News

Fourth in-person Wetland4Change project meeting in Thessaloniki, hosted at EKBY: three days fully dedicated to technical coordination among partners, including a field visit to Lake Kerkini with a stakeholder engagement meeting.

With the project now beyond two-thirds of its timeline, this phase represented a decisive moment to finalise data collection for the five pilot sites, close the pending points related to the two core solutions (carbon sequestration and flood regulation), harmonise methodologies and workflows among scientific partners, and align the next steps required for final validation.

The morning was dedicated to reviewing Tier 1–2–3, the “tiered system” used internationally and recommended by the IPCC to ensure scientific consistency, comparability and a gradual increase in data complexity. This framework is applied both to carbon assessment and to the advancement of the hydrological model for flood regulation. In the afternoon, two parallel working sessions allowed the teams to consolidate datasets, identify gaps and define operational priorities.

A significant part of the day also focused on the Transfer Plan, which will guide the translation of technical results into concrete outputs for policymakers, managers, local communities and stakeholders.

The second day of the meeting continued in the field with a full-day visit to Lake Kerkini National Park, the Greek pilot site and one of the five project locations. 

Hosted by EKBY – National Museum of Natural History Goulandris, partners were able to directly observe one of the most dynamic freshwater ecosystems in the Euro-Mediterranean region and understand how its hydrological, ecological and socio-economic features influence the project’s scientific work. Alongside the Wetland4Change partners, the visit involved local stakeholders, representatives of the Park Management Authority, agricultural cooperatives and national institutions. It was a valuable opportunity to discuss water management, agriculture, biodiversity and the implications of GAEC 2, the new PAC standard for the protection of wetlands and peatlands.

Kerkini: a highly dynamic artificial lake shaped by the Strymon River

Created in 1932, Lake Kerkini is today a Ramsar Site and a Natura 2000 Special Protection Area. Its dynamics are governed by the Strymon River, whose inflows vary drastically throughout the year, generating water-level fluctuations exceeding five metres. 

These variations shape a mosaic of habitats, including deep sectors that remain continuously inundated, shallow margins rich in emergent and floating vegetation, extensive areas subject to exposure and inundation cycles, internal alluvial deposits from the Strymon, and riparian Salix stands with remnants of alluvial forest. Despite the decline of reedbeds, Kerkini remains a key habitat for numerous bird species, including the Dalmatian pelican, as well as fish and amphibians.

Kerkini is also the pilot site that has undertaken the first direct carbon-flux measurements ever carried out in a lake in Greece. Initial field campaigns produced significant results showing strong CO₂ sinks in the deeper zones, moderate uptake in the shallow permanently flooded sectors, notable emissions in the intermittently flooded areas, and the highest emissions in the dry outer zones. The Strymon River, with its high turbidity and strong hydrological variability, acts as a functional compartment of its own, with highly variable CO₂ dynamics. Upcoming campaigns will include methane measurements, improved seasonal coverage and a deeper analysis of relationships between vegetation, water quality and gas fluxes.

Kerkini is not only an ecological system but also a living socio-ecological landscape. During the visit, partners observed water buffalo at a local farm, now integral to grazing systems, colonies of Dalmatian pelicans, and the complex interactions between agriculture, livestock, water management and biodiversity.

The role of MEDSEA: modelling Marceddì and strengthening communication across the Mediterranean

These elements highlight the complexity of the site and show how land use and ecological processes are deeply interconnected. Within Wetland4Change, MEDSEA is responsible for the study and application of carbon-sequestration and flood-regulation models in the Marceddì–San Giovanni lagoon system, the Italian pilot site of the project, as illustrated in the previous article. In parallel, MEDSEA also coordinates communication activities, an aspect that becomes crucial now that the project has passed its two-thirds mark. The work of recent months has focused on translating complex scientific results into clear and accessible messages for public authorities, local communities, farmers, managers and stakeholders, making scientific evidence understandable and highlighting the specificities of each pilot site.

A solid and shared communication approach is essential to support the publication of the final outputs and to ensure that the results of Wetland4Change can be understood, used and transferred across Mediterranean territories.