The “Unlocking the Power of Wetland Mapping for Restoration” online training session, organised by ALFAwetlands in cooperation with the WET HORIZONS project, took place on 13th May 2025. The session brought together more than 70 policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders to explore the role of wetland mapping in supporting EU restoration targets. Participants were introduced to the European Wetland Map, its capabilities, and its potential to inform wetland restoration efforts across Europe.
The training provided an in-depth overview of the European Wetland Map, emphasising its importance in offering harmonised, high-resolution data on wetlands, peatlands, floodplains, and coastal wetlands. Experts from the ALFAwetlands and WET HORIZONS projects highlighted how this map supports policy development and decision-making by identifying priority areas for restoration interventions. They also demonstrated how the map can improve greenhouse gas modeling and contribute to more effective environmental policies, such as the Common Agricultural Policy and the EU Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry Regulation.
In addition, training also included practical demonstrations on how to use the map through GIS software such as ArcGIS and QGIS. Cosima Tegetmeyer, a landscape ecologist and geodata expert, guided participants on how to download, load, and navigate the map, showing how to explore different wetland types and their distribution across Europe.
All the participants found this training session very useful and expressed the interest to participate in the ALFAwetlands follow up trainings.
To find out more about the training:
- Visit ALFAwetlands website to follow the whole training:
- Take a look at the Training materials:
Iryna Shchoka, European Wilderness Society, ALFAwetlands partner
Liisa Ukonmaanaho, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), ALFAwetlands coordinator
Lorenzo Pugliese, WET HORIZONS, Aarhus University
Marie Lorenz, Michael Succow Foundation, ALFAwetlands partner
Alexandra Barthelmes, ALFAwetlands and WET HORIZONS
