LIFE Danube floodplains wins top nature prize at LIFE Awards 2026

When LIFE Danube floodplains began in 2015, it faced what seemed like an extremely demanding task: to restore natural Danube floodplain habitats severely affected by 200 years of dam construction, river regulation and intensive land use in Slovakia and Hungary. Now the 9-year, €6 million project has been recognised for its outstanding success by winning the Nature & Biodiversity category in the recent LIFE Awards 2026 , held as part of European Green Week.

The area of the Danube floodplains between the Slovakian villages of Dobrohošť and Sap is part of the Danube inland delta, a rare system of branched river arms. These branches once freely meandered through deposits of Danube gravels and sands, creating an important reservoir of high quality drinking water. The project successfully improved the local micro-climate and flood protection by enabling controlled flooding, particularly damaged by the establishment of the Gabčíkovo dam.

Re-establishing a water regime closer to the natural one allowed old river branches and wetlands to be re-wetted, recreating suitable conditions for amphibian reproduction and fish spawning. As a result, many bird species increased their presence, including herons, night herons, storks and the white-tailed eagle.

Because historical changes to the water regime had also affected forestry practices, opening the area to more intensive forest management, the project worked to remove invasive and non-native species such as tree of heaven, Japanese knotweed, box elder and white ash. These were replaced with native species including common alder, wild cherry, European hornbeam, European ash, and grey, white and black poplar.

Maintaining Danube-related ecosystems also required restoring traditional grazing in areas that were originally covered by grassland habitats. The project successfully involved local agricultural cooperatives and revived willow pollarding, another practice that had gradually been abandoned.

In addition, the project created employment opportunities for local people, including tractor drivers, shepherds, horse handlers, visitor guides and forestry workers.

The project improved water regime of the Danube inland delta on 1 805 ha by increased simulated floods - roughly the size of 2500 soccer pitches! In addition, it led to the reconstruction of 7 weirs/culverts and restored 3 main river branches for a total of 9 570 meters. Forest habitats were restored by removing invasive species on 128 ha and planting 73 900 seedlings of native tree species (most of them grown in project nurseries) and grassland habitats were revived on 82 ha through extensive grazing.

The project also engaged the public through a wide range of activities. Alongside promotional materials such asleaflets and interpretation boards , it developed a story book for children and organised field visits, interactive exhibitions, family days, festivals and nature camps for children. By the time it finished in 2024, LIFE Danube floodplains was the biggest project of its kind ever undertaken in Slovakia.

Tomáš Kušík of the BROZ Regional Association for Nature Conservation and Sustainable Development , which coordinated the project together with Miriam Milackova and Andrej Devecka, said 'It wasn't always easy, but the result was well worth it. We were able to bring everybody to work together for nature and for the Danube.'

LIFE Danube floodplains provided strong support to the implementation of EU Birds, Habitats and Water Framework Directives, as well as the Nature Restoration Regulation, the 2030 EU Biodiversity Strategy and the integrated framework for European climate resilience and risk management.