In this module you have learned about the importance of enabling fresh water to move naturally through landscapes. Most rivers in Europe are heavily modified with structures that would take millennia to degrade naturally, so removing dams, weirs, ditches and embankments is essential to kick-start natural hydrological processes.

Doing so can benefit people through reduced risk of downstream flooding by slowing the rate of flow and retaining more water upstream, which can help to counteract the impact of droughts. Wilder water also provides important income-generating and wellbeing benefits – the potential for new tourism and beautiful places for adventure, rest or relaxation.

You have also learned about the importance of wetlands for nature, people and climate. Wetlands have been extensively drained across Europe, mainly for agriculture and other human activities, while most European rivers are dammed or embanked.

Restoring natural water dynamics, creating free-flowing rivers and rewetting peatlands and grasslands – combined with the reintroduction and reinforcement of wildlife populations – are essential measures to help these critically important ecosystems recover, and to expand and enhance vital habitats for birds, fish, mammals and invertebrates.

You have learned about the wide range of benefits that healthy peatlands deliver to nature and people, how they store vast quantities of carbon, and how rewilding them can help to mitigate the scale and impact of climate change.

Through the case studies you have learned how committed people and organisations across Europe take practical action to rewild freshwater systems – from the north of Sweden and the Ukrainian part of the Danube Delta, to the floodplains of the Waal near Nijmegen in the Netherlands and the transboundary Oder Delta.