Water footprint indicators tested for the Mediterranean Wetlands Observatory

As part of its work on the Mediterranean Wetlands Observatory (MWO), Tour du Valat initiated a feasibility study to apply the water footprint network indicators to the Mediterranean region.  The results of this study were presented during a meeting at Tour du Valat on 17 December 2015. The meeting brought together MedWet, Tour du Valat Plan Bleu, WFP network, EMWIS, and Mediterranean Wetlands Observatory. One of the interests of these indicators is that the Med area can be compared to other region as the WFP indicators have a global coverage with high spatial (1km grid) and temporal (monthly) resolutions. WFP indicators are very useful for communication and awareness rising.  Indicators were prepared covering all the Med area with available global data sets (1996-2005): blue water scarcity index for the human pressure on water quantity, grey water footprint and water pollution levels for the human pressure on water quality and a total water footprint as an aggregated indicator. For the 2^nd phase, it was suggested to update the overall Mediterranean status (maps and indicators) with more recent data and then to focus on pilot cases for highlighting the benefits of wetlands for river basin planning taking into account climate and socio-economic changes.

The MWO aims to monitor and evaluate the state and trends of wetlands in the Mediterranean and to develop the knowledge on their multiple values. In 2012, it produced the first-ever “Mediterranean Wetlands Outlook”.