Sectoral Brief: Addressing linkages between multi-hazard risk and wetlands ecosystems - learnings from the MYRIAD-EU project. MYRIAD-EU Sectoral Brief

The MYRIAD-EU project advances disaster risk management by moving beyond single-hazard assessments toward a multi-hazard, multisector, and systemic approach. Within this framework, wetlands and other ecosystems have emerged as critical components for reducing disaster risks while providing wider environmental and social benefits. Healthy wetlands mitigate floods, buffer droughts, stabilise coastlines, and strengthen resilience against cascading hazards, yet their ongoing degradation increasingly transforms them into risk drivers.

Through cross-sectoral engagement, MYRIAD-EU demonstrated how integrating ecosystems into risk management enables broader collaboration between policy, science, and practice. Storylines, models, and interactive tools showcased the cascading consequences of past disasters and emphasised nature-based solutions as more effective and sustainable alternatives to hard infrastructure. However, policy gaps remain: many wetlands fall outside existing EU directives, limiting their protection and the valuation of their services in decision-making and economic models.

MYRIAD-EU’s findings, tools, and case studies underscore the importance of ecosystembased approaches to disaster risk reduction through the conservation and sustainable management of wetlands. These initial insights could be further strengthened by integrating a more explicit consideration of wetland ecosystems in future research.

Recommendations:

Wetlands connect disciplines, sectors, and communities: Wetlands, and ecosystems in general, form the foundation linking human activities, living conditions, and economic sectors. Embedding them in disaster risk reduction discussions fosters cross-sectoral collaboration, enabling academia, policymakers, businesses, and public authorities to move beyond silos.

Wetlands are integral to addressing multihazard risks:

• Recognizing wetlands as essential infrastructure for disaster prevention, climate adaptation, and biodiversity protection is critical.

• Embedding ecosystems into disaster risk frameworks and strengthening their representation in EU policies will be essential to unlock their full potential for resilient societies.The spatial and temporal elements of multi-risks need to be considered when reviewing risk diversification.

This sectoral brief explores the relation between the activities and research carried out in the MYRIAD-EU project and ecosystems through a focus on wetlands ecosystems, which hold immense potential for disaster risk reduction, as 90% of disasters being waterrelated.