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In this chapter the general context of protection and management of wetlands in legal frameworks of water management is discussed. We present the background of the book, referring to its main conclusions and achievements. The main finding is that the existing regulations of the European environmental policy are sufficiently accurate and provide adequate tools to maintain good status of ecosystems as well as to restore the degraded ecosystems that provide a potential of reaching the favourable environmental status. However, implementation of these regulations requires attention and enhancement, as in selected cases it fails to fulfil their environmental objectives. We state that the main attention of the EU environmental policy the day before, when the good status of waters and aquatic ecosystems demanded by the water framework directive has to be met by the member states, should pay special attention at assessment of the implementation efficiency of existing legal regulations rather than at the development of the new ones. We conclude that in order to succeed with the adaptive management of wetlands facing climate change, social sciences should be more deeply involved in EU environmental policy inducing attitudes of managing authorities and users of valuable wetlands.

The EU water framework directive (WFD) is intensively connected with other European legal regulations and supporting documents. This close interrelationship calls for deeper considerations when WFD is implemented in locations of high conservation value, e.g. Natura 2000 sites. A comprehensive, but specific comparison of the goals of WFD with the aims of habitats directive (HD) and birds directive (BD) provides a sensitive overview on their peculiarities, with an outlook on potential synergies and conflicts. The sometimes complex guidance for solving complicated situations in the practical application of these differing legal provisions is also described. The representation of requirements for Natura 2000 sites as part of river basin management plans, and related up-to-date experience are given special attention. Finally recommendations and conclusions provide the reader with a complete view of this challenging chapter in European Policy. In the end, considerably more synergies than conflicts are identified between the objectives of WFD, HD and BD. Whenever conflicts should arise these directives prevent derogating from their requirements by cross-references. Therefore, firm and timely coordination between water and nature conservation authorities is necessary.

Goals for nature conservation and development are set for several rivers and lakes which are situated within protected areas. Concurrently these areas have to meet the requirements of the Water Framework Directive. Between the goals of both scopes there are often synergies but partially conflicts. In addition, climate change, which touches both water management and nature conservation at the same time, has to be taken into account during the river basin management planning, too. Against this background it is discussed in consideration of climate change, how the goals of nature conservation and of the Water Framework Directive can be achieved in such a way that conflicts are avoided to a large extent and synergies used. The following discussion and its results are based on an evaluation of the river basin management plans and programmes of measures in the ten river catchment areas of Germany. Altogether, it can be noticed that potential synergies are already put to good use. However, there are even more unused possibilities for the improvement of the interplay of nature conservation and Water Framework Directive as well as for the consideration of climate change effects.

In this chapter the authors deal with the implementation of Water Framework Directive in the catchment of the Biebrza River (north-east Poland) that covers 7,120 km. Special attention was paid to the context of conservation of riverine and wetland ecosystems facing pressures driven by the climatic change. Measures foreseen by the National Water-Environment Programme for the catchment of Biebrza are analysed in order to reveal whether the actions planned, expressing the implementation of Water Framework Directive, anticipate potential pressures originating from the observed and defined, climate-related pressures such as increasing frequency of summer flooding, ongoing decrease in summer sums of precipitation and increasing frequencies of extremely high summer rainfalls. The DPSIR feedback loops presenting selected relations between the climate-related pressures and potential negative responses of geoecosystems of the Biebrza catchment are described in order to verify whether the measures implemented aimed at conservation and improvement of the state of water bodies and water-dependent ecosystems are capable for assuring their good status. Basing upon the observations and facts analysed, the authors derive lessons learnt from the process of Water Framework Directive implementation, showing that the improvement of allocation of funds to the water management actions is needed in order to assure good ecological status of aquatic and wetland ecosystems, concerning qualitative and quantitative elements of the water-related environments, facing direct and indirect climate-related pressures.

The aim of the article is to show how the fluvial processes in rivers and their valleys can support wetland restoration activities. The exemplary objects were localized in the Upper Vistula Basin (Poland) and dealt with riverbed stability, channel capacity as well as revitalization of rivers with their valleys regarding wetland restoration. All of the mentioned parameters depend on the intensity of fluvial processes in rivers, especially meandering, anastomozing or braided. Rivers always tend to reach the state of hydrodynamical balance reflecting the actual river dynamics. The nature of channel transformation is quite complex. For example, the curvature of natural river increases proportionally to the transported load alimentation and inversely to the slope of the river. The human-modified rivers also tend to increase the curvature of their channels. Interestingly, all rivers create wetlands in the areas naturally connected to the main channel. Those wetlands are regularly watered by flood events. As a result, the areas with wetlands are a perfect natural environment for fauna and flora. River channels which are situated close to such an environment are also rich in fish and invertebrates. Wetlands in mountainous areas are rare or unique unlike in lowlands where they are more likely to be found. The channel incision reduce a possibility of wetland formation in the river valley, especially after bank enforcement. The presented case studies are the effect of different projects running by the Department of Water Engineering and Geotechnics, the University of Agriculture in Kraków on the rivers and streams: Vistula, Nida, Porębianka, Czarny Dunajec. These rivers differ in many aspects; however, each of the them is located in an area where wetlands or wetted areas are likely to appear. Among the described rivers are lowland and mountain rivers. Some of them are managed according to the European Water Framework Directive, i.e., in a close-to-nature manner.

The chapter is devoted to selected problems that appear between nature protection and some aspects of water management. Basic paradigms of nature protection and the reasons why they are not understood in society are presented. The role of land reclamation in natural environment is described with special attention to its positive aspects. Examples of conflicts between land reclamation and nature protection and chances of their solution are presented. The importance is analysed of small retention and broadly understood reclamation activities for flood control. Exemplary attempts are given of implementing some activities to hamper unproductive water outflow from reclamation networks to the Polish model of common agricultural policy.