Content by Matej Marusic (DANUBEPARKS)
In September 2024, DANUBE4all partner DANUBEPARKS launched an exciting new project "Lost Paradeis" which is funded by the Open Rivers Programme. The "Lost Paradeis" project will restore a free-flowing hind channel, improving the longitudinal connectivity through the removal of 9 groynes currently obstructing the section between the Paradeis island and the left bank of the Danube, located in Donau Auen National Park. The project will be completed by November 2026.
The project will complement the efforts of the DANUBE4all project to fully restore the natural hydrological dynamics at one of the most valuable and picturesque islands in the Upper Danube. The construction of riparian embankments and groynes for securing the navigable channel next to the Paradeis island has led to loss of hydro-morphological dynamics and ongoing sedimentation, resulting in the complete disappearance of the side channel at low water levels, ongoing succession and vanishing of the characteristic riparian vegetation and fauna.
The two complementary actions will work together to enable the re-establishment of natural dynamic processes and allow the restoration of the ecosystem functions and services, allowing the formation of natural river banks and vegetation along the largest navigable river in Europe.
Visit the link for more information on this exciting project: https://danubeparks.org/news/danubeparks-starts-lost-paradeis-project-open-rivers-programme