A serene river winds through a gravel bed, surrounded by lush greenery and mountains in the distance. Sunlight glimmers on the water's surface, with branches framing the top of the image.

LIFE
WeNatureEnns

The Enns Blue-Green Corridor Project

Today, the Enns is a canalised river, more than 95 % of whose banks are fortified with riprap. Other hydromorphological deficits include the lack of gravel banks and shallow water areas as well as fine sediment banks.

Nevertheless, the Styrian Enn catchment area harbours numerous habitats for endangered and rare animal and plant species. Large parts of the Enns Valley have therefore been designated as European NATURA 2000 sites. The overall aim of the "WeNatureEnns-Life" project is to restore an approximately 20 km long section of the river with its riparian corridor and ecosystem functions in order to improve the conditions for protected habitats and species.

The Project

LIFE WeNatureEnns aims to create ca. 20 km of a near-natural river floodplain system along the Enns River in Styria (Austria) between the mouth of the Sölk river and Stainach. Measures will target species and habitats in the Natura 2000 sites “Ennstal between Liezen and Niederstuttern”, “Enns-river-arm at Niederstuttern”, and “Gersdorferriver arm”.

The project takes a large-scale, holistic approach, addressing all the problems in the project area, from the channelling of the river to the lowering of the groundwater table and intensive farming.

Image: Schladming expansion

A river meanders through a rural setting, with a small island in its midst. People stroll along the gravel bed, surrounded by lush trees and traditional houses in the background.

The following measures will be implemented:

providing ca. 35 ha of new riparian areas available for natural development and protected by law
removing bank protections to initiate river widening
initiate typical floodplain habitats with amphibian ponds, meadows, hedges, riparian forest and reptile habitats in areas close to the river
establish and enhance connectivity to tributaries
restore river mouths of tributaries
introducing dead wood, large woody debris, and engineered lock jams
implementing an ecological orientated sediment management
information events will be held to encourage local farmers to adopt ecological vegetation management.

Image: Salza