According to these organisations, wetlands are currently the most degraded ecosystems as a result of the failure to implement public policies for their protection and restoration.
Over-exploitation of water resources, intensive agribusiness and the lack of effective administrative measures have brought iconic areas such as Doñana to the brink of ecological collapse, whilst the structural causes of their degradation remain unaddressed.
Friends of the Earth, AEMS–Ríos con Vida, the Spanish Association for Environmental Education, Ecologistas en Acción, Youth for Climate–Fridays For Future, the Global Nature Foundation, the International Foundation for Ecosystem Restoration and the UGT are calling for an ambitious National Restoration Plan that places wetlands at its heart.
Every 2 February, World Wetlands Day is observed to mark the signing of the Ramsar Convention in 1971. More than half a century later, the situation facing wetlands is becoming increasingly critical. Wetlands are now the most degraded ecosystems on the planet and one of the clearest symbols of the plundering of nature by an economic model that prioritises the profit of a few over life itself.
According to data from the Ramsar Convention, since 1700 nearly 90% of the world’s wetlands have been lost, a destruction that accelerated dramatically throughout the 20th century and continues today. Spain has not been immune to this process. According to reports from MITECO, by the second half of the last century, between 60 and 70% of the original wetland heritage had already disappeared, primarily due to drainage and conversion for agricultural use and infrastructure associated with economic development.
Today, far from being reversed, the degradation continues. The overexploitation of aquifers, the expansion of intensive agribusiness, diffuse pollution and property speculation continue to dry out and degrade wetlands. This situation is not the result of chance or technical errors, but is due to specific economic interests, backed by political decisions, which have undermined the general interest in these ecosystems. This degradation has not only environmental consequences, but also social and labour-related ones. The deterioration of wetlands directly affects living and working conditions in these areas, weakening local economies and employment linked to rural areas, water management and sustainable activities, and increasing precariousness and depopulation.
En 2023, el Gobierno español aprobó el Plan Estratégico de Humedales para el 2030. Sin embargo, su desarrollo ha sido insuficiente. Varios compromisos que debían haberse cumplido como la actualización del Inventario Nacional de Zonas Húmedas, la delimitación y el deslinde de los humedales que forman parte del dominio público, la identificación de prioridades de restauración o la eliminación de la posibilidad legal de desecar humedales siguen sin materializarse. En demasiadas ocasiones se ha actuado de forma superficial, sin abordar las causas estructurales de la degradación. Se han destinado grandes inversiones públicas a proyectos que no frenan el expolio del agua, eliminan las presiones de la agroindustria intensiva recuperan la funcionalidad ecológica de los humedales.
The National Restoration Plan is an opportunity that must not be missed
Against the current backdrop of the development of the National Restoration Plan, launched following the adoption of the European Nature Restoration Regulation, environmental and social organisations including AEMS –Ríos con vida, Friends of the Earth, the Spanish Association for Environmental Education, Ecologistas en Acción, Youth for Climate–Fridays For Future, the Global Nature Foundation, the International Foundation for Ecosystem Restoration and the UGT are calling for a radical change of direction. Wetland restoration must take centre stage and cannot be limited to cosmetic measures or become a tool for institutional greenwashing. It is essential to urgently establish a national list of wetlands suitable for restoration, enabling the prioritisation of ambitious and coherent actions; to complete the National Wetlands Inventory after more than two decades of delays; to guarantee the protection and effective management of the Public Water Domain; and to eliminate any legal loophole that permits the drainage of these ecosystems. At the same time, it is imperative to reduce the impacts of intensive agriculture and livestock farming in the areas surrounding wetlands, which are responsible for much of their degradation.
Yes, we can: give water back, reclaim the future
The organisations mentioned clearly state that “it can be done”. When pressures are removed, water is returned to ecosystems and the public interest is prioritised, wetlands respond and life returns.
There are examples of restoration projects that show that another approach is possible. This is the case of La Pletera (Girona), a former coastal wetland complex degraded by urban development projects which, following the removal of infrastructure and the restoration of natural water dynamics, has regained its ecological functionality; or that of Campo de Lamas (Galicia), where reversing the historical drainage has enabled the wetland to regenerate. These processes show that restoring wetlands not only improves biodiversity and water quality, but also recovers collective memory, strengthens resilience in the face of ecological and climate crises, and opens up horizons for the future.
Tackling their restoration therefore requires a just ecological transition, one that puts the general interest at the centre, guarantees decent employment with rights so that no one is left behind, and strengthens public services.
Returning water to wetlands is a matter of environmental and social justice. It means setting limits on those who dried them up and degraded them, and committing to a model of relationship with the land that cares for life. Restoring wetlands is restoring the future. And that is a political decision that cannot wait any longer.
