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Find the right tools for freshwater restoration and protection
A curated and expert-screened set of 44 tools, frameworks and guidance for designing, implementing and monitoring plans for rivers, lakes, wetlands and their basins — built especially for decision makers and teams delivering on ambitious goals for inland waters conservation and restoration.
Last updated October 10, 2026
Developed in support of the Freshwater Challenge
—a global initiative to restore 350 million hectares of wetlands and 300,000 km of rivers by 2030.
Plan
Identify locations for restoration and protection, assess current status, prioritise.
Protect
Design protected-area networks and conservation programmes.
Restore
Methods, guidelines and data for restoring rivers, wetlands and peatlands.
Track & report
Indicators, monitoring systems and national reporting (SDG, GBF, Freshwater Challenge).
4 Returns Guidebook
A compilation of guidance and tools for planning and implementing a holistic approach to restoring landscapes.
Organisation:
Supports:
Most suitable when countries seek multiple benefits for different stakeholders, from assessing the landscape to monitoring results.
4-returns-guidebook
4 Returns Guidebook
A compilation of guidance and tools for planning and implementing a holistic approach to restoring landscapes.
Before you open it
How to use this resource
4 Returns Monitoring in Practice
Guidebook for monitoring and showing long-term 4 Returns (inspiration, social, natural and financial) impacts in landscape restoration.
Organisation:
Supports:
Set up monitoring systems, structures and processes for holistic landscape restoration; a broad menu of indicators.
4-returns-monitoring
4 Returns Monitoring in Practice
Guidebook for monitoring and showing long-term 4 Returns (inspiration, social, natural and financial) impacts in landscape restoration.
Before you open it
How to use this resource
Water Action Hub
Global online collaboration and knowledge-sharing platform for water sustainability and climate resilience, with mapping layers and a basin-level impact dashboard.
Organisation:
Supports:
Maps projects within countries, helps set priority actions from basin diagnostics and measures validated outcomes. Built primarily for companies.
water-action-hub
Water Action Hub
Global online collaboration and knowledge-sharing platform for water sustainability and climate resilience, with mapping layers and a basin-level impact dashboard.
Before you open it
How to use this resource
Ramsar Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (R-METT)
Tool for monitoring the management effectiveness of Ramsar sites.
Organisation:
Supports:
A standard scorecard to assess and report on how well wetland sites are managed.
Open the tool ↗r-mett
Ramsar Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (R-METT)
Tool for monitoring the management effectiveness of Ramsar sites.
Before you open it
How to use this resource
Protected Planet
The world database on protected areas and OECMs, including Ramsar sites.
Organisation:
Supports:
Track protected-area coverage for GBF Target 3 and locate existing protection around freshwater systems.
Open the tool ↗protected-planet
Protected Planet
The world database on protected areas and OECMs, including Ramsar sites.
Before you open it
How to use this resource
M&E Tool for Agriculture Ecosystem-based Solutions (AgEbS)
Tool and guidelines for designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating Agriculture Ecosystem-based Solutions in integrated water management.
Organisation:
Supports:
In development at FAO's Land and Water Division; nothing public yet.
agebs-me
M&E Tool for Agriculture Ecosystem-based Solutions (AgEbS)
Tool and guidelines for designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating Agriculture Ecosystem-based Solutions in integrated water management.
Before you open it
How to use this resource
Water Stress Plugin for WEAP (SDG 6.4.2)
WEAP plugin for disaggregating SDG indicator 6.4.2 (water stress) and estimating environmental flows.
Organisation:
Supports:
Preliminary environmental-flow estimates following FAO's 2019 minimum-standard method, to be refined as national capacity grows.
weap-water-stress
Water Stress Plugin for WEAP (SDG 6.4.2)
WEAP plugin for disaggregating SDG indicator 6.4.2 (water stress) and estimating environmental flows.
Before you open it
How to use this resource
GEFIS — Global Environmental Flows Information System
Modelled environmental flow requirements for rivers worldwide.
Organisation:
Supports:
Baseline environmental-flow estimates used for SDG indicator 6.4.2 where national data are lacking.
gefis
GEFIS — Global Environmental Flows Information System
Modelled environmental flow requirements for rivers worldwide.
Before you open it
How to use this resource
Land Resources Planning Toolbox
A freely accessible online source of tools and approaches used to implement land resources planning.
Organisation:
Supports:
Helps stakeholders find and select planning tools suited to their level, region and sector.
lrp-toolbox
Land Resources Planning Toolbox
A freely accessible online source of tools and approaches used to implement land resources planning.
Before you open it
How to use this resource
Sustainable Land Management Mainstreaming Tool (DS-SLM)
Provides elements for designing operational strategies and action plans for mainstreaming and scaling up sustainable land management.
Organisation:
Supports:
A stepwise process to bring SLM into national policies, land-use and territorial planning, and financing mechanisms.
ds-slm
Sustainable Land Management Mainstreaming Tool (DS-SLM)
Provides elements for designing operational strategies and action plans for mainstreaming and scaling up sustainable land management.
Before you open it
How to use this resource
Forest & Landscape Water Ecosystem Services (FL-WES) Tool
Interactive tool supporting forest and water monitoring with environmental, economic and social indicators.
Organisation:
Supports:
Guides users to the best methodologies for collecting baseline information on forest–water interactions.
Open the tool ↗fl-wes
Forest & Landscape Water Ecosystem Services (FL-WES) Tool
Interactive tool supporting forest and water monitoring with environmental, economic and social indicators.
Before you open it
How to use this resource
GAEZ — Global Agro-Ecological Zones
The Agro-Ecological Zones methodology and database for assessing agricultural resources and potential.
Organisation:
Supports:
Quantify land productivity, aggregated by land use, administrative unit, protection status or market access.
gaez
GAEZ — Global Agro-Ecological Zones
The Agro-Ecological Zones methodology and database for assessing agricultural resources and potential.
Before you open it
How to use this resource
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