Water for life – LIFE for water
A Conference of the LIFE Programme
B.1 Hydromorphological alterations – how can technical interventions in rivers be linked to ecological river restoration?
Rivers were and are characterized by a wide range of uses with sometimes conflicting impacts. In the past decades, the pressures on rivers have increased and are still increasing due to various economic activities in Europe, such as flood prevention measures for urban and agricultural land, navigation, and hydropower generation. At the same time, these activities have placed a heavy burden on the river’s ecological status. River restoration has become an important item on the agenda of river managers in Europe, including protecting the natural habitat of the river ecosystems. European decision-makers have established different legislative instruments to protect the ecology and habitats of rivers, and also to protect the inhabitants of river valleys from natural phenomena, such as floods.
As part of the EU’s Water Framework Directive (WFD), which aims to improve the general status of fluvial ecosystems, the European Commission has set an ambitious target of achieving good ecological status for all Europe’s waters by 2015. Apart from the WFD, the EU also has another set of regulations on the protection of habitats of natural ecosystems, namely the Habitats Directive. These two directives have similar objectives: improving biodiversity and favourable conservation status. The Member States have to ensure that they comply with both set of rules at the same time: the rules concerning sustainable water management and the protection of biodiversity and habitats, especially in the areas of Natura 2000 sites.
The session will:
To present demonstrated solutions and current experience from LIFE projects in the potentially conflicting areas of “river engineering and improving ecological status” in the Member States of the European Union.
