The County Administrative Board of Skåne recieves EU support to launch Europe’s largest water restoration project. Nearly SEK 400 million will be invested in improving aquatic environments, reducing the effects of climate change and strengthening endangered fish and mussel populations in southern Sweden. Rivers, wetlands and coastal waters will be restored.
Largest project ever
– It is extremely gratifying and quite amazing that we, on our first attempt secured the largest Life Nature SAP project ever in terms of EU funding. We begin this fall and will continue until 2031, with initiatives in nine counties in southern Sweden, says project manager Karin Olsson at the County Administrative Board of Skåne, which runs Improve Aquatic LIFE, as the project is called.
500 actions
Over seven years, project stakeholders will implement more than 500 actions in 20 rivers and their coastal waters. These include removing migration barriers, recreating floodplains, restoring wetlands and habitats for fish and other aquatic animals in rivers and coastal waters.
Over seven years, project stakeholders will implement more than 500 measures in 20 rivers and their coastal waters.
Success factors
– In Improve Aquatic LIFE, we connect authorities, researchers and non-profit organizations. Collaboration across sectors to implement large-scale projects is the key to long-term, effective restoration and sustainable water management,” says project coordinator Vibeke Lirås, adding that the diversity of actors and measures within the project is crucial to the project´s success.
Skåne measures
The actions in Skåne amount to around SEK 50 million and include measures in Rönne å, Råån, Kävlingeån, Vramsån and coastal waters. Examples of measures include:
- Recreating stone reefs in coastal waters and removing migration barriers in rivers. Unique habitats will be restored, strengthening fish stocks and biodiversity. These efforts also provides better conditions for recreation and increased nature tourism.
- Special focus is placed on salmon, sea lamprey and eel, species that are highly endangered in Europe and also in Skåne. Through smart passage solutions and improvements in habitats and water quality, survival and production can increase significantly.
- The freshwater pearl mussel and the thick-shelled river mussel, both critically endangered in our waters, will be reintroduced rivers where they have significantly declined or disappeared. Mussels act as natural water purifiers. Successful establishment contributes to improved water quality and increased biodiversity.
- Challenges such as flooding and droughts in a changing climate will be addressed by restoring the natural hydrology of rivers through the recreation of wetlands and floodplains.
Historical event
– In Skåne, we will place stones in the sea at a couple of locations. This is historic for two reasons. First, this will be the first large scale stone reef restoration in Skåne. Second, it marks a symbolic beginning of efforts torestore some of the damage caused by historical stone fishing along Skåne’s coastal environments,” says marine biologist Jonas Gustafsson from the County Administrative Board of Skåne.
Stakeholders in Improve Aquatic LIFE: The nine County Administrative Boards in the the Skagerrak and Kattegat and South Baltic Sea Water District (Värmland, Västra Götaland, Halland, Skåne, Blekinge, Kronoberg, Jönköping, Kalmar, Östergötland) together with the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Karlstad University, University of Gothenburg, Lund University, the Municipality of Helsingborg Municipality, the Municipality of Tingsryd and Swedish Anglers Association.
Funders: EU (60%), Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (22.5%), Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (5%) and other partners (total 12.5%).