A man in yellow rubber boots and a white shirt from project partner LIFE looks into the distance from the riverbank with binoculars. You can see him from behind in the front of the picture, standing in the sun next to a tree surrounded by bushes. At the back of the picture, the river shimmers in a clear blue. Behind the river is a lush green forest, which also shines in the sunshine.

News about the
project events

Find all the latest information on the LIFE Blue Belt Danube Inn project here. We report on the latest developments relating to the progress of the measures, right up to the site inspection and the official start of the project.

Fish migration aid planned at VERBUND's Ybbs-Persenbeug power plant

March 2025

Project manager Ulrike Drabek demonstrates the challenges faced by the LIFE Blue Belt Danube Inn team when planning the fish migration aid at the Ybbs-Persenbeug Danube power plant. There are also new gravel banks there, which serve as a model for similar measures along the Danube and Inn.

Creation of the fish migration aid in Passau-Ingling

August 2023

NEEMO visitation

June 2022

First EU monitoring visit to the LIFE Blue Belt Danube Inn project: Together with the project management team, Jörg Böhringer was commissioned by NEEMO to see the impact of the construction projects for himself. They visited the renaturalisation areas around the Simbach-Braunau, Passau, Jochenstein and Aschach Inn power plants. Together with the LIFE Riverscape Lower Inn project, valuable habitats will be created along the Danube and Inn rivers in the coming years.

Who is NEEMO?
The NEEMO team poses together in the LIFE Blue Belt Danube Inn area. A large flag with the LIFE logo is held up in the centre. In the background is a bright green forest with a bright blue sky above.

ARTE documentary "Paradies aus Menschenhand"

In the documentary "Paradies aus Menschenhand" (Paradise by human hand), the TV broadcaster ARTE focused on the Lower Inn. The key points here were the measures near the power plants and the ecological success of the bank structures, ballast islands and fish passes along the Inn.

Preview image for the Arte documentary 'Man-made paradise' showing a hydroelectric power station from the downstream side. You can see green-blue water flowing over the weir fields, while in the background you can see the blue River Inn and a landscape with dark green forests and, above, a blue sky with puffy white clouds.

Official start of the project

February 2022

VERBUND, the leading hydropower producer in Central Europe, is connecting the last previously interrupted habitats along the Danube and border Inn with the huge "LIFE Blue Belt Danube Inn" programme. Following on from successful projects, the Schärding-Neuhaus, Passau-Ingling, Jochenstein, Aschach and Ybbs-Persenbeug power plants will be equipped with fish migration aids and the banks will be extensively renaturalised. The investment of 60 million euros will make the Danube and Inn passable for fish from Romania to Rosenheim by 2027.

Kick-off
A current breaker can be seen in the Altenwörth fish migration aid, consisting of large rocks and stones as well as green plants. The current breaker serves as a nesting place for living creatures and is therefore placed in the centre of the dark blue water to break the current properly.