New Tool for Freshwater Ecosystem Management: “River Restoration Units (R2Us)”
The TERRA Associate Laboratory is pleased to announce the launch of an innovative tool for the management and restoration of freshwater ecosystems in Europe. The new spatial database, entitled River Restoration Units (R2Us), was designed to support more efficient and integrated analysis of riverine ecosystems, facilitating the conservation and restoration of threatened habitats.
This work was developed by a team of researchers from TERRA and the Forest Research Centre (CEF), including Gonçalo Duarte, Paulo Branco, Pedro Segurado, Angeliki Peponi, Maria Teresa Ferreira, and Tamara Leite. The scientific paper introducing this tool is already available in open access.
A New Perspective on Freshwater Ecosystem Restoration
Freshwater habitats are currently among the most threatened ecosystems on the planet, facing constant pressures such as pollution, river fragmentation, and the impacts of climate change. These factors have led to sharp declines in biodiversity and in ecosystem services that are vital for environmental stability. In this context, effective management and restoration of freshwater ecosystems have become urgent priorities.
To address these growing challenges, the River Restoration Units (R2Us) were developed—spatial units that respect the natural functioning of river networks and enable the integration of diverse datasets at comparable scales. The database comprises a total of 11,557 R2Us, distributed across river basins draining into European seas. This comprehensive tool can be used to analyze and plan large-scale strategies for riverine conservation and management.
Key Innovations of the River Restoration Units (R2Us):
- Large-scale analysis: Enables the use of multiple datasets, including ecosystem services, climate data, and land use.
- Enhanced management planning: Supports the design of management and conservation actions aligned with European nature protection legislation.
- Efficient restoration targeting: Facilitates the identification of areas with high restoration potential, promoting coordinated interventions.
- Intervention scaling: Provides an intermediate spatial scale essential for regional and international restoration projects.
- Improved river connectivity assessment: Allows for better evaluation of riverine ecosystem connectivity at both local and basin scales.
- Integrated data approach: Offers a holistic perspective, incorporating data on land use, climate change, and governance.
The R2U database is already being used in projects such as MERLIN and Dammed Fish, aimed at tackling emerging challenges related to the implementation of the Nature Restoration Law. By offering a unified and comparable model across different European regions, the R2Us represent a critical tool for researchers, policymakers, and professionals in conservation and environmental management. The dataset is freely available and accessible in various formats, including PostgreSQL, geodatabase, geopackage, and shapefile.
Dataset: Access here (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10753899)
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