Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia- With an online kick-off event on the 7th of July the lifelineMDD project was officially launched. For the next 2.5 years, 12 project partners with the support of 17 associated partners from different sectors will work on the improvement of connectivity and biodiversity within the future world's first 5-country Biosphere Reserve Mura-Drava-Danube, the lifeline of the Danube Basin, by restoration of natural river dynamics.

“While the DTP-project coopMDD established a living cooperation between Protected Area managers and produced a Transboundary Management Programme for the planned 5-country biosphere reserve Mura-Drava-Danube, the knowledge base and transboundary cross-sectoral cooperation can still be further improved. There are some unused opportunities for synergies between multiple aims of sectoral players in river management - lifelineMDD aims to address those through a cross-sectoral partnership”, says project manager Kerstin Böck.

The development of a strategic integrated approach to river restoration within planned 5-country biosphere reserve is based on planned scientific studies of fish and river birds population as well as on scientific studies of sediment transport and climate change. A cross-sectoral learning process between nature protection and water management authorities based on three pilot restoration actions aims to raise institutional competences and cooperation between key stakeholders.
 
Moreover, pilot restoration actions will have a direct and visible positive effect on connectivity and river dynamics, as well as on different type of habitats, within the future 5-country biosphere reserve Mura-Drava-Danube. At the same time the involvement of local communities in the volunteering restoration actions will strengthen their tie to nature and help them to understand benefits and opportunities restored riverine landscapes offer for nature and people.
 
“Involvement of NGOs, on local and national policy levels will ensure the sustainability of results by awareness-raising in the local population and development of lasting stakeholder platforms.  By providing an integrated transboundary river restoration strategy based on research, pilot restoration and joint learning, lifelineMDD will strongly contribute to the DTP objective of protecting and restoring ecological corridors and raise cooperation between main actors”, concluded Böck.