The clearing work at the Schwalbeninsel complex, Austria, have just started mid-January.
Before that, a meeting between Donau-Auen National Park experts, the waterway navigation company viadonau, the state forestry and the company, hired to prepare the accesswas carried out on site on January 9th. The aim of the visit was to explain the parameters of the clearing, the guiding markings, the timeline of the works as well as the storage place and access to the site.
Before the heavy machinery can enter the site and start the excavation of the embankment and groynes to restore the natural character of the river bank, some of the vegetation, which covers the tow path and the embankment itself, has to be removed. In order to guarantee minimum negative impact on the ecosystem and no harm to any tree-dwelling animals (bats, dormice, birds, etc.), experts from the Donau-Auen National Park visited the site and carefully marked the growth that is to be cleared. This is also why such work is done outside of the active vegetation and breeding season to ensure minimum disturbance to wildlife. The clearings are usually supervised by National Park experts, who make sure that the marking are being kept and no further damage is done.
Once these works are finished, it would be possible to start the ambitious revitalization measures to remove embankment and adapt the existing groynes in order to restore the connectivity, improve the natural hydrological regimes and support the development of the invaluable riparian forests.
We are really excited to see the changes once the Danube is given the space and the chance to recover and modify its banks and floodplains and we will keep you posted!
