Six pilot sites representing Europe\u2019s coastal regions<\/strong><\/h3>\nThis work draws on insight from six coastal wetlands in Europe, spread across the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Baltic and Black Sea coasts: the Ria de Aveiro (Portugal), Marjal del Moro north of Valencia (Spain), the Camargue (France), the Eastern Scheldt estuary (Netherlands), the Curonian Lagoon (Lithuania) and the Danube Delta (Romania).<\/p>\n
The Tour du Valat is participating in the project as the leader of Work Package 7, as well as being responsible for activities at the Camargue pilot site. It also contributes its scientific expertise on Mediterranean wetlands, alongside the University of Aveiro, which is coordinating the project, and all the European partners from the R4Cs project.<\/p>\n
A database built on the basis of field expertise<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe database was compiled using the expertise of the teams at each pilot site: these teams first mapped the landscape units, then linked them to ecosystem services, as well as the activities and pressures affecting them.<\/p>\n
At each site, a participatory workshop brought together local stakeholders (public authorities, local governments, NGOs, fishermen, users, etc.) to prioritise the importance of various restoration criteria \u2013 thereby involving local stakeholders in the decision-making process, rather than treating them only as sources of information.<\/p>\n
In total, the data collected comprises around 100 habitat records, more than 20,000 activity-pressure combinations and more than 1,600 ecosystem service records.<\/p>\n
This data feeds into a \u2018Toolbox\u2019 for spatial prioritization : a decision-support tool that enables managers and decision-makers to identify where restoration can maximise co-benefits (climate, biodiversity, water quality). Comparable data has also been produced at European scale, using a different methodology adapted to that level; it is accessible via the R4Cs mapping platform.<\/p>\n
These resources aim to make trade-offs between wetland uses explicit, and to support implementation of the EU Nature Restoration Regulation and the Biodiversity Strategy to 2030.<\/p>\n
\n\n\nFocus on the Camargue pilot site<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/tourduvalat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_0764-640x480.jpg\")
Participatory workshop in the Camargue, bringing together various stakeholders to jointly prioritise restoration criteria \u00a9 RESTORE4Cs, Francesca Silvia Rota<\/em><\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nApplying this methodology on the Camargue pilot site, three restoration scenarios for 2050 emerged from a participatory process organised by the Tour du Valat, MedWet and Vertigo Lab, bringing together local stakeholders last November:<\/p>\n
\n- Adaptive management with nature-based solutions:<\/strong> a combination of grey infrastructure restoration and natural adaptation, through flexible water management and ecosystem-based solutions (buffer zones, controlled flooding, wetland restoration, resilient agriculture).<\/li>\n
- Naturally evolving landscape:<\/strong> gradual transformation of landscapes through reduced human intervention, by restoring ecosystems and changing land use.<\/li>\n
- Historical water management approach:<\/strong> resilience to the impacts of climate change by relying more heavily on infrastructure and engineering works.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The process involved 19 interviews to clarify the context and collect data, followed by a workshop attended by 14 local stakeholders, who were invited to propose indicators for each criterion based on their expertise. These criteria covered socio-economic aspects (agriculture, livestock farming, hunting, tourism, nature conservation, etc.) as well as environmental aspects (habitats, biodiversity, climate, water, etc.) and socio-cultural aspects (heritage, health, research, participation).<\/p>\n
In terms of the preferences expressed, activities in the primary sector came top (11% of the weighting, driven mainly by agriculture and livestock farming), followed equally (10%) by activities in the tertiary sector (tourism and conservation), risk management costs (protection against flooding and submersion) and biodiversity. At the level of broad themes, however, it is the environmental dimension that emerges as the priority.<\/p>\n
The multi-criteria analysis shows that the adaptive management scenario with nature-based solutions is the preferred option (confirmed by three normalisation methods). It offers the best balance between socio-economic, environmental and socio-cultural issues, whilst remaining the most acceptable locally. It should be noted that the \u2018naturally evolving landscape\u2019 scenario would enable a significantly greater reduction in the region\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions, but at the expense of socio-economic activities.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\nPublication reference:<\/h3>\n
Oliveira B.R.F., Camacho A., Guelmami A., Schroder C., B\u00e8gue N., <\/span>Bu\u010das<\/span> M<\/span>., Ca<\/span>zacu C., <\/span>Ciravegna<\/span> E., Coelho J.P., Constantin R.G., Hilaire S., <\/span>Katar\u017eyt\u0117<\/span> M., Morant D., Picazo A., Polman N., van <\/span>Puijenbroek<\/span> M., Raoult J., Rochera C., Ronse M., Sella L., Sousa A.I., <\/span>Racoviceanu<\/span> T., Rota F.S., <\/span>Vai\u010di\u016bt\u0117<\/span> D., Lilleb\u00f8 A.I. 2026. <\/span><\/span>European coastal wetlands datasets and their use in decision-support tools for policy restoration <\/span>objectives<\/span><\/span>. <\/span><\/span>Environmental<\/span> Science & Policy <\/span>179:<\/span>104386. <\/span>doi<\/span>: <\/span><\/span>10.1016\/j.envsci.2026.104386<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\nContact:<\/h3>\n
The database was compiled using the expertise of the teams at each pilot site: these teams first mapped the landscape units, then linked them to ecosystem services, as well as the activities and pressures affecting them.<\/p>\n
At each site, a participatory workshop brought together local stakeholders (public authorities, local governments, NGOs, fishermen, users, etc.) to prioritise the importance of various restoration criteria \u2013 thereby involving local stakeholders in the decision-making process, rather than treating them only as sources of information.<\/p>\n
In total, the data collected comprises around 100 habitat records, more than 20,000 activity-pressure combinations and more than 1,600 ecosystem service records.<\/p>\n
This data feeds into a \u2018Toolbox\u2019 for spatial prioritization : a decision-support tool that enables managers and decision-makers to identify where restoration can maximise co-benefits (climate, biodiversity, water quality). Comparable data has also been produced at European scale, using a different methodology adapted to that level; it is accessible via the R4Cs mapping platform.<\/p>\n
These resources aim to make trade-offs between wetland uses explicit, and to support implementation of the EU Nature Restoration Regulation and the Biodiversity Strategy to 2030.<\/p>\n
| Focus on the Camargue pilot site<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Applying this methodology on the Camargue pilot site, three restoration scenarios for 2050 emerged from a participatory process organised by the Tour du Valat, MedWet and Vertigo Lab, bringing together local stakeholders last November:<\/p>\n
|