RESTWET
RESTWET was an Erasmus+ project involving members of WLI and MBP from 2023 to 2025. It built on the BioWet Erasmus+ project from a few years earlier.
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RESTWET in France March 2025
Report from Maison du Lac de Grand Lieu
Students from Dokka Secondary School have spent a week with restoration projects in the Natural heritage Saint-Aignan-Grandlieu, the Lake of Grand-Lieu in France, together with teachers, wetland staff and Portuguese students from Benavente Secondary School. Audrey Cadou is the coordinator and Scientific adviser at the wetland center, La Maison du Lac de Grand-Lieu.
The Lake of Grand-Lieu is the largest natural lake in France, located 15 km south of Nantes, and surrounded by numerous floodable areas. The lake is part of an impressive wetland complex with flood meadows, and it covers 63 km² in the wintertime, but in the summer the lake shrinks, and its surface area decreases by two thirds.
Restoration project day 1. We were all welcomed by Audrey at the exhibition center, and we got a presentation of the wetland center, of their projects, and an audio tour in the nearby area. We got a first impression of the fantastic surroundings, challenges and restoration projects that the center was working with. The ecosystem in and around the lake has been gradually deteriorating for a long time, and the main causes are hydraulic installations, climate change and the poor quality of the water, which is polluted with nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. The aquatic environment has become saturated, contaminated and asphyxiated. Restoration work is needed so that the ecosystem can survive in coexistence with the surrounding farmland. Invasive alien species are also a threat to this environment. We were also told about the chemical parameters that they measured in the lake, like pH, temperature, turbidity, oxygen and chlorophyll levels, and they were also looking for different bacteria.
Restoration project day 2. We participated in field work on the wet meadow, a restoration project, evolution of the vegetation after cutting down the planted poplars. We identified some typical plants and insects in this area and tried to look for changes. The Lake of Grand-Lieu and its surroundings is a complex ecosystem with more than 700 species of vascular plants, more than 30 species of mosses, nearly 300 species of micro-algae, more than 300 species of birds, more than 25 species of fish, more than 25 species of reptiles and amphibians, more than 40 species of crustaceans and molluscs, more than 950 species of insects, more than 70 species of spiders, more than 40 species of mammals, so our contribution to the identification work of species was small but very interesting.
After lunch we worked in groups with tasks about how to raise awareness for the need of wetland Restoration, for the local public, companies, authorities and decisionmakers.
Restoration project day 3. This day was dedicated to the lake, the water world, fishes, fisheries, water qualities, and the changes in the lake. First, we went to Chevroliére and visited the Fishermen’s house, a museum, and later we went to Port de l´Halbrandiere and took a boat trip with local fishermen that could tell us all about the lake, the history, the fish in the lake, and the fishing industry. Fishing is now limited to only seven professional fishermen with special authorization due to the lake's status as a protected nature reserve and the need to take better care of the ecosystem. We learned that Lac de Grand Lieu's water quality is impacted by eutrophication due to excessive nutrient inputs, leading to cyanobacteria blooms and decreased water transparency. The lake is also affected by invasive species like the Louisiana crayfish and primrose willow, which disrupt the ecosystem.
Restoration project day 4. We left the wetland center and went to the coast nearby the town Pornic, to ‘La Fontaine aux Bretons’ and a nature reserve. We followed a path along the coast and observed the wildlife, especially the plants. We walked between sea, dunes, and cliffs, where we discovered insects and flora of this protected area. A very beautiful and special ecosystem, but vulnerable to human impact, climate change and sea level rise. We could see the local fishing heritage of the coastline that offered many sites for shore fishing, square fishing net, and sea fishing. The tidal differences were very big. It was some time left to visit Pornic, and we noticed what they had done a lot to make the town environmentally friendly and greener without so much pollution. It was a very nice town.
Restoration project day 5. This was the final day of the project week and the Norwegian and the Portuguese students met with French students from the Briacé agricultural college. We exchanged information about Restoration project, and the French student held presentations about different big local Restoration project they had been working on. We had an excellent traditional Breton meal with savour galettes and sweet crepes for lunch.
Later, all students were divided into discussion groups. The topics were about Restoration of different ecosystems, how to raise awareness of the need to act, climate changes, and personal thoughts about how to contribute. The staff and teachers listened in to the discussions of the students and had time to reflect and summarize the weeks activities. It was a great end to an exciting and instructive project week at the wetland center of Lac du Grand-Lieu. Our greatest gratitude goes to Audrey, and her staff, for their effort in facilitating practical learning about wetland restoration projects.
RESTWET in Norway, May 2025
Report from Dokkadelta
Dokkadelta National Wetland Center hosted the last exchange week for the students and staff in the RESTWET project the wetland center in Odnes and at Dokka Secondary School. Students from Benavente Secondary School and Dokka immersed themselves in restoration fieldwork in the Dokka delta wetland together with teachers, and wetland staff.
Elida Sandneseng is the head of Ornithology and Communication at DNV, and the center is located at the north end of Norway’s fourth largest lake, Randsfjorden, where the rivers Etna and Dokka flow in the lake. It is a protected nature reserve and a Ramsar site. The Dokka delta is one of the biggest and most important rest stops in eastern Norway for migrating waterfowl.
Restoration project day 1. We were welcomed by the project manager Anne Elisabeth Sjaaheim at Dokka Secondary School, she also gave a brief introduction to the week´s activities, and the students gave the visitors a guided tour of the school building. The students also worked together on an exhibition, where they will summarize and present to the public their results of the entire Erasmus+ project on the final day of the program. After lunch we departed for a logging area close to the delta, to see how this could affect the water quality in the delta. Our guide was a member of the staff at Dokkadeltaet National Wetland Center, Geir Høitomt. He explained restoration plans for the area, to prevent the soil from ending up in the river, polluting the water flow and making the delta overgrown.
Restoration project day 2. Students from Dokka and Benavente participated in field work in the Dokkadelta, collecting fish, insects, birdwatching, and measuring chemical parameters in the lake, like pH, nitrate, temperature, and turbidity, important to know if you are planning for some sort of restoration project. We also went into the delta with canoes and took a boat trip where we were told about the history of the delta and the surrounding cultural landscape by conservator Alastair Brown.
Restoration project day 3. The day started with a visit to the Dokkadelta National Wetland Center at Odnes. Elida told us about the different activities they were working on and stressed the need to restore and repair damaged ecosystems before it is too late. Anne Gri S. Henriksen (from the Norwegian Ornithological Society, NOF) demonstrated bird ringing and told us about the many threats that are reducing various bird species, such as climate change. For example, the lapwing, it was a common bird in the agricultural landscape in large parts of Norway, but lately it has been subject to a dramatic population reduction and is now critically endangered (CR) and on the Norwegian Red List of Species. Anne Gri told us about the work being done to reduce that decline. Finally, we worked on the exhibition.
Restoration project day 4. Finn Audun Grøndahl, conservator natural history at Randsfjord museums was our guide and tutor on a trip from the Randsfjord to the mountains and Langsua National Park. It covers 537 km2 and is located one hours drive northeast from Dokka. The Dokka river originates south of the Langsua mountain range and flows down to the Dokka Delta. This national park was established primarily to protect the primeval forest, a true picture of a forest without human intervention. We saw birch forests, old coniferous forests, plains and diverse wetlands. We were served a tasty lunch at a mountain farm, with sour cream porridge and cured meats. Last we visited an advanced measuring station for various environmental parameters, installed in a marsh at Kittilbu outdoor museum, near Hynna Nature Reserve (the largest Ramsar site in the Inland). We were the first to log data. The station has sensors that deliver parameters that comply with national and international research standards. We measured lysine radiation, precipitation, air temperature, relative humidity, temperature at 5 cm and 10 cm depth in peat as well as water level and water temperature in bog. We were explained the relationship between temperature and certain physiological developments in plant and animal life, and the connections it has for plant and animal life in our wetlands. Light meters collect data on solar radiation and document light cycles through the seasons in an area that is very little disturbed by artificial light. This was a twelve-hour day with a lot to see and do.
Restoration project day 5. The wetland seminar day, exhibition and restoration projects. Elida started the day with a lecture about wetlands and why and how to restore them. She talked about the importance of preserving our wetland areas with their great biodiversity, how to restore them, and the importance of spreading knowledge about nature to everyone. Finn Audun continued with a lecture about "Agenda lokal våtmark" a local school project, about how important our wetland areas are for birds. Many bird species, both in Norway and in the rest of the world, are threatened, and it is necessary to restore many habitat types so that they do not become extinct. We had a lunch break, and our school chef served fish burger, made from the fish that the student had caught in the lake, short-distance food.
The students set up their exhibition with their many posters and prepared for explaining their topics for the invited guests, mayors, other decisions makers and interested parties. The students were divided into groups with different topics, such as climate change, the many benefits of wetlands, restoration work in EVOA, in Lac du Grand-Lieu and in the Dokka Delta, why wetlands are especially important for bird life, how to get the public involved in wetland conservation, and about Erasmus+, an EU programme for education, training, youth and sport. A fantastic program that provided us with funding to collaborate and explore the different possibilities for restoring wetland ecosystems across borders and together with other European students.
Students, teachers, wetland staff and other invitees concluded the week and the RESTWET project with dinner and socializing.
We would like to thank all participants in this project, and thank the EU, Erasmus+ for making this international work possible.
RESTWET in Portugal March 2024
Report from EVOA
Students from Dokka Secondary School spent a week in the EVOA wetland together with teachers, wetland staff and Portuguese students from Benavente Secondary School. Sandra Paiva Silva is manager and coordinator at EVOA, and the center is in the heart of the most important wetland of Portugal, the Tagus Estuary Natural Reserve. Three freshwater wetlands are integrated in EVOA, in a total of 70 ha and a part of the 'Companihia das Lezirias'.
We were welcomed by Sandra at the visitor center and shown around, the center was completely off-grid, solar-powered, with its own water treatment plant. To get around the huge area effective and quietly, we used their electric buses. On the first day Sandra was our teacher and guide together with other members of the staff.
Restoration project day 1. We cleared vegetation, to facilitate birds nesting sites with smaller bushes and not too dense vegetation. This must be done before the birds arrive in spring, preferably on small islands in the lakes, where predators do not come. There are many wild boars and foxes in the area. This form of restoration must be repeated often since plants and scrub grow willingly in the delta, and this is a continuous effort to facilitate bird’s habitat. It´s an important work since there is a decline in species diversity, and many birds need the resting and nesting places in EVOA on their migration route.
We got an education about birds and why they need protection, and we contributed with practical fieldwork in the wetland. Sandra also told us about several different types of restoration to counteract climate change, and territorial conflicts. The area is an estuary, a wide, funnel-shaped estuary with a large tidal difference. The river current forms a layer of brackish water on the surface, while saltier water masses are swept along from deeper layers in an opposing undercurrent from the sea.
Reduced current speed contributes to the accumulation of finer sediment which is often deposited in a delta in or near the estuary, which is often referred to as a brackish water delta. Such estuaries are important feeding areas for birds. The estuary is a marginal zone, where there are large variations in salinity (salt content) and varying water levels due to tides or wind, which places demands on the species of the estuaries.
The soil here receives a supply of nutrients and is sought after as cultivation soil. Since the area is often flooded in winter, many ditches have been made to lead the water away. Much of the natural vegetation acts as a "sponge" and holds the water. Sandra explained that some of the wetland plants are edible and often included in the salads they serve, examples being perennial glasswort and purslane. These may look like 'weeds', but lightly cooked in olive oil, or sprinkled fresh on a salad, they add a natural saltiness. Climate change with rising sea levels will increase the impact of salt water and stimulate plants that can withstand it. Eichhornia crassipes = Water hyacinth is a blacklisted plant that is undesirable. It thrives in warm freshwater areas where it spreads explosively and displaces all other plants.
Restoration projects day 2. Pupils, teachers, and staff took a closer look at a popular and important fish species, the whitefish. It is in the process of disappearing completely from the area of the fishing village of Vila Franca de Xira near EVOA, and we have contributed input for the recovery of the fish population. An appeal was filmed in which all the students asked for restrictions on fishing so that the species has a chance to recover.
Another restoration work in 'Companihia das Lezirias' that we contributed to was checking a limited area in the oak cork forest for Arvicola amphibius which is a ground rat. They are trying to restore the natural population that has disappeared from the ecosystem. After some searching for the nests, we were able to register many, and we also found nests with young. We could ascertain that their attempt to restore the species had been successful.
Restoration projects day 3. We all went with the EVOA electric buses to the salt basins, in these old salt basins we were going to restore areas into resting places for birds. The pools, where salt was previously mined, were now within the protected nature reserve and no longer in use, but the area around them was overgrown and we worked to restore the area around the lakes so that the birds could return. There were many wild boars, foxes, badgers and horses in the same area, so the EVOA staff had plans to build islands in the pools so that birds could have nesting places where they could stay safe.
Restoration Projects Day 4. We were in an area near EVOA that was very prone to flooding where we joined a special group working to plant trees along the river to bind soil and prevent flooding. This was a priority for the EU project. Tree planting had to start in November when the worst of the heat had subsided before the start of the rainy season. Some get through the drought, but many trees die, it was necessary to "nurture" the area to grow bigger trees.
Later in Benavente, there was lunch at the school where they served a hot meal to all the students. We got to greet the principal and teachers, and the Portuguese students presented their school to us. The last item on today's program was a visit to a larger river, the Rio Sorraia in 'Villa de Benavente', a river which in times of flood could rise several meters. This created major challenges for the nature around EVOA and for the local population who lived nearby. We learned a lot about flood preparedness and flood restoration. Finally, we had a guided tour in the flood forest where they had made paths and bridges so that people could use the area for recreation.
Restoration projects Day 5. On the final day we all went to the coast to see some restoration projects in brackish and salt water. One hour bus ride from EVOA to the town of Sebútal and the surrounding area. First stop was Santa Catrina with a farm for oysters. Oysters used to be common in the entire area where the Tagus River meets the salt water in the area around EVOA and Lisbon, but in recent years they have become rare in these areas with broken mud banks. Many are working with oyster farms in other places with less polluted water, both for consumption and with a view to restoring the oyster population outside the EVOA, Lisboa area. Another problem is that other invasive species, such as various beeves, are better adapted to the new conditions and displace oysters from the original areas. Oysters are a commercially very important species in Portugal, and in many other countries, and a lot of work is put into restoring old oyster areas. The last stop on our program in Portugal and the end of the project was a boat trip outside the town of Sebútal. We were in a nature reserve "Estuario de Sado", where we hear about how they try to preserve and increase the endemic species of dolphins, bottlenose dolphins that only live here, and nowhere else in Portugal. Often, they experienced territorial conflicts with local fishermen, and they work a lot with information about the project and daily monitoring of the dolphins.
During the workweek the Norwegian and the Portuguese students were hands-on with the decline in species diversity, restauration projects and climate change challenges in and around the EVOA wetland center.
The staff and teachers collaborated on methods and exchanged ideas and experiences with different restoration work. Our greatest gratitude goes to Sandra Paiva Silva, and her staff, for their great effort in facilitating practical learning about wetland restoration projects.