Water Security Services

The problem

We all depend on water – people, business and ecosystems. At the same time, people and business also impact water, creating problems of water scarcity, excessive floods and pollution. We use it, waste it and degrade it without realising its true value.

Growing demand and competition for freshwater for human consumption, food and energy production will be one of the biggest global challenges - environmental, economic, security - as scarcity increases in the coming years. Wetlands and other aquatic ecosystems are rapidly being degraded as a result.

What we do

Wisely using wetlands is essential for delivering water security solutions and sustainable water management. Wetlands provide natural water infrastructure that delivers a wider range of services and benefits than corresponding manmade infrastructure such as dams and dykes. Wetlands provide food and water, reduce flood risk  and drought by regulating the water cycle and increase resilience to storms in deltas and coastal areas.

We protect, restore and demonstrate the cost-effective management of wetlands as natural water infrastructure around the world. We work to:

• encourage river restoration in Europe, support knowledge networks and best practices, and influence the implementation of the Water Framework and the Flood Directives
• nurture local initiatives with business that make an impact on the ground, such as the Green Rhine Corridor initiative in Europe andrestoring the Mesopotamian Marshes in Southern Iraq
• influence water management to restore key wetlands in the Loktakand Mahanadi river basins of India
• counter unsustainable development and water management decisions while promoting sustainable livelihoods in the Parana Delta of Argentina and Tana Delta in Kenya
• collaborate with basin organisations in the Niger river in Mali andSenegal river in Senegal to influence how they maintain and restore wetlands