An international study published in the journal Nature and involving Portuguese researchers has concluded that despite the positive trends of the 1990s, the recovery of biodiversity in European rivers has stalled since 2010. According to experts quoted in a press release published today by the University of Coimbra (UC), the stalling “occurred because new threats also emerged, namely emerging pollutants such as pharmaceuticals and microplastics, climate change and invasive species”. For example, the number of non-native species found in 69% of the sites analysed “has been increasing sharply” at a rate of 4% per year. Thus it is urgent, say researchers, to continue ecological restoration based on renaturalisation and recovery of species, not merely aesthetic, or focused on runoff, or on removing nutrients from the water, but also new planning focused on new impacts, such as emerging pollutants, climate change and invasive species”.
