Where Waters Breathe | Camargue – France | Documentary
Can wetlands be restored in landscapes shaped by farming, infrastructure and water control?
In this episode of “Where Waters Breathe”, we travel to the Camargue to explore how climate adaptation depends on managing water, trade-offs and people.
The Camargue, at the heart of the Rhône Delta, is one of Europe’s most complex and intensively managed wetland systems. Spanning nearly 190,000 hectares, it is a vast mosaic of lagoons, brackish marshes, freshwater wetlands, salt steppes, rice paddies and irrigated farmland, all shaped by an engineered hydrological network.
In this episode, scientists, land managers and local actors share their perspectives on wetland restoration in one of Europe’s most complex deltas. The documentary explores how Camargue wetlands provide essential ecosystem services, from flood mitigation and water purification to carbon sequestration, while also supporting agriculture, fishing, cattle grazing, hunting and birdwatching. At the same time, it reveals the fragile trade-offs that shape the region: pesticide use, artificial flooding cycles, invasive species, mosquito outbreaks and increasing pressure on freshwater resources under climate change.
As a RESTORE4Cs Case Pilot, the Camargue functions as a living laboratory for climate-smart wetland management. Researchers study vegetation dynamics, sediment microbial communities and water level fluctuations to better understand carbon cycling and greenhouse gas emissions in managed wetlands. Through restoration and adaptive management strategies, the Camargue offers critical insights into how nature-based solutions can strengthen resilience, recover ecological functions and support climate mitigation in coastal deltas across Europe.
“Where Waters Breathe” is a visually rich documentary series that takes audiences to the living edge of Europe, where land, water, people, and climate meet. Developed within the EU-funded RESTORE4Cs project, this six-episode series journeys across some of Europe’s most emblematic coastal wetlands. From the Valencian Wetlands and the Camargue in the Mediterranean, to the Ria de Aveiro and the South-West Dutch Delta along the Atlantic coast, and onward to the Curonian Lagoon in the Baltic Sea and the Danube Delta in the Black Sea, each episode focuses on one RESTORE4Cs Case Pilot. Together, they showcase wetlands in different states of preservation, from well-conserved to heavily altered, and the diverse restoration solutions being tested and implemented across Europe.
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