Background The River Main is one of the principal tributaries of the Rhine. It runs for 524 km through the German states of Bavaria, Baden-Wurttemberg and Hesse and forms part of an important inland waterway link from the north. It has been extensively canalised and is a busy shipping route. The river valley has been heavily settled and intensively farmed. It is lined with river ports and excavated pits which have historically provided sand and gravel for the construction industry. Many of these pits are now disused and have become lakes which are now increasingly used for leisure activities by the local population. Despite these disturbances, several thousand birds use the valley section between the Bavarian towns of Hassfurt and Eltmann as a staging post along their migration route. Many parts of the area are designated Natura 2000 sites. But these important habitats had come under threat. The floodplain meadow habitats had all but disappeared. Other areas capable of supporting the birds had been gradually shrinking, while the pressures from human activity had been increasing. Residential housing, transport, industry and leisure were all competing with wildlife for the small amount of still-open land. Without suitable alternative areas, the only option for conservationists was to try to reverse the decline of the existing migration staging posts. Objectives The local district authority formed a working group with the municipalities to prepare and implement a LIFE Nature project to provide new meadow habitat for migrating birds in the valley of the River Main. The project intended to convert an area of existing cropland and silage grassland into floodplain meadow, using specially formulated mixtures of seeds to accelerate the process. It aimed to achieve new areas of semi-natural, species-rich grasslands and tall-herb formations. It also sought expansion of the reedbeds and floodplain forest to provide a wide range of bird habitats. Traces of former river side-channels would be excavated so that spring floods could turn them into temporary pools. Some abandoned gravel pits would be modified to become bird refuges. Measures would also be taken to control the increasing effects of leisure activities on the area by separating water sports and bird life on the lakes. The project intended to provide guidance to visitors and to establish ways of managing their use of the area. Bird observation points would be provided and work done to raise public awareness about the conservation aims. All the changes would be documented on film and aim to show how nature can be protected even in densely-populated areas. Results This LIFE project demonstrated how nature protection can be successful even in a densely populated area with high land-use conflict. It restored or preserved 1 000 ha of bird habitats over a 20 km-long section of the River Main valley and secured the area as an important nesting, resting and migration place for a number of Annex I birds, particularly water fowl and Nordic species. The project purchased 22 ha of intensively used arable land spread over a number of the project’s sites and turned it into grassland. Another 4.4 ha of existing grassland was also bought. These land purchases were key and involved some protracted negotiations with farmers. Management plans for sheep, cattle and mowing were also agreed. Extensive grass land management was undertaken over 56 ha. In total, six habitat types covered by the FFH Directive were created or enlarged: floodplain meadows (6440), sandy dry grasslands (*6120), alluvial forests (*91E0), alkaline fens (7230), Chenopodion rubri (3270) and lowland meadows (6510). Floodplain meadows were created by sowing 18.3 ha over a variety of the project’s six main sites. Topsoil was removed and wet depressions created to encourage flooding over a total of 17.1 ha in four areas. Shallow water areas were created over 7.57 ha and alluvial forest was initiated across 4.5 ha. One former gravel pit was bought with its bordering arable land. At this pit, and two other artificial lakes within the project sites, new shallow banks were formed to discourage swimming and disturbance by tourists and reedbeds were created. The project improved habitats for 11 breeding bird species and 15 resting bird species, particularly Luscinia svecica, Botauris stellaris, Crex crex and Pandion haliaetus. By the project’s end, the number of Annex I bird species observed in the area had increased markedly – from 14 in 2004 to 43 in 2008. Breeding bird species increased from five to eight. A bird-observation tower was built at the Großer Wörth lake, two nature trails were marked out to avoid important habitats and 19 information boards erected. A transportable exhibition was also set up with five information boards. Public awareness was further developed through 50 000 copies of a project flyer, two brochures, annual calendars and two video films. By the project end, 91 educational excursions had been made to the areas. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report (see "Read more" section).