Хоризонтално Ръководство за ролята на влажните зони е Рамковата Директива за Водите
ПРИЛОЖЕНИЕ III Наскорошни проекти финансирани от Европейския съюз Функциите и стойностите на влажните зони са разгледани в съобщението на комисията от 1995 за Разумната употреба и консервация на влажните зони до Европейския съвет и парламент. Читателите се умоляват да се консултират с този документ за по-подорбно описание на проблемите, както и със следните (приключили) проекти финансирани от ЕС.
Ecological-economic analysis of wetlands: functions, values and dynamics (Project Ref: ENV4960273) 1996-1999, gives a complete assessment of wetland processes, functions and their related economic values;
European River Margins: role of biodiversity in the functioning of riparian systems (ERMAS Project) (Ref: ENV4950061) 1996-1999, provides information on the processes controlling the structure and function of river margin ecosystems;
Dynamics and stability of reed dominated ecosystems in relation to major environmental factors that are subject to global and regional anthropogenically induced changes, ‘EUREED II’, 1996-1999, (Ref: ENV4950147), importance of wetland functions and of reed beds in securing these functions (http://botanik.aau.dk/eureed/);
Biodiversity of micro-organisms in aquatic ecosystems, 1996-1999, (Ref: ENV4950026), is an assessment of microbial diversity from an ecologically relevant perspective;
Impacts of climate change flux in freshwater ecosystems 1998-2001, (Ref: ENV4970570) reviews the impacts of rising CO2 levels on the structure and dynamics of lake ecosystems;
Microbenthic communities in European Rivers used to assess effects of land-derived toxicants 1996-1999 (Ref: ENV4960298), study on the Community effects of toxic fluxes in rivers;
Nitrogen cycling in estuaries 1996-1999, ‘NICE’ (Ref: MAS3960048), 1996-1999, a study on the fate of anthropogenic nitrogen discharged into estuaries and coastal waters. Quantification of nitrogen removal to evaluate to what extent nitrogen is being transported from land to sea;
Response of European freshwater lakes to environmental and climatic change, ‘REFLECT’ (Project Ref: ENV4970453), 1998-2000, a study to show the natural and anthropogenic factors influencing the dynamics of plankton in lakes in 3 climatic zones;
Techniques and Procedures for the Functional Analysis of Wetland Ecosystems (TECWET), 2003, ref: EVK1-CT-2001-80001, this study developed two publications: A Generic Wetland Functional Evaluation Tool and A Generic Manuel of Wetland Investigation Approaches and Methods;
Functional Analysis of European Wetlands – FAEWE, 1991 – 1994, ref. STEP-CT90-0084.
