[MedPartnership] Management and protection of Mediterranean groundwater-related coastal wetlands and their services [Experience Note]
Coastal wetlands display a wide range of natural typologies such as springs, seepage areas, dune slacks, coastal lagoons, marshlands, abandoned stream courses, deltaic lagoons and ponds, etc., which are mostly the result of the geological processes originating the wetland. They are one of the most productive worldwide ecosystems and provide to humans a wide range of services. Besides, groundwater related coastal wetlands in arid and semiarid areas such as the Mediterranean produce and provide especially valuable services to the humans in the surroundings, as often they are the main or the only water source for all uses, from drinking to economic uses. Coastal wetlands in general, and those in the Mediterranean coastal areas in particular, are subject to many pressures. The preservation of these groundwater related wetlands depends largely on land and water management, not only in the coastal area but in the whole basin contributing water to the wetland, which is often much larger than the wetland area itself, and this often ignored.
[MedPartnership] Management and protection of Mediterranean groundwater-related coastal wetlands and their services [Experience Note].pdf
