This interactive system is a Wikipedia for river restoration projects. It allows users to build a knowledge base by adding their own case studies and sharing information and experiences. Anyone with an interest in river restoration can now make use of a growing number of case studies to discover the breadth of restoration activity across Europe. With this tool, policy makers, river basin managers, practitioners and experts will be empowered to further develop the skills and best practices to restore rivers and create sustainable river environments.

 

Bart Fokkens, chairman of the European Centre for River Restoration and associate expert of Wetlands International stated, “The River WIKI is an exciting new knowledge sharing tool for promoting river restoration in Europe. With over 300 case studies already in the database, this is the most comprehensive directory of European river restoration projects. This is an essential resource for anyone interested in European river restoration. By making so many lessons learned and best practices easily available, the River WIKI will stimulate even more river restoration projects.”

 

Case studies include narrative summaries and a wealth of information such as project costs, measures undertaken, monitoring, results achieved and images, pin-pointed to coordinates on a map. Users can search for case studies selecting a variety of criteria, including the name of a river, country, distance from a specific location, or pertinent themes such as: economic aspects, fisheries, flood risk management, hydropower, hydromorphology, land use management, social benefits, spatial planning and water quality. A map of case studies allows users to quickly view the location and browse by project name.

 

The River Wiki was developed by the RESTORE partnership for sharing knowledge and promoting best practices on river restoration in Europe. It is funded by the LIFE+ financial instrument of the European Commission which supports environmental and nature conservation projects throughout the EU.

 

For more information:

 

Wetlands International

E-mail: Paul.brotherton @ wetlands.org

Tel. +31 (0) 318 660 910