World Wetlands Day 2025 - Wetlands: environments to be protected to mitigate the impacts of climate change

Published on 01/30/25

Celebrated every year on 2 February, the theme of World Wetlands Day 2025 is: ‘Protecting wetlands for our common future’.

This slogan is a reminder of the absolute need to work together to preserve these ecosystems, which are among the most threatened in the world, including in France, to ensure a prosperous and sustainable future for everyone in the face of the water, biodiversity and climate crises.

Wetlands are vital for humans, for other ecosystems and for our climate, because they provide essential ecosystem services.

Their importance has come back into the spotlight with the recognition of their role as Nature-based Solutions (NBS) for adapting to the impacts of climate change.


The idea behind NBS is above all to replace or supplement artificial technical solutions, which aim to solve a single problem, with more integrated solutions based on ecosystems and therefore capable of fulfilling several functions at once. The aim is not to return to nature as it was, but to use nature for the services it provides to mankind.
By relying on living organisms, this type of solution often uses fewer resources for its installation. They also contribute to resilience by better absorbing variations (excess or lack of water, excess temperature, etc.).

Focus on the sponge function of wetlands

In the face of increasing rainfall intensity, as observed with climate change, wetlands, both natural and man-made, have an essential role to play.

Sponge’ measures are nature-based solutions and management tools that enhance the health of soils and improve their ability to retain and release water gradually, like a sponge.

They include a variety of management practices such as the creation of hedgerows, buffer strips and infiltration basins, the restoration of rivers and peat bogs, and the rewetting of forests and meadows.

For example, inland wetlands absorb and store excess rainfall, reducing the risk of flooding. In dry periods, they release the stored water.

Coastal wetlands (salt marshes, mangroves, seagrass beds, coral reefs) protect coastlines from extreme weather conditions by acting as ‘shock absorbers’.

In urban areas, developments that mimic wetlands can be used for alternative rainwater management, sustainable, responsible and ‘permeable’ urban planning. They are also useful for treating effluent through vegetated discharge zones.

L'Oieau is involved in projects that make use of the sponge function of wetlands. These include

  • SpongeScapes, which aims to improve scientific knowledge of the sponge function of soils and aquatic ecosystems at the scale of territories in European river basins in order to improve resilience to extreme hydrometeorological events, such as floods and droughts.
  • SpongeWorks, which aims to advance scientific knowledge and implement large-scale ‘sponge measures’ in three European regions, thereby improving soil and water health and climate resilience.
Find out more about our wetlands and NBS projects

OiEau, an association recognised as being of public utility and approved as an ‘ Environmental Protection ’ body, uses its 4 areas of expertise to support a wide variety of stakeholders in the coordinated development and management of water, soil and associated resources, through Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), at all levels (local, national and cross-border).

A few examples of wetland-related projects

Podcast "The small streams"
EUROPE - France
October 2021 - June 2023
Office français de la biodiversité
Discover the project
Participation in the animation of the French Wetlands Network
EUROPE - France
Since 2009
Office français de la biodiversité
Discover the project
EdiCitNet (Edible Cities Network)
WORLD - Tunisia, Togo, Cuba, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Slovenia, China, Taiwan
September 2018 - August 2023
European Union
Discover the project