09/01/2025 (Agence Europe) – At the end of 2024, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment highlighted the improvement in biodiversity through the restoration of wetlands in Latvia and Lithuania, thanks to the LIFE ‘Marsh meadows’ project. Co-financed by the EU and starting in 2021, the project will restore the hydrology of two major wetland complexes at three Natura 2000 sites in the two Member States until 2027. The installation of adjustable dams should make it possible to regulate water levels, “to reproduce the natural conditions of the marshes, while new ponds will accommodate amphibians”. The aim is also to create more open habitats by managing vegetation (eliminating woody plants and mowing areas overgrown with reeds), which has enabled marsh orchids to flourish. Local communities are involved through educational activities. (FS)