Together with the European Environmental Bureau, the European Rivers Network, The Nature Conservancy, Wetlands International and WWF, the coalition represents a movement of over 40 million European citizens fighting for the defence of biodiversity, while freshwater species populations have declined by 84% globally since the 1970s.

A first pillar to protect freshwater species is to ensure that they can live in a healthy aquatic environment in the first place. However, one can only draw dire conclusions from the failure to implement the Water Framework Directive, when only 40% of Europe's waters are in good environmental condition, far short of the 100% target. Our purpose is to maintain the ambitious Water Framework Directive standards and to reinforce the policies implemented to achieve them.

A second pillar is to allow aquatic species, especially migratory species, to live their lives by being able to move freely in rivers without barrier. This is why the coalition also supports legally binding restoration targets in the upcoming EU Nature Restoration Law, as a vital condition to advance the restoration of freshwater ecosystems and reverse the steep decline of freshwater biodiversity. - Read our position paper

Only by achieving these two targets can we bring our rivers back to life.