Background Some 352 km of the Danube flows through Austria. Its course has been shaped by measures taken to regulate the river flow, with the exception of the two sections in the Wachau and east of Vienna. The development of the Danube for hydroelectric power has additionally reshaped about 80% of its course. The dams have a significant ecological impact and the power plants have split up the river into environmentally unconnected sections. Moreover, the floodplains and floodplain water bodies along the river are now for the most part cut off from the Danube by dams. As a result, the Danube’s tributaries are in most cases no longer connected with the Danube or one another. Objectives The project aims to implement measures to improve the conservation status of habitats along the entirety of the Danube in Austria. A total of four Natura 2000 sites will benefit directly from the actions and all the Natura 2000 sites on the Danube in Austria will profit indirectly from the project as a whole. The project region extends from the vicinity of Vienna to the German border in Upper Austria. The Danube downstream from Vienna is not included because one section of the river, along the Donau-Auen National Park, is already the focus of comprehensive restoration projects and has been targeted by an earlier LIFE project. Specific objectives are to: Improve the conservation status of the habitats of the reservoirs at the power plants by creating gravel structures - these are no longer abundant in the Danube today, yet are necessary for the survival of the majority of the endangered fish species; Improve the habitat status by reconnecting existing or newly created habitats, thus making them accessible. To achieve this aim, ecologically effective facilities for fish to bypass barriers will be created.With a view to protecting fish species, a significant improvement in the habitat of 17 Annex II and IV species will be achieved within the entire Danube in Austria. Many of the protected species are fast water gravel-spawning fish, which during reproduction and in the juvenile stage will benefit greatly from the planned actions. The creation of structures at the heads of the reservoirs and the bypass branches will result in a significant increase in fish populations. An improvement in the habitat conditions for several ‘slow-water’ species will also be achieved by the creation and reactivation of backwater systems. The entire fish fauna of the Austrian Danube, including 57 domestic fish species, will benefit from the project. The project will thus make a significant contribution towards maintaining and improving the river’s biodiversity. In the long term, these benefits will be felt upstream and downstream beyond the borders of Austria, thus benefiting neighbouring Natura 2000 sites as well. The project will have a great demonstration value. The method carried out in Austria – i.e. the development of a complete plan that covers a large region with a high number of individual measures (including LIFE Nature projects) – is intended to serve as an example for other countries bordering the Danube. Expected results: The construction of bypass branches (at least 22 km) at three power plants; The creation of gravel habitats (gravel banks, gravel islands) in the reservoirs of five power plants on the Danube entailing 325 000 m3 of gravel; and The creation of 500m of branches on the shores of the Danube.By the end of the project, the ease in which fish can pass through the Danube in Austria will be restored over a length of 300 km, leaving only two power plants as barriers (one near the border with Germany and the other in the centre of Austria). For the latter, solutions will have been proposed.