News

In November, the LIFE RESTORE for MDD team gathered in Bad Radkersburg for the project’s 5th Consortium Meeting, marking an important milestone after two years of implementation. With all 17 partner organisations present from across the UNESCO Five-Country Biosphere Reserve Mura-Drava-Danube, we reviewed the progress made so far and defined the next steps for restoring river and floodplain habitats across the region.

A particular highlight of the week was collaborating with the LIFE-Boat4Sturgeon project, led by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU). Together, we released 300 young sterlets, a native sturgeon species, into the River Mura. Looking ahead, the LIFE-Boat4Sturgeon project plans to hatch and raise around 200,000 sterlets between 2026 and 2030 in a container facility on the Slovenian riverbank, using water from the Mura, before releasing them into the river. As LIFE RESTORE for MDD continues to improve habitat quality and connectivity, these efforts go hand in hand – strengthening the conditions the sterlet needs to return and thrive over the long term.

On the same day, Austrian Federal Minister Norbert Totschnig and Slovenian Minister Jože Novak signed the ‘goMURa’ Declaration for the restoration of the Mura River. This reaffirms the commitment of both countries to protecting and sustainably developing this unique river landscape, a process to which the LIFE RESTORE for MDD project has contributed.

For us, this moment clearly illustrates the close link between habitat restoration and species conservation. When rivers are given more space and floodplain habitats are restored, rare and extinct species are given a real chance of returning. Together with our partners, we are working step by step towards a healthier, more resilient river system in the UNESCO Five-Country Biosphere Reserve Mura-Drava-Danube.