A report by the Global Rewilding Alliance and partners reveals that the decline of key animal species disrupts wetlands’ ecological balance and ecosystem services they provide, including carbon sequestration, water purification, and flood regulation. The report highlights the need to “place wild animal species at the core of the ecological functional agenda of the Ramsar Convention.”
The report is titled, ‘Taking Animals into Account: The Critical Role of Wild Animals in Shaping Wetland Ecosystems and the Services they Provide.’ It presents evidence on how species such as salmon, beavers, hippos, seabirds, terrapins, and ants play the role of ‘ecosystem engineers’ by shaping landscapes, dispersing nutrients, improving water quality, and stabilizing shoreline.
According to the report, the decline of these species has led to the weakening of critical ecosystem functions, revealing the need for their restoration both as a conservation strategy and to ensure wetlands continue to provide benefits for local communities and society as a whole.
The report draws on an extensive literature review as well as eleven case studies form Asia, Europe, and Latin America that demonstrate real-world successes in rewilding wetlands. These case studies illustrate how reintroducing and protecting animal species can enhance wetland ecosystems and restore the ecosystem services they provide.
Examples include:
- Beaver ponds in Scotland, UK, where bringing back beavers has restored natural water cycles, improving biodiversity and reducing flood risks;
- The “wetland giants” of the Netherlands, where large herbivores, such as domestic water buffalo, are causing a massive return of biodiversity in wetlands, improving their resilience; and
- White-clawed crayfish in the Central Apennines, Italy, that maintain the health of the streams by providing food for animals like otters, fish, and birds, and keep waterways clean by consuming decaying organic matter.
With 85% of global wetlands already degraded, the report calls for conservation efforts to integrate the restoration of wild animals as a core strategy.
“This is not just about saving species – it’s about saving the very processes that make wetlands exist, maintain resilience in a changing world, and thrive with life,” said Magnus Sylvén, Director of Science-Policy-Practice for the Global Rewilding Alliance and lead author of the report. “The evidence is clear: wetlands cannot function as we need them to without wild animals,” he emphasized, urging for a rethink of how we protect and restore these ecosystems by “prioritizing the role of nature’s own engineers.”
Published on World Wetlands Day 2025 on 2 February, the report serves as a contribution to the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP15) later this year. It also supports the implementation of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030, led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), and partners.
The Global Rewilding Alliance is a network of more than 225 rewilding organizations working across all continents to rewild the land and sea. The mission of the Alliance is to build the global rewilding movement to mainstream rewilding in science, policy, and practice globally by 2030. [Publication: Taking Animals into Account: The Critical Role of Wild Animals in Shaping Wetland Ecosystems and the Services they Provide] [Publication Landing Page] [UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030 Press Release]
