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The MEDSEA team participated in the second Consortium meeting of the Wetland4Change project in Valencia from November 26 to 28, 2024. The meeting was organized by local project partners, the University of Valencia. The Interreg Euro-MED project aims to validate transferable solutions based on wetland conservation and restoration for climate adaptation and mitigation, promoting the adoption of scientific knowledge and governance mechanisms.

Carles Sanchis, President of the Management Council of Albufera Natural Park, provided a detailed account of the wetland system's condition during the DANA. He reported that “in the area where the storm was most intense, 641 mm of rain fell, equivalent to the annual rainfall in Paris, with 187 mm recorded in just one hour—a record for the entire Iberian Peninsula since precipitation data has been recorded.”

He explained, “The system was not in optimal condition. Structural damages to the water system, primarily due to hypertrophy caused by inefficiencies in the sewer system dating back to the 1960s and '70s, led to significant pollutant influx into the wetlands. As the system was recovering from this severe issue, new problems related to climate change emerged, such as more frequent and intense droughts, intensified storms like the recent DANA, rising sea levels, and increasing salinity in the wetlands. Although the ecosystem can slowly adapt, these changes pose serious threats to local economic activities like rice farming and other crops.” 

In this context, wetlands represent a possible solution for mitigating the effects of climate change due to their ability to sequester carbon, regulate floods, reduce pollutants, conserve biodiversity, and protect local communities from extreme climate events.

Professor Antonio Camacho, Director of the Limnology Group at the Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology and Professor of Ecology at the University of Valencia, emphasized: "Ecosystems, especially aquatic ones, provide essential services for human well-being. The Albufera and its natural context played a crucial role in mitigating the floods caused by the DANA that hit Valencia and the Horta Sud area last month. Thanks to the wetland, the water flow was managed and distributed over a wide area, spreading into the lake and rice fields."

The MEDSEA team presented a mapping of data necessary for calculating carbon sequestration already available for the Marceddì wetland in Terralba, a pilot site where the Foundation will test and validate flood regulation measurement tools. Additionally, they provided updates on the progress of communication activities across the project, managed by the Foundation.