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River, lagoon, and water body contracts in general are an exceptional tool for sustainable and participative environmental management, essential for the protection of water resources and local biodiversity. However, there is a need to update those signed some time ago, to align with current needs and with European and national directives related to the ecological transition. Last but not least, it is crucial to create the conditions for the signing of new contracts in territories more predisposed to the protection and sustainable management of natural water resources. To this end, Ricrea, PO Marittimo Italia - France, involves the Tuscany, Liguria, Sardinia regions and the PACA (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) in France. There are six partners involved: the province of Lucca (leader), the province of Grosseto, the MEDSEA Foundation, the municipality of Alghero, Altare, and the Var Department. 

The aim of Ricrea is to work on river, lagoon, and lake contracts, and generally on contracts for the management of water bodies, working in some areas to create new contracts and in others to revitalize already signed contracts, to more deeply involve the territory, both public and private entities, through some of the activities already planned in the contract action plans. 

The MEDSEA Foundation will work on the contract for the coastal marine wetland areas of the Oristanese, developing two types of action: one material and one immaterial. "The first action," explains Manuela Puddu, MEDSEA contact for Ricrea and environmental engineer, "is on the control of alien species: specifically, we will work on the blue crab that is causing problems on the coasts of the Mediterranean and Sardinia. We will also work for an Observatory of the wetlands of Sardinia," continues Puddu, "which will consist of a group of researchers and experts from various disciplines tasked with monitoring the status of these systems and helping to sensitize the community and the private sector on one side, providing clear and understandable information, and on the other, supporting decision-makers through scientific information and data so that more concrete territorial policies based on real data and scientific approaches can be developed." 

Finally, the goal of Ricrea is to "align the existing contracts with the directives of European and national policies related to the ecological transition. "Therefore, in the various action plans, work will be done to include actions aimed at achieving these objectives, such as on the themes of renewable sources, green economy, adaptation to climate change," concludes Puddu. Themes that are increasingly on the daily agenda of local, national, and international administrations.