Flyway monitoring gets new technical support instrument project

Coordinated through the Wadden Sea Flyway Initiative, international partners have worked together to monitor and protect birds along the East Atlantic Flyway. Yet, ongoing human pressures are impacting habitat quality and thus the survival of migratory waterbirds. Despite continuous research efforts, critical information gaps remain on how these pressures interact and change over time, limiting effective, science-based management responses. To better understand and address urgent challenges around wetland management, a new EU-funded project “Integrated environmental monitoring informs adaptive management of coastal wetlands” was launched on 1 September 2025.

Building on the project “Innovating waterbird monitoring along the East Atlantic Flyway” and complementing the long-standing work of the Wadden Sea Flyway Initiative, this new initiative aims to develop an integrated environmental monitoring framework for European coastal wetlands along the East Atlantic Flyway. This initiative funded by the European Commission’s (EC) Technical Support Instrument (TSI), brings together national authorities from the Wadden Sea countries, as well as counterparts from Belgium and Spain (specifically, the Autonomous Communities of Cantabria and Asturias). In addition, partners from Finland, Sweden, France, and Portugal are foreseen to participate, with a focus on harmonising and potentially advancing existing environmental monitoring schemes to deliver scientifically and technically sound data for local responses and the flyway approach.

The outcomes shall ultimately improve adaptive management of coastal wetlands for migratory waterbirds and strengthen cross-border cooperation to address cumulative and long-term pressures. The new TSI project aims to embed flyway conservation more deeply into EU Nature Restoration Plans and Marine Spatial Plans, contributing to the resilience of wetland ecosystems and the long-term protection of migratory birds along the East Atlantic Flyway. This new TSI initiative directly strengthens broader EU frameworks such as the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the Nature Restoration Law and is being implemented by the Coastal & Marine Union (EUCC) in collaboration with its experts, in cooperation with the European Commission.