Stewardship initiatives across 5 monitored basins · 15 total projects
Breaching of historical embankments to reconnect 480 ha of Rhine floodplain near Cologne, restoring natural flood retention and riparian habitat.
Establishment of 12 km of native riparian buffer strips along the Middle Rhine, filtering agricultural runoff and improving bank habitat.
Removal of channelisation structures to restore braided river morphology and gravel bar habitats for spawning fish in the Upper Rhine.
Re-flooding of 1,200 ha of drained lagoon and valley bottom in the Comacchio area, restoring bird habitat and natural water filtration.
Conversion of 3,400 ha of flood-irrigated cereal fields to precision drip irrigation in the Po-Lambro sub-basin, reducing abstraction by 35%.
Planting of 85,000 native riparian trees (alder, willow, poplar) along 45 km of the Ticino corridor to restore shading, bank stability, and insect habitat.
Reconnection of 3,500 ha of the Danube-Drava floodplain in Croatia, one of the largest European floodplain restoration projects, restoring natural flood dynamics and oak-dominated gallery forest.
Construction of a 1.8 km fish bypass channel around the Iron Gates I dam, restoring migration corridors for Danube sturgeon and other diadromous species.
Installation of 55 km of native grass and wildflower buffer strips along Austrian Danube tributaries to intercept agricultural nitrate and phosphorus before entering the main channel.
Restoration of the L'Encanyissada lagoon complex in the Ebro Delta, reversing decades of drainage and saline intrusion to recover 2,200 ha of internationally protected wetland.
Large-scale conversion of 8,500 ha of gravity-irrigated fruit and vegetable fields in Aragón to precision drip and micro-sprinkler irrigation, targeting 40% reduction in water abstractions.
Removal of invasive Robinia pseudoacacia and replanting with native black poplar and white willow along 30 km of the middle Ebro, restoring shade, bank stability, and aquatic invertebrate habitat.
Re-establishment of native riparian buffer zones along the Guadalquivir estuary margins and seasonal streams feeding the Doñana Marismas, reducing agricultural runoff and improving wetland water quality.
Conversion of 740 ha of flood and overhead berry irrigation to sub-surface drip in Huelva province, targeting 35% groundwater abstraction reduction in the critical Doñana aquifer recharge zone.
Construction of 14 infiltration basins in the Doñana dune system to capture winter rainfall and channel it into the critically over-exploited Almonte-Marismas aquifer, supplementing base flows to the Marismas.