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  • Biodiversity Action Plan Report
  • Biodiversity Baseline report
  • Streamlining European Biodiversity Indicators
  • State of the Environment Report
  • The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity
 

Folder Lakes, rivers and wetlands

 

 

Wetlands as defined by the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (RAMSAR) include lakes and rivers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands and peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, near-shore marine areas, mangroves and coral reefs, and human-made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoirs, and salt pans.

 

Freshwater ecosystems in Europe are rich in biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem goods and services to humans.

Around 250 species of macrophytes and 250 species of fish inhabit European inland surface waters, and a significant number of birds and mammals depend on freshwater wetlands for breeding or feeding. River ecosystems are among the most species-rich in temperate regions due to to their naturally high habitat heterogeneity and connectivity. Wetlands are some of the planet’s most productive ecosystems. They provide spawning grounds for fish as well as feeding and breeding areas for many migratory birds.

Lakes, reservoirs, and other wetlands have an important function for river ecosystems by influencing water quality and quantity within the catchment area (EEA, 2009a). Rivers themselves transport water and sediments downstream, thus preventing flooding of adjacent settlements and infrastructure within their natural river beds, and providing the structural, and nutrition background for downstream freshwater habitats. Thus, freshwater ecosystems provide many important goods and services including the provision of food, clean water, building materials, and flood and erosion control (IUCN, 2008).

Information gathered as part of the reporting obligations under the EU Habitats Directive shows, that the conservation status of the wetland habitats types of European interest is unfavourable in 77% of the cases. The conservation status of rivers and lakes habitat types is unfavourable in 64% of the cases.

The conservation status of species of European interest related to wetlands as well as the conservation status related to rivers and lakes is unfavourable more than 60% of the cases.

 

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