European Fundend Projects

  • ID:
    projects-652
  • fiwar:
    LIFE03 NAT/D/000006
  • Project_Acronym:
    Ems Niedersachsen
  • Project_Name:
    Near-natural river dynamics on the River Ems in Lower Saxony
  • Funding Authority:
    LIFE
  • Call for proposals:
    Nature
  • Focus Area:
    Freshwater,River basin management
  • Begin Date:
    2004-01-01
  • End Date:
    2008-06-30
  • Status:
    Completed
  • Budget:
    € 002 000 000.00
  • Description:
    The main objectives of the project were the restoration and conservation of natural river structures and traditional extensively used semi-natural landscapes along 30km of the Ems River and its floodplain. The plan was to re-initiate dynamic processes by removing the stone blocks reinforcing the banks, to restore sandbanks by morphological riverbed development and to restore natural vegetation to the river and its banks. Works to modify the Listrup weir across the river would seek to re-establish the natural flow. In the floodplain, the project sought to turn arable land into extensively used grassland, characterised by a typical riverine landscape with moist depressions, temporary pools and ponds, floodwater channels and trenches and sedimentation areas. Planned actions included the planting of indigenous floodplain forest on land which is currently intensively used for agriculture, while existing forests consisting of hybrid poplars and exotic conifers would be changed into woodlands of deciduous trees. Suitable areas would be given back to natural succession and former meanders re-opened. The project intended to develop collaboration with all stakeholders to find solutions to the potential conflicts between nature conservation, agriculture and water management and mark a further step towards fulfilling the vision of an extensive ecological corridor along the whole of the River Ems. The project therefore aimed to pay considerable attention to public relations and information work.
  • Resource:
    https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/life/publicWebsite/project/LIFE03-NAT-D-000006/near-natural-river-dynamics-on-the-river-ems-in-lower-saxony
  • Inland water types:
    Rivers and estuaries', 'Wetlands'