Fluvial landscapes - an important ecological dimension within European protected areas
Helmut Kudrnovsky & Werner Lazowski, Key note
Online available databases and inventories like "Nationally designated areas (CDDA)", "Protected Planet" or "Natura 2000 network of protected areas" hold qualitative and spatial information about protected areas (in the broadest sense) in Europe and around the world. Riparian zones represent transitional areas occurring between land and freshwater ecosystems, characterised by distinctive hydrological, soil, and biotic conditions, and mainly influenced by the stream running water. They provide a wide range of riparian ecological functions and ecosystem services. The online available GIS data set "Riparian Zones" covers spatial information of fluvial landscapes across Europe. In this talk, the relevance of fluvial landscapes within European protected areas will be elaborated by overlaying spatial information with the protected area data set mentioned above. The presentation will give some overview and insights as well on European level and on national or regional levels. Furthermore, we also will give some examples of the implementation of conservation measures especially within the LIFE programme, concluded by a perspective for regional and ecological developments of protected fluvial landscape ecosystems.