Restoration of the wetland and riparian area at the Upper Drau River-Austria
The source of the river is in the Italian municipality Toblach where it continues its flow 264 km along the border between the Central Alps and the Southern Alps and across the Austrian federal states Tyrol and Carinthia. In Osijek (Croatia), the river joins the Danube River after 707 km in total. The site of the restoration project is located near the village of Klebach in Carinthia.
One of the main aims of the LIFE-Nature project "Restoration of the wetland and riparian area at the Upper Drau River" was to remove protection structures from the river banks in order to spaciously extend the river bed. Furthermore, the project consisted of initial plantings of additional floodplain forests, establishment of new water bodies in the floodplains, reintroduction of highly endangered or disappeared plant and animal species, as well as various other protective measures for endangered species.
Specific goals
-Stabilisation of the river bed, in order to secure the groundwater level of adjacent agricultural lands and floodplains
-Long term conservation of the high ecological potential
-Increase of structure and habitat diversity (floodplain water bodies, gravel banks)
Increase of the flow dynamics
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initiated bythe Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management in cooperation with the Carinthian State Government.
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Type of initiativeOperational level
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StatusCompleted
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CountryAustria
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RegionCarinthia
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LanguageGerman
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KeywordsConservation / Restauration
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Optional KeywordsEnvironmental flows and water resources, Habitat and biodiversity, Hydromorphology
WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION -
Scale of implementationLocal or River section
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Stakeholder involvementPolicy makers - public administrators
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Level of public participationInform
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FundingEU Programme
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Start dateTuesday, 01 January 2002
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End dateWednesday, 01 January 2003