Life below water

See how neighbors are turning SDG 14 into everyday action.

Oceans, rivers, and coasts kept lively — less plastic, healthier waters, and respect for life beneath the surface.

Ideas: 51

Ideas advancing SDG 14: Life below water

Photograph insects for Frankfurt biodiversity research

Photograph insects for Frankfurt biodiversity research Frankfurt's Umweltamt supports SLInBio (Städtische Lebensstile und die Inwertsetzung von Biodiversität): researchers from Senckenberg, Goethe University, and neighbourhood partners study how everyday city life connects to insect diversity. Residents can join by uploading insect photos to the Insekten Hessen reporting portal. What you can do - Photograph bees, butterflies, or beetles in your garden, balcony, or park (no faces needed) - Upload sightings through the Insekten Hessen meldeportal - Follow project updates on insektenvielfalt-frankfurt.org and join open events when listed - Visit the Insect Embassy art installation by ISOE and HfG Offenbach to learn why urban insects matter How it works Scientists use crowd-sourced images to map distribution and population trends across Hesse. SLInBio links the data to questions about urban lifestyles, green yards, and shared stewardship with NABU Frankfurt, BioFrankfurt, and the Palmengarten. Why it matters Insects pollinate food, recycle nutrients, and signal healthy neighbourhoods. A few phone photos from many streets beat a lone expert survey.

insects citizen-science biodiversity

Programme nearbyCommunity Warsaw

Baltic Sea coastal waste standards: building a replication model from Ustka

Turning a Baltic port town's waste practices into a national template The Polish Zero Waste Association works with the gmina (municipality) of Ustka on the Baltic Sea coast, focusing on waste management standards suited to coastal environments: fishing debris, tourist-season surges, and marine plastic. The project aims to develop replicable standards for Baltic Sea coastal municipalities that other towns along the coast can adopt without having to start from scratch. What the project involves - Developing waste management standards specifically suited to coastal contexts - Collaboration with Ustka on ghost net management (see linked initiative below) - Knowledge sharing with the Pomeranian Region, which invited the Association to support circular economy models for residents - Documenting what works so that Darłowo, Kołobrzeg, Władysławowo, and other Baltic towns have a ready-made framework How to engage - Ustka and Baltic coast municipalities: contact Polish Zero Waste Association for the coastal waste standards framework - Coastal residents: support local waste sorting programmes, especially for marine debris: separate waste correctly and report illegal dump sites near the shore - Fishing communities: engage with the ghost net collection programme to ensure nets that are no longer in service enter the right waste stream Why it matters Coastal towns face waste spikes tourists never see on the map, fishing debris, ghost nets, and summer-season surges. Ustka's standards give every Baltic municipality a head start instead of reinventing the playbook port by port.

coastal circular standards

Programme nearbyRewilding Amsterdam

Join a wetland restoration brigade in your river delta

Rewild peat and reedbeds in the delta ARK Rewilding Netherlands works with farmers and volunteers to reopen river channels, graze wetlands lightly, and bring bitterns and spoonbills back to the Rhine–Meuse delta. What you can do - Sign up for ARK volunteer days: removing drains, planting reeds, or building bird hides - Visit rewilding demonstration farms and ask how grazing herds shape wet meadows - Map ditches on your polder walk and share photos with local water boards How it works Brigades work in waders on weekends. Ecologists show which sections can flood safely and which paths stay open for cyclists. Why it matters Wet deltas store floodwater, filter farm runoff, and give city dwellers a weekend marsh full of sound and colour.

wetland delta birds

Programme nearbyRewilding London

Restore river banks through riparian rewilding

Let native plants heal your river corridor Riparian buffers slow floods, filter runoff, and give kingfishers and otters room to return. Catchment trusts across Britain pair landowners with volunteers to fence off banks and plant willow, alder, and wildflowers. What you can do - Find your local Rivers Trust project and sign up for planting days - Adopt a short stretch: remove invasive species, stake saplings, and photograph wildlife returning - Invite neighbours to a walk-and-talk along a restored reach How it works Trust officers match volunteers with farmers and councils. Teams work in wellies for a morning: mulch, plant, and label plots so future stewards know what to protect. Why it matters Healthy river edges cool cities downstream, reduce erosion, and turn muddy banks into corridors children can explore safely.

river riparian restoration

Programme nearbyRewilding London

Programme nearbyRewilding Rome

Monitor seagrass health as a citizen scientist

Snorkel for science along Italian coasts GreenLife4Seas trains residents to photograph seagrass cover, note anchor scars, and upload observations from coves near Rome and Naples. What you can do - Register for citizen science modules on the GreenLife4Seas portal - Adopt a cove: monthly photos from the same GPS point build a public meadow timeline - Host a shoreline talk so fishers and swimmers learn why mooring buoys matter How it works You receive a simple field card: depth, clarity, meadow edge, and boat traffic. Uploads feed maps that harbour masters use to move anchoring zones. Why it matters When residents measure meadows, protection stops being abstract: everyone sees regrowth after a single summer of care.

citizen science seagrass monitoring

Programme nearbyRewilding Rome

Map and protect Posidonia meadows in Italian coastal waters

Chart underwater meadows before anchors erase them Italian harbour councils and diving clubs map Posidonia oceanica beds so mooring zones move away from living meadows. Volunteers with masks and GPS buoys make the invisible visible for planners. What you can do - Join mapping weekends promoted via GreenLife4Seas partner harbours - Ask your marina to install eco-moorings and share meadow maps with visiting sailors - Label swimming zones so summer crowds avoid shallow shoots How it works Teams swim transects with floats and underwater cameras. Data layers land on open maps that yacht clubs and councils negotiate each season. Why it matters One mapped meadow can redirect hundreds of anchors: a small volunteer effort saves decades of slow plant growth.

posidonia meadow marine

Programme nearbyRewilding Brussels

Rewild river corridors by removing fish passage barriers

Free rivers so fish can roam again Dam Removal Europe connects communities tearing down obsolete weirs and culverts so eels, trout, and lamprey reach headwaters across the continent. What you can do - Explore the Dam Removal Europe map and advocate for a barrier near you - Read the Slovakia barrier removal guide for a step-by-step community playbook - Join local river trusts on barrier surveys: photograph choke points and share them with councils How it works Engineers and ecologists score barriers by impact and cost. Volunteer testimony about lost fishing and flooding speeds permits and funding. Why it matters Open rivers knit landscapes together: fish return, sediment moves naturally, and kids discover pools that were blocked for generations.

dam removal river fish

Programme nearbyRewilding London

Restore saltmarsh and estuary habitat for carbon and birds

Let dredged sediment rebuild Stour Estuary saltmarsh A new partnership at RSPB Stour Estuary repurposes harbour dredging to restore 76 hectares of eroded saltmarsh, sheltering waders and locking carbon in muddy fringes. What you can do - Follow the Stour Estuary saltmarsh project and join guided walks when volunteer days open - Photograph high-tide lines and share them with local flood forums - Ask your harbour authority whether dredged sediment could rebuild marsh near you How it works Harwich Haven Authority deposits maintenance sediment on eroded marsh. Cordgrass returns, creeks refill, and bird counts track recovery each season. Why it matters Saltmarshes are soft defences: they absorb storm energy while feeding migratory flocks people travel to see.

saltmarsh estuary birds

Programme nearbyCommunity Warsaw

Poland national Deposit Return System: launching October 2025

Five years of advocacy, one national system After five years of sustained advocacy by the Polish Zero Waste Association, Poland's national Deposit Return System (DRS) is launching on 1 October 2025. The system will apply to beverage containers: bottles, cans, and cartons: across all retail points. For communities and municipalities, the launch creates both infrastructure (return machines, collection logistics) and a cultural shift toward thinking of packaging as something that goes back, not into the bin. What the DRS means for residents - A deposit paid at purchase is refunded when you return the container at a registered return point - Return machines will be installed at supermarkets and retail locations across the country - Manufacturers, retailers, and the state share responsibility under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) How to engage - Polish residents: return your beverage containers from October 2025 at the nearest registered return point: your deposit is waiting - Retailers: follow the official DRS operator guidance on installing return machines in time for the October launch - Municipalities: contact Polish Zero Waste Association for support preparing residents for the DRS launch with education campaigns Why it matters Poland's DRS is proof that persistent, evidence-based advocacy works. After five years, the system is real. It sets a precedent for EPR policy in Poland and demonstrates the path to other advocates working on similar legislation in CEE countries.

Life below water

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