PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Flood protection is a technical challenge that requires cross-border and multi-disciplinary cooperation. According to the Flood Risk Management Guidelines of the EU, all floodplain areas at risk of flooding are required to be subject to a flood risk management plan. Natural flood management is an important component of any such plan that sets priorities for action. Through the project Elbauen bei Vockerode,the conditions will be met to establish a favourable conservation status of the unique riverine landscape of the Natura 2000 site "Dessau-Wrlitzer Elbauen" and will result in the improvement and long-term safeguarding of this middle Elbe river basin site. The project planned to connect the natural conservation functions inherent in riparian dynamics and floodplain development with aspects of flood protection
OBJECTIVES
The main objective of the project Elbauen bei Vockerode was to enable natural succession dynamics on the entire area and to ensure a unique floodplain landscape and a favourable conservation status. The dyke relocation would result in extra retention areas and enhance the preventative values of ecological flood protection. Thus, the project would also allow the approval process of the dyke relocation to integrate natural flood retention planning. It therefore aimed to set a precedent for the restoration of large river systems in central Europe. Furthermore, the project aimed touse natural protective measures in this floodplain area to provide necessary future flood protection. The project measures aimed to restore a natural dynamic floodplain landscape with site specific habitat types. In certain locations the goal was to prevent the forest from being transformed by invasive species, such as the American green ash, while promoting endemic species listed in the Annexes of the Habitats Directive. Floodplain ecosystem would also be revitalised, for example, by the creation of new oxbows, thereby improving habitat conditions for some species in the area.
RESULTS
The Elbauen bei Vockerode project added new flooding area covering 210 ha as a result of opening a dyke. It also transformed 60 ha of arable land, converting areas to meadows, forests and wetlands. The project moreover established 21 ha of the lowland hay meadows habitats), far higher than the target of 5 ha, along with the initiation or improvement of 59 ha of alluvial forests. These measures led to the observation of typical amphibian species (Pelobates fuscus, Hyla arborea and Bombina bombina) and bird species (Emberiza calandra, Alauda arvensis and Lanius collurio) at the project sites.
A range of activities will ensure the long-term impact of the project, including the continuation of monitoring, forest and grassland management and public awareness raising. Reducing the length of the dyke from 3.8 km to 1.8 km has resulted in annual maintenance cost savings of around 20 000.
The project served as a best practice example in the drawing up of the 2020 flood protection plan of the German region of Saxony-Anhalt, Mehr Raum fr unsere Flsse (more space for our rivers). The regional environmental ministry says that the project site will serve as a demonstration area for 27 other sites and its results will help develop sustainable river policies that combine flood protection with nature protection. The WWF is also continuing to highlight the project as an example of the benefits of adopting an integrated approach to flood management. The project showed the feasibility of combining an infrastructure project, the construction of a new dyke with funds outside LIFE, with a nature conservation project financed through LIFE. Indeed, the conservation project was only possible with the creation of the dyke. It demonstrated that environmental objectives are compatible with socio-economic benefits, such an improved flood protection and reduced maintenance costs.
Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Conservation Plan (see "Read more" section).
