Wetlands are the fastest disappearing ecosystems in the world. “Over the last 300 years, 87 percent of them have been drained, yet they alone guarantee the preservation of biological diversity,” emphasize experts from the WWF Foundation in Poland. According to EU regulations, by 2030, 30 percent of previously dried up wetlands, mainly used for agriculture, should be restored. In Poland, a project to restore habitats in the Natura 2000 area of Rakutowskie Marshes, located in the Płock Basin, has just begun. ING has donated PLN 1.5 million to the WWF Foundation for this purpose.
Inline with our joint project, actions related to the restoration of the biological diversity of this valuable area will be implemented – mostly through habitat restoration and improving the protection of rare species of wading birds and amphibians,” says Mirosław Proppé, President of the Board of the WWF Foundation in Poland.
Wetlands occupy only about 6% of terrestrial surface on the earth, however they play a huge environmental role: for example, they absorb carbon dioxide and store it in the soil, preventing it from reaching the atmosphere. Yet, these lands are gradually decreasing. The process has been ongoing for centuries. Over the last 20 years, the surface area of wetlands has been diminishing at a rate of 1.6 percent per year – mainly due to drainage and conversion into farmland. Wetlands are the only guarantee of preserving biological diversity. Almost 40 percent of all species living on Earth are associated with wetlands at different stages of their lives.
In July this year, the WWF Foundation in Poland, the Alauda Natural Society, and ING Bank Śląski started a project aimed at protecting and restoring the habitats of rare species of wading birds and amphibians in the Natura 2000 Rakutowskie Marshes. ING donated PLN 1.5 million for this cause.
“We are looking for a project that will allow us to realize our conviction that we should give nature what nature should do and what it is best at, which is organizing itself and thus protecting itself. We were looking for such a project that touches the issues of endangered species, but also is related to the water which is a major issue in Poland. An important challenge is how to properly carry out tasks related to restoring the natural level and condition of the water,” explains Brunon Bartkiewicz, president of ING Bank Śląski.
With the support of ING Bank Śląski, the WWF Foundation in Poland, along with the Alauda Natural Society, plan to protect at least 60 ha of grasslands through the project which involves restoring grassland landscapes by mowing reeds, removing bushes and planted trees. There’s also a plan for extensive grassland use that complies with the requirements of wading birds, including the grazing of Polish wild horses to maintain and shape bird habitats.
Maria Jujka-Radziewicz, a senior specialist in Nature Conservation at the WWF Foundation in Poland points out that many species of plants and animals are disappearing as the surface area reduces. On a global scale, 25 percent of all species dependent on wetlands are threatened with extinction.
“We want to preserve the important environmental role of wetlands. They act like a sponge, absorbing water when there is a lot of it and have the chance to give it back to the landscape during periods of rainfall shortage and drought. Despite these extremely important functions that wetland areas perform for people and nature, over the past 300 years, 87 percent of the world’s wetlands have been destroyed. That is why we are engaging in projects aimed at preserving and restoring them because it is important for all of us,” convinces Maria Jujka-Radziewicz.
After performing actions within this joint project, the next step must be to restore water in the Rakutowskie Marshes. Drought and lack of precipitation is one reason for this area becoming dry, but the other is the drainage system that was once built to dry up these areas. As a result of these facilities not being maintained, they are still draining water, even when it is dry causing water to escape from here. Therefore, it is necessary to stop this water, rebuild various types of devices to keep this water. And when the water is eventually retained, we will count and measure species diversity and we believe that its condition will improve after these actions. We also invite cooperation in the next stages of this long-term venture,” says Mirosław Proppé.
From our perspective, activities like these are simply a necessity,” explains Brunon Bartkiewicz.
There is much talk about the role of the financial sector in transforming the economy towards a more sustainable direction. The subject of this dialogue is often sustainable financing. However, “Value-Based Banking” is a broader concept that also includes influencing social attitudes and business through inspiration and education.
Joanna Erdman, Vice President of the Management Board of ING Bank Śląski says, “The awareness of Polish business on ESG issues at the moment is very diverse and largely depends on the size and scale of the company’s operations and knowledge of regulatory requirements, including reporting requirements. Large companies are a few steps ahead as the CSRD directive will require them to present reports covering broadly defined ESG topics next year.”
She emphasizes that the topic of biodiversity conservation is not yet widespread in corporate actions.
“We hope that projects like the Rakutowskie Marshes will contribute to building awareness, knowledge, and taking concrete actions. We want this to be a small brick in the diapering of the asymmetry between man and the ecosystem,” says Joanna Erdman. “To make the issue of nature conservation familiar, a good starting point is the analysis of double importance (Double Materiality Assessment), where on the one hand we will be examining how nature affects our business, and in the second – how our business affects nature.”
