Spatial assessment of co-benefit restoration priorities for freshwater ecosystems in Europe

Résumé fourni par la source

Freshwater ecosystems are among the most biodiverse and functionally important environments on Earth, yet they are experiencing rapid degradation due to a complex mix of environmental and human-induced pressures. While international and European policies aim to address this degradation, restoration efforts are often hindered by narrow spatial scales, lacking a large-scale context and management strategies. This study presents a novel mixed factual and conceptual framework to guide large-scale freshwater restoration across Europe through the development of a Restoration Potential Index (RPI). The RPI is a pan-European tool designed to prioritize freshwater restoration, developed based on three principles: i) restored areas offer varying ecosystem services (ES) co-benefits, assessed using the Ecosystem Services Assessment Indicator (ESA), which combines Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis and GIS; ii) restoration efforts face constraints in areas with intense land use and heavy alteration; iii) areas within conservation networks benefit from stronger legal support, enabling restoration. Constraints and enablers are modeled using geoprocessing tools, and the RPI is generated by aggregating these three factors through radar graph analysis. The RPI identifies very low to very high-priority regions where restoration efforts are likely to be both impactful and resource-efficient. We found that 17,5% of the units of analysis show high to very high restoration potential. As RPI provides a spatial decision-support tool to guide the prioritization of restoration actions, the results of the study support strategic, river landscape-level planning to optimize ecological outcomes and long-term societal benefits, aligning with EU environmental objectives and promoting impactful restoration interventions.