Living European Rivers

In Europe, 60% of all rivers are in bad health, causing serious societal challenges and an impressive decline in biodiversity. Using a continent-wide approach, WWFs Living European Rivers Initiative seeks to restore rivers and the socioeconomic benefits they deliver, through Nature-based Solutions. For example, nature can help to build resilience against the impacts of climate change like floods (by creating room for the river), droughts (by restoring sponge capacity) and storms (wave-breaking vegetation).

Identifying the right solution

Bureau Stroming supports LER with identifying where and how Nature-based Solutions can help, using a 4-step approach: 
1. Identify the societal challenges you seek to tackle: what is the precise problem? Where and when?
2. Know your river system on the level of the entire basin: hydrology, meteorology, morphology, soil, and land use: what are your options for the natural system to function as a solution? 
3. Who are your potential (unexpected) allies? This is related to the societal challenges involved.  
4. Knowing 1, 2, and 3: what kind of Nature-based Solution can work here, and where in the system should it be located?  

Designing projects

With this approach, together we create a pipeline of well-designed projects, ready to be invested in by for example the EIB. This approach is first tested in the Po River, Italy in the Delta near Venice. The main challenges here are for the agricultural sector and for nature: droughts (lack of irrigation water), and a sinking delta (salt intrusion affecting crops). Solutions are expected to be partly found higher up in the system, where the landscape can store (rain)water to securing river base flow in summer, and supply sediment for the delta to delay its sinking speed.