This Dutch association, founded in late 2013 by Wetlands International, groups together at least ten organisations that are actively involved in wetlands issues in various Eu
ropean countries from Poland to Spain, including the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, Euronatur, and the Tour du Valat. Its goal is to foster the sustainable management and restoration of European wetlands, their resources and their biodiversity, by influencing European policies and setting up a work programme that will help to implement the Wetlands International strategy.
Its principal objectives are to promote the conservation and restoration of wetlands by raising awareness among European decision makers on the value of wetlands, promoting the integration of wetland-related issues in sector-specific policies in the European Union and contributing to the implementation of EU environmental policies. It will also make sure that EU policies applied in the other parts of the world are favourable to wetlands. An ambitious work programme has been defined to achieve this goal, which will focus on the principal EU policies pertaining to wetlands: Nature & Biodiversity, Water, Climate change (adaptation, mitigation, and risk reduction), and Awareness-raising.
The Wetlands International European Association recently obtained a grant from the European Commission, which will enable it to implement this programme to raise awareness about these key environments in Europe and beyond.