PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The March-Thaya floodplain includes parts of Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It floods extensively in spring. The area is considered the largest remaining tract of near-natural riverine and floodplain forest in Central Europe. The Untere Lobau Ramsar Site in Austria is contiguous with the Donau-March-Thaya-Auen Ramsar Site. There are some 120 beavers on the Austrian side of the border. In addition, 650 plant species are present in the area, several reaching the westernmost extent of their European distributions. Human activities include forestry, agriculture, hunting, fishing, sugar refining and recreation. The opening of the Iron Curtain in 1989 led to increased pressure to the conservation value of the area, but also to closer collaboration between the three nation states. Threats included: drying out wetland areas by changing the outflow of floodwaters, regulating rivers, and the effects of the Nove Mlyny dam upstream; the intensification of agriculture and forestry; and plans to build a Danube-Elbe-Oder canal that would cross the March river.
OBJECTIVES
The aim was to conserve the area making use of traditional, extensive farming, and to develop a water management plan appropriate for Ramsar sites.
Arable land would be reverted to grassland. A range of stakeholders would be involved to reconnect the rivers with their floodplain, re-wet meadows and manage alluvial forests. Some 54 ha were to be leased to achieve this, including artificially created sugar factory dumping basins, which have become important for wading birds. Effective collaboration with agri-environment funding (ÖPUL-Programme), Interreg (the EU-funded regional co-operation programme), Phare (the financial instrument in support of pre-accession strategy), the Danube Environmental Programme and a Global Environment Fund project would be sought.
RESULTS
The project proposed restoration activities along reaches of the March and Thaya. Since the March forms a national border, engineering works that affect the banks of the river must also be approved by the Czech Republic and Slovakia. As a result, the study was given to the respective water authorities in those countries, as well as to the "Grenzgewässerkommission" (Commission for waters that constitute borders). The study was accepted mid-1998. This and other aspects of a major water management plan developed in the course of the project, was taken forward by a follow-up LIFE project that began in 1998 (LIFE98 NAT/A/005417).
A total of 111.7 ha of land were leased or contractually protected in some manner. This allowed a diverse range of management interventions including the following:
40 ha of arable land were managed as flood meadow (contracted for 10 years);
50 ha of ‘natural forest reserves’ were created;
38 ha of artificially-created basins that had been used in the past for dumping waste from a sugar factory were leased for 10 years as they were valuable foraging areas for wading birds;
31 ha of nesting areas were protected by contract;
Two herds of Galloway cattle were established to ensure appropriate grazing of 80 ha;
Beavers and birds of prey were mapped;
Indigenous carp and crayfish were farmed; and
Wardening, game management and awareness-raising took place. The latter included improving signage, holding events and meetings and securing media coverage. The project proposed restoration activities along reaches of the March and Thaya. Since the March forms a national border, engineering works that affect the banks of the river must also be approved by the Czech Republic and Slovakia. As a result, the study was given to the respective water authorities in those countries, as well as to the "Grenzgewässerkommission" (Commission for waters that constitute borders). The study was accepted mid-1998. This and other aspects of a major water management plan developed in the course of the project, was taken forward by a follow-up LIFE project that began in 1998 (LIFE98 NAT/A/005417).
A total of 111.7 ha of land were leased or contractually protected in some manner. This allowed a diverse range of management interventions including the following:
40 ha of arable land were managed as flood meadow (contracted for 10 years);
50 ha of ‘natural forest reserves’ were created;
38 ha of artificially-created basins that had been used in the past for dumping waste from a sugar factory were leased for 10 years as they were valuable foraging areas for wading birds;
31 ha of nesting areas were protected by contract;
Two herds of Galloway cattle were established to ensure appropriate grazing of 80 ha;
Beavers and birds of prey were mapped;
Indigenous carp and crayfish were farmed; and
Wardening, game management and awareness-raising took place. The latter included improving signage, holding events and meetings and securing media coverage.