What's New @ Ramsar

WasSerleben brochure highlights Austria's best wetland projects

On World Wetlands Day 2002, the "WasSerleben" campaign was launched by the Austrian "Lebensministerium" (i.e. the "Life Ministry", the Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water, in charge of Ramsar), the Austrian League for Nature Conservation (Naturschutzbund Oesterreich) and the Austrian Federal Forests Ltd company (Oesterreichische Bundesforste AG), as a major contribution to the implementation of the national CEPA programme.

A contest for the 100 best projects to conserve Austria's "WasSerlebensräume" (aquatic habitats) was launched and land owners, municipalities, schools, institutions, companies, artists, media specialists, scientistists and private persons were called upon to submit projects, either for the conservation of species and habitats, or for creative ways of creating awareness, until October 2002. The 100 best projects, to be selected by a special jury, were to be announced in 2003.

The "WasSerleben" (meaning "water life" and "experience something") campaign focuses upon all sorts of aquatic ecosystems in Austria and had continued to address many fields during the 2003 UN Year of Freshwater, as outlined in a leaflet recently produced by the campaign partners. The leaflet (in German, available from the Ramsar Secretariat on request) highlights a number ofthe campaign's best-practice projects, notably:

- non-intensive agriculture practices in the Lange Luss floodplain to favour threatened bird species
- habitat restoration and networking measures at small scale for amphibians in the upper Pinzgau region
- creation of flood retention areas that provide at the same time flood protection and wet grassland habitats in the Koaserin area
- restoration of the typical forest rivers of the Wienerwald
- conservation and restoration of the Tramser Piezen, man-made ponds that provide habitats for specific amphibians, reptiles and dragonflies
- transboundary public awareness and education programmes in the Alpine Rhine valley, shared between Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein
- rehabilitation of the Tiroler Lech river floodplain, a demonstration project in the Alpine region for integrated water management, biodiversity enhancement and increase of public awareness on ecological aspects of local development
- restoration and creation of stop-over and breeding habitats for migratory birds at Grossedlinger pond
- wetland inventory in the federal state Burgenland
- inventory of freshwater sources in the Wienerwald area providng refuge habitats for specific mosses and the European salamander
- restoration of the Raabtal flooplain, including river restoration measures to allow fish to migrate freely again along the river
- wise use and conservation of the wetlands in the Salzkammergut.

For further information about the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, please contact the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland (tel +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169, e-mail ramsar@ramsar.org). Posted 12 December 2003, Dwight Peck, Ramsar.