Danube river basin lighthouse – Protection and restoration of migratory fish habitats

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

The implementation of the European Green Deal, the Biodiversity Strategy, the Water Framework and Habitat Directives, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and policies that concern freshwater ecosystem protection, in particular to the implementation of the Updated River Basin Management Plan for Danube 2021[1]; 

• Demonstrated sustainable and effective solutions ; 
• Improved protection and management of migratory fish species in the Danube River Basin and its delta, with a focus on endangered species of high significance for the ecosystem or for local communities; 
• Measurable improvements in protecting and restoring critical fish habitats, their availability, accessibility and connectivity within the Danube River basin and its delta; 
• Improved transnational and trans-sectoral cooperation between national/local authorities and other actors involved in fish habitat protection and restoration; 
• Evidence to support the implementation of River Basin Management Plans addressing the needs of migratory fishes; 
• Active support to the Mission’s Digital Ocean and Water Knowledge system through advances in knowledge related to freshwater dimension. 

Migratory fish species represent an economic and natural heritage of the Danube River Basin and are indicators of the ecological status of aquatic ecosystems, especially of the functionality of ecological corridors. The need for their conservation is recognised by the scientific community as well as at a high political and management level (EUSDR Action Plan[2] - Priority Area 04 and 06).  

This topic will support the European Green Deal and the European Biodiversity Strategy, in particular its target of 25,000 km of free-flowing rivers, the Water Framework Directive, the Habitats Directive, the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) and contribute to the Mission’s objectives. 

Proposals should build on and enhance the outcomes of the Interreg project MEASURES[3]” and the WE PASS[4]” Initiative set up by the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR)[5], which provide knowledge and guidance for the design of effective measures and their subsequent demonstration at a river basin scale. Activities should contribute to river and habitat continuity, as well as the effect on water quality as addressed within the framework of the Danube River Basin Management Plan. 

The proposals should also build on research and innovation developed in the current and previous EU framework programmes, such as but not limited to Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe - Work Programme 2023-2024 Missions  (notably with projects selected under topics HORIZON-MISS-2021-OCEAN-02-02 and HORIZON-MISS-2021-OCEAN-02-04; HORIZON-MISS-2022-OCEAN-01-02; HORIZON-MISS-2023-OCEAN-01-02) and relevant LIFE projects, EMFAF/EMFF, EU monitoring programmes and national and regional programmes in the Danube river basin and its delta (e.g. Interreg, ERDF, EU Macroregional Strategies). 

Proposals under this topic are expected to show how their activities and results will achieve the Mission objective 1 - Protect and restore marine and freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity. Proposals should focus on the demonstration of sustainable and effective solutions for the enhancement of a protected network of critical habitats, involving relevant actors at a transnational/national scale and across relevant sectors, relevant national and regional authorities, riparian communities, landscape planners, ecologists as well as concerned economic actors, including fishers.

These demonstration activities should appropriately combine measures focused on habitat availability, accessibility and connectivity with measures for the protection and restoration of critical habitats, such as spawning, nursery, feeding and wintering grounds. Activities could also aim at removing pressures to enable natural recovery of fish habitats.  The scale and range of the area for demonstration activities should be ecologically relevant and impactful and based on the recommendations and results of the previously mentioned projects.

The measures should be tailored to the specific river section(s) and related habitats and should contribute to improving the good ecological status and ecosystem services provided by key river ecosystems and habitats. Nature-based solutions and building with nature should be prioritised. 

Training and communication activities addressing stakeholders, including regional and local authorities, as well as the ‘associated regions’, should be described in each proposal. Local actors, including where appropriate, the European Solidarity Corps and Mission Citizen Assemblies, should be involved in the demonstration activities. 

Projects funded under this topic should:  

•  Show a significant replication potential by identifying areas and locations where the proposed solutions could be replicable. An action plan and roadmap needed for the replication and scale up of the solutions for fish habitat protection and restoration are expected to be drawn up by the end of the project; 
• Include impact monitoring of the activities addressing fish habitats in the Danube River basin, including its delta, in cooperation with the Information System[6] set up through previous projects such as MEASURES and relevant European Research Infrastructures. In addition, the project is expected to monitor the impacts and effectiveness of demonstration activities at a local scale. The project should link with the activities carried out under the Digital Twin Ocean, in particular those addressing freshwaters, and support data and knowledge sharing through the Ocean and Water Knowledge System, as well as benefiting from it to foster cross-region, pan-European approaches; 
• Provide recommendations and guidance to align protection of migratory fish with regard to new policy measures and infrastructure projects and to strengthen cooperation across relevant sectors (water, navigation, fisheries, hydropower and energy, etc.). 

Projects are also expected to integrate actions to support the social and economic transitions towards sustainable, inclusive and long-term management of the restored and protected ecosystems, including natural, social, economic and cultural elements and business models for generating revenue from the restored and protected ecosystems and involve for that purpose local business communities, in particular SMEs, investors and other business stakeholders.  

The project funded under this topic should build links with:

- other Mission activities and other relevant activities within the lighthouse and its area to maximize synergies as well as with other Mission lighthouses and their activities;  

- the Mission implementation monitoring system that will be part of the Mission Implementation Platform and with the Danube River basin lighthouse support facility and platform, for reporting, monitoring and coordination of all relevant implementation activities in the lighthouse area as well as with the Blue Parks technical support platform;  

- the activities of the ICPDR as well as with the national and regional authorities with competence in the area of fish habitat conservation and protection.  

To address the impact-driven approach of the Mission and the nature of Innovation Actions, projects are expected to work with and engage at least 5 ‘associated regions’ to showcase the feasibility, replicability and scalability of the solutions developed within the projects in other areas. The concept of ‘associated regions’ is implemented through Financial Support to Third Parties (see the Specific Conditions table for this topic). ‘Associated regions’ are understood as regions with ecosystems that can benefit from the demonstration activities and/or less-developed regions, with the need to build capacity to implement the innovative solutions to improve fish habitats. The projects should ensure that the 'associated regions' are not already involved in the demonstration sites covered by the projects. The partners should proactively reach out to the 'associated regions' to enable them to follow closely the project and its demonstration activities. The projects should continuously share their outcomes and knowledge with those ‘associated regions’ and provide them with technical assistance to build capacity and to implement sustainable, balanced and effective fish habitat protection and connectivity at a river basin scale in their territory that contribute to achieving the Mission objectives. Proposals must outline the selection process of the third parties to which financial support would be granted based on principles of transparency, objectivity and fairness, in accordance with part B of the general annexes to this work programme.

[1] https://www.icpdr.org/main/publications/danube-river-basin-management-plan-drbmp-update-2021

[2] https://danube-region.eu/

[3] MEASURES - Interreg Danube (interreg-danube.eu)

[4] WE PASS - Facilitating Fish Migration and Conservation at the Iron Gates | ICPDR - International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River

[5] ICPDR - International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River

[6] https://www.interreg-danube.eu/approved-projects/measures/section/measures-information-system-mis

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