Project description
Wetland restoration for climate change mitigation
Healthy wetlands have a remarkable capacity to store carbon, being the most effective carbon sinks on our planet. However, human-impacted wetlands represent a major source of greenhouse gases. There is a need to assess the role of restoration action on wetlands' climate change mitigation capacity using an integrative socio-ecological systems approach. The EU-funded RESTORE4Cs project will assess how the restoration of degraded wetlands can help halt greenhouse gas emissions and even reverse them while improving the condition of its habitats and species and the provision of ecosystem services, in addition to providing co-benefits to stakeholders in and around the wetlands. Bringing together 16 partners from across Europe, the project will design standardised methodologies and approaches for the prioritisation of wetland restoration.
Objective
RESTORE4Cs aims to assess the role of restoration action on wetlands climate change mitigation capacity and a wide range of ecosystem services using an integrative socio-ecological systems approach. Focusing on coastal wetlands across Europe, RESTORE4Cs will deliver standardised methodologies and approaches for the prioritisation of restoration promoting carbon-storage and greenhouse gasses (GHG) emissions abatement, while improving the ecological status and the provision of additional ecosystem services such as flood regulation and coastal erosion protection. Project results will support the implementation of Climate and Biodiversity policies in the context of the European Green Deal. Effectiveness data on restoration and land use management actions on climate services and other ecosystem and socio-economic services will be gathered both from six Case Pilot sites across European coastal areas, including well-preserved, altered, and restored wetlands, and from meta-analysis. Models and integrative assessment tools will be upscaled to wider geographical (European) and ecological (other wetland types, including floodplains and peatlands) contexts using remote sensing and machine learning methods to develop an integrated status assessment of European wetlands. The results will be integrated into a digital platform to serve as a Decision Support System (DSS) for stakeholders that will steer project efforts as part of a newly created Community of Practice around wetland restoration.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringremote sensing
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes
- social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicssustainable economy
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligencemachine learning
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation ActionsCoordinator
3810-193 Aveiro
Portugal