landscapes significantly affected by intensive agriculture and the ongoing climate emergency. As such, there is the need for ambitious new restoration approaches which draw communities of scientists, farmers and policy makers together to help bring these special ecosystems back to life.

This film was shot in October 2023 as a group of researchers from the EU MERLIN project visited the Sorraia floodplains to meet local restorationists and farmers, and to see stream restoration projects in action. The Sorraia is one of MERLIN’s case study sites used to help demonstrate how forward-thinking freshwater restoration approaches can be mainstreamed across Europe.

You can also access this video with Portuguese subtitles here.

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This article is supported by the MERLIN project.