WaterLands

Sustainable Development Goals:

This project, conceived as a follow-up to Maristanis, aims to restore, protect, and connect the marine and coastal wetlands of the Gulf of Oristano with other wetlands across Sardinia through a coordinated governance system. The goal is to promote conservation and restoration of wetlands as nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation.

In the final years of the Maristanis project, we began using the term “water lands” to refer to wetlands. This new definition made it easier for various stakeholders to identify with these ecosystems. For this reason, we have chosen to name the new initiative WaterLands in Sardinia.

Strategy 1 of the WaterLands project will collect and organize existing knowledge on the other three Ramsar sites in Sardinia—specifically, the Molentargius Pond, the Santa Gilla Lagoon, and the Rio Posada Estuary. This knowledge will be consolidated within the Sardinian Wetlands Observatory and made available to all partners.

Strategy 2 aims to develop an informal coalition of wetland managers in Sardinia to strengthen the impact of Ramsar at both the regional and broader levels. This partnership will be built on shared capacities, insights, and relationships to foster a broader and more nuanced understanding of how to address global and common challenges through wetland conservation and restoration. MEDSEA will facilitate the group’s activities, ensuring the exchange of best practices and organizing at least one regional meeting per year.

Strategy 3 focuses on implementing at least one concrete restoration intervention for marine-coastal wetlands in Sardinia. Restoration efforts will aim to reestablish natural resources and enhance coastal resilience. These actions will help mitigate the negative effects of human activity by regulating access to wetland ecosystems, removing artificial barriers to hydrological connectivity, and reactivating natural flows between wetlands. Wetlands play a crucial role in absorbing the impacts of climate change and are invaluable for the biodiversity they support. Through the design and implementation of nature-based solutions, MEDSEA will work to protect these ecosystems and integrate them into a holistic framework of conservation, sustainable development, and integrated management.

One of the key factors behind the success of Maristanis was the continuous involvement of communities living around the six internationally recognized Ramsar sites. Building on this well-established approach, Strategy 4 will continue efforts to engage stakeholders in improved and coordinated governance of Sardinian wetlands. The objective is to foster “wetland literacy” among the general public, with a strong focus on schools at all levels (including universities), and to promote exchanges with other Ramsar sites across the Mediterranean region.

Total Project Budget: 650.000,00 € 

MEDSEA Co-Funding:  150.000,00 €

Project Duration: July 2023 – July 2028 (60 months)

Project Coordinator: Manuela Puddu

MEDSEA Team: Alessio Satta, Piera Pala, Francesca Etzi, Vania Statzu, Giulia Eremita

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