Taking freshwater restoration forward at the MERLIN meeting in Vienna

March 8, 2024

tags: BOKU, Conference, Danube, Large Rivers, Meeting, MERLIN, Nature Restoration Law, River Restoration, Vienna

*The MERLIN team. Image: Jörg Strackbein*

River restorationists from across Europe met last week in Vienna to discuss the progress of the European Green Deal MERLIN project. Over the course of four days, attendees – which included scientists, water managers, finance experts and investors – collaborated in discussions around the seventeen sites across Europe where MERLIN is working to kick-start river restoration with ambitious new approaches.

*Piret Nõukas from the European Commission addresses the meeting. Image: Jörg Strackbein*

The discussions – held in the impressive surroundings of the BOKU River Lab – were well timed given the positive outcome of the latest European Parliament vote on the adoption of the Nature Restoration Law. MERLIN’s work in restoring rivers, streams, peatlands and wetlands across the continent through innovative nature based solutions will provide a vital platform to support restoration across Europe in the coming years and decades.

On the final day, attendees were taken on a trip along the banks of the Danube River, close to the Austrian border with Slovakia. Here, project partners from viadonau are working to reconnect formerly-dammed side arms of the Danube, and to renaturalise its banks. Their work aims to reintroduce more natural habitat and to reconnect the river with its floodplain. Attendees learnt about how this work can be balanced with the navigation needs of ships travelling along the Danube’s course.

*Attendees from across Europe collaborated in presentations, meetings and workshops at the MERLIN meeting in Vienna. Image: Jörg Strackbein*

“We’ve now been through almost two-thirds of this project, and it’s simply amazing to witness the positive energy of all our collaborators — MERLIN seems to increasingly hit the nerve,” said project co-ordinator Sebastian Birk. “We all want to contribute eagerly to changing the usual business. And with the positive vote on the Nature Restoration Law that coincided with the beginning of the meeting, the tone was somehow set for this memorable event.”

“I’m immensely impressed by the motivation of the partners and their willingness to learn – scientists learn about catchment restoration, catchment managers about finances, finance experts about science,” added project leader Daniel Hering. “MERLIN is one of the most satisfying projects I have ever been involved in.”

*Snowdrops begin to flower on the banks of the Danube where vast quantities of earth and stone have been moved as part of restoration works. Image: viadonau*

Watch this space for a new episode of the MERLIN podcast recorded at the meeting, which will offer an in-depth look at the restoration projects on the Danube, and the importance of MERLIN’s work to the Nature Restoration Law and European restoration more broadly.

///

This article is supported by the MERLIN project.