Sharing knowledge and addressing common challenges for the protection of lakes and wetlands in the EU territory are the main objectives of the European Living Lakes Association (ELLA), a network created earlier this year thanks to the support of the European Union’s LIFE Environment and Climate Action Programme.

With members from Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Turkey, Italy and Spain, the new association aims to put wetland conservation on the political agenda and to communicate to society the importance of lakes as ecosystems with great potential for European economic, social and environmental development. A milestone for the association took place on 27 September in Rome, with the celebration of the first Assembly of members.

An association that is part of Living Lakes

ELLA is is part of the international Living Lakes network, which brings together 135 organisations from more than 60 countries with the same goal: to preserve the lakes and wetlands of the five continents in their broadest sense, as water reserves, as oasis of biodiversity, with numerous uses, but severely threatened and degraded.

What are the benefits of becoming an ELLA member?

Training on wetland management for carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation, methodologies and knowledge to support the private sector to integrate biodiversity into corporate management (e.g. through biodiversity action plans jointly defined by the Living Lakes partner and the company) and working groups and capacity building on national and/or EU policies on issues affecting wetland conservation, among other topics.

In addition, ELLA aims to contribute to the public debate with reports and studies, including a recent study on the impact of climate change on Europe’s lakes and a position paper on carbon sequestration and wetland restoration. The association’s goals in this first stage also include the task of integrating other representative bodies in the management of lakes and wetlands in Europe.