Hard structures like dams, sea walls, and canals have boosted coastal development, but also resulted in the loss of valuable coastal wetlands and their services. Using the Building with Nature approach, we aim to catalyse a fundamental shift in coastal and delta planning.

Wetlands serve the needs of many different stakeholder groups. They provide vital services to production systems, including flood and drought regulation, water quality enhancement and storm protection. And they deliver valuable products such as fisheries and timber.

Mangroves, mudflats, saltmarshes and sea grasses in deltas and along the coast provide millions of people with a vital source of income and protect them from the ravages of storms and floods. We work towards resilient coastal landscapes and the protection of their unique biodiversity.

A green, low carbon, energy efficient and socially inclusive economy offers a way to remedy the current environmental, social and economic crisis facing the global community. Wetlands and the services they provide will have a crucial role to play as the world transitions to a green economy.

Wetlands are home to a rich abundance of animal and plant life. From tropical forests filled with dragonflies, orangutans, frogs, and tigers, to the Arctic, where migratory birds breed and marine mammals gather in summer and for migration, and from coastal wetlands teeming with playful dolphins, to drylands where wetlands provide a seasonal lifeline for species of all kinds.

People around the world value wetlands for many reasons: as a source of water, grazing for animals, fish for food, as well as other materials or simply as a place to relax and enjoy nature. By monitoring the status of wetlands and their species, we ensure that these values are safeguarded and restored – for humans and nature alike.

From the gigantic Iguazu waterfalls of South America to the vast Arctic tundra, from mountain streams with giant salamanders to peat swamps filled with dazzling dragonflies, from waterholes where lions ambush antelope to mangroves full of mudskippers, fiddler crabs and dolphins, wetlands provide some of the world’s greatest nature spectacles.

Deltas are complex environments, consisting of a patchwork of different ecosystem types and land uses. Stakeholder perspectives and interests are equally diverse. We help integrated knowledge about ecosystem values and local risks and solutions into planning processes and investment decisions.