On Tuesday 21 December, the Commission announced that it had produced a guidance document for the EU Member States to help them identify and prioritise barriers that need to be removed to restore the natural course of rivers in the interests of biodiversity.
The EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 includes the restoration of 25,000 km of free-flowing rivers by removing these barriers and restoring floodplains and wetlands. It also calls for increased efforts to restore the natural functions of rivers.
“Europe’s rivers are heavily fragmented. Removing barriers to restore their natural flow and connectivity will help freshwater ecosystems to thrive and facilitate the migration of endangered species, such as the sturgeon and the European eel”, commented European Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevičius.
The document clarifies the concept of free-flowing rivers and it will provide a common understanding of the links between the restoration of natural river flows and other legislation: the Water Framework Directive and the Birds and Habitats Directives.
In addition, it provides an overview of existing methods that could be adapted and used to plan the removal of barriers. It also identifies existing EU funding instruments that could be used to support the efforts of EU countries. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)