Floodplains: a natural system to preserve and restore.

From the recent reporting of the second river basin
management plans under the Water Framework
Directive, it is clear that, across Europe, Member States are not achieving at least good ecological status for their water bodies. In particular, this is because pressures from hydromorphology and diffuse pollution affect one third of water bodies in Europe. On average, approximately 40 % of Europe's surface water bodies achieve good ecological status or potential (EEA, 2018b). Similarly, an analysis of the conservation status of 37 floodplain habitats listed in the Habitats Directive shows that the vast majority have either inadequate or bad conservation status. Across Europe, only 17 % of floodplain habitats and species have good conservation status. These results are in line with global developments that show biodiversity decline that may eventually threaten human well-being  IPBES, 2019).