WWF Annual Review 2022 - 35

FRESHWATER
RIVERS MUST
FLOW FREELY
Despite the war, a WWF team
successfully removed an obsolete
dam in Ukraine − opening the
river to migratory fish for the
first time in 120 years
Our efforts to protect and
restore free-flowing rivers -
so vital for people and nature
- continued to gather force.
In Europe, thanks in part to
our advocacy work, the EU's
proposed nature restoration
law includes a target of
restoring at least 25,000km
of free-flowing rivers by 2030,
and we've helped put this into
practice with dam removals
from Finland to Ukraine.
With significant new funding
secured from the Open Rivers
Programme and the German
Postcode Lottery, in 2022 we're
expecting Europe to exceed last
year's record 239 dam removals.
At the same time, longstanding
efforts by WWF and others
led to Bosnia and Herzegovina
banning all small hydropower,
pointing the way for other
countries across the Balkans.
And we launched a first-ofits-kind
guide for insurers,
detailing how they can
accelerate the shift from
high-impact hydropower to
low-impact renewables.
WWF.PANDA.ORG/FRESHWATER
freshwater environments
ahead of next year's UN
Water Summit. This included
the World Wetlands Run -
the largest ever public event
for wetlands, with people
from 169 states and territories
taking part.
BUILDING STRONG PARTNERSHIPS
In recent years, we have significantly expanded our local and global partnerships to help
reverse the collapse in freshwater biodiversity and build resilience to the impacts of climate
change. We've partnered with a growing number of businesses under our world-leading water
stewardship programme and pioneered innovative collaborations with financial institutions to
leverage critical funds for conservation. We've joined with organizations as diverse as the Global
Center on Adaptation and World Rowing, while helping to build new conservation coalitions
such as SHOAL and the Inland Fisheries Alliance. And, of course, we have teamed up with
communities and local organizations across the globe to conserve freshwater environments.
Planting seedlings
in the Malaysian state
of Sabah, Borneo.
35
© Yaroslav Zelenchuk

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_3746 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_3746 https://openrivers.eu/ https://openrivers.eu/ https://www.wwf.de/2022/mai/wwf-projekt-erhaelt-traumtaler-ueber-15-millionen-euro https://www.wwf.de/2022/mai/wwf-projekt-erhaelt-traumtaler-ueber-15-millionen-euro https://wwf.ua/en/?7059916/No-New-Small-Hydro-in-the-Federation-of-Bosnia-and-Herzegovina https://wwf.ua/en/?7059916/No-New-Small-Hydro-in-the-Federation-of-Bosnia-and-Herzegovina https://wwfint.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/insuring_a_nature_positive_future___an_insurer_s_guide_to_hydropower__wwf_low_res_.pdf https://wwfint.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/insuring_a_nature_positive_future___an_insurer_s_guide_to_hydropower__wwf_low_res_.pdf http://wwf.panda.org/freshwater

WWF Annual Review 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of WWF Annual Review 2022