LIFE strategy

Three LIFE-Nature projects have been able to be established along the Danube in the vicinity of Melk to date. They represent stepping stones in improving the quality of flowing bodies of water as well as the biological context in each case.

  • With the LIFE-Nature project "Danube salmon habitat" (1999-2004), 11 fishways were constructed to interconnect the Pielach and Melk rivers with the Danube. Today, fish from the Wachau section of the Danube are able to swim upstream about 20 km in the Pielach river and about 15 km in the Melk river.
    Read more at the web site of the project >>

  • The LIFE-Nature project “Wachau” (2003-2008) focused efforts on one section of the Danube to improve the habitat for fish. As part of the project, gravel banks were built up and distributaries to the Danube created. Fish from the Danube depend on such zones, e.g. for spawning and as a temporary habitat for young fish.
    Read more at the web site of the project >> 

  • The LIFE-Nature project “Danube-Ybbs Confluence” (2004-2009) extended the network of bodies of water passable for fish by an additional 20 km, as a far as the mouth of the Ybbs. Improving the habitat at the mouth of the Ybbs represents an important step toward conserving fish fauna in the Danube and Ybbs rivers.

 

  • With the LIFE+ project “Mostviertel-Wachau” (2009-2014) it is planned to continue and expand these successful efforts to include the Ybbs river, the mouth of the Pielach river and the Wachau region.

 

Geografic relation of the three LIFE Nature Projects between town of Ybbs and town of Krems in Lower Austria