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The project involves 15 partners from 8 countries and aims to restore and conserve 34 islands from Germany to Romania. With the support of the EU Commission, the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River, and the Ramsar Convention, the LIFE WILDisland project is set to become a great example of transboundary cooperation.

Rivers, lakes, transitional and coastal waters, as well as groundwater, are vital natural resources. A significant proportion of water resources are exposed to environmental pollution or other potentially damaging pressures. Protecting and improving the waters of the Danube River Basin is therefore essential for the natural environment, the sustainable development of the region and the long-term health, well-being, and prosperity of the population.

A recent large-scale modelling study has shown that restoring floodplains and reconnecting cut-off water bodies with the Danube River, and its tributaries could play a significant role in improving water quality and removing nitrate pollution in the Danube River Basin.

The signing of the grant agreement between the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) and DG REGIO will enable a feasibility study that aims to identify ways forward to preserve of fish stocks at the Romanian-Serbian border. This action is an important step in the ongoing efforts to achieve a central objective of the EU Strategy for the Danube River: saving the Danube sturgeons from extinction. Despite its longevity, this “dinosaur fish” is considered one of the most endangered species in the world.

Budapest, 2 October 2018 (Press Release) - DANUBE FLOODPLAIN project kick-off meeting sets the stage for 30 months of intense transnational cooperation across the Danube river basin.

Sturgeons and other migratory fish species represent a historic, economic and natural heritage of the Danube River Basin and are indicators of the ecological status of aquatic ecosystems, especially of the functionality of ecological corridors. Their populations have suffered substantially from overfishing, pollution, habitat destruction and disruption of their migration routes. The need for their conservation is recognized at a high political and management level (EUSDR-PA 06, Biodiversity, DRBMP).