The Houting project - Programme LIFE Ruisseaux

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The Houting project
A 13.5 million € nature restoration project
By
Hans Ole Hansen
Danish Forest and Nature Agency Regional Office Wadden Sea
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Houting-project
Houting (Bondelle / Outil)
Whitefish
(Coregonus oxyrhynchus)
(Coregonus laveratus)
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Houting-project
Houting life-cycle
The eggs are spawned in the streams
J F M A M J J A S O N D
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Houting-project
Houting life-cycle
The eggs develop
J F M A M J J A S O N D
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Houting-project
Houting life-cycle
The eggs hatch – the fry are approx. 1 cm
J F M A M J J A S O N D
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Houting-project
Houting life-cycle
The fry drift to static waters
J F M A M J J A S O N D
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Houting-project
Houting life-cycle
The fry swims into the Wadden Sea – approx. 3-4 cm
J F M A M J J A S O N D
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Houting-project
Houting life-cycle
At age 3-4 years the mature houting return
to the stream to spawn for the first time
J F M A M J J A S O N D
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Houting-project
Up to 60 cm – more than 10 years
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Houting-project
Houting life-demands
Clean water
Free passage – both up- and downstream
Adequate physical conditions
Adequate spawning conditions
Adequate nursery areas
Evergreen water plants
Gentle stream maintenance
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Houting-project
Houting distribution
Before
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Houting-project
Human benefits -> Houting threats
Closed sluices
Straightened streams
Obstacles / Damming
Drainage
Harsh maintenance -> Poor physical conditions
and destroyed spawning areas
Pollution
Fishery
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Houting-project
Houting distribution
Before
Today
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Houting-project
: ”Approx. 7,000 houting”
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Houting-project
: ”Approx. 7,000 tigers”
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Houting-project
The houting is the ”Tiger of Europe”
The houting is included in the EU Habitat Directive
as a priority species - we have an obligation to
ensure its survival!
The houting is on the Danish redlist and a number
of similar international lists
As many species benefit from the nature
improvements made for tigers, many species
will benefit from the nature improvements
created for the houting
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Houting-project
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Houting-project
Breeding and release of fry 1987-92
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Houting-project
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Houting-project
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River Skjern 1999
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River Skjern 2002
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River Skjern
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Houting-project
Management plan for Houting 2003
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Houting-project
The overall objective of the Houtingproject
To restore and maintain a favourable
conservation status for the houting in
four south-western Jutlandic rivers
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Houting-project
EU - Life
In 2005 Life-Nature granted 70
mio. € to 55 projects in 20 EUcountries
The Houting-project received 12 %
of the 70 mio. € - i.e. 8 mio. €
The Houting-projects total budget
amounts 13.5 mio. €
- but still grows…!
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Houting-project
The Houting-project will:
Remove 13 obstacles
Give access to an additional 130 km new river habitats
Eliminate mortality of drifting fry past fish farms
Create new spawning grounds
Restore approx. 30 km river
Create 500 ha new nursery areas
Purchase of commercial netting rights
Highlight the importance of watercourses to Danish nature
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Houting-project
4 rivers in the
Houting-project
River Varde Å
River Sneum Å
River Ribe Å
River Vidå
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Houting-project
River Varde Å
Demolish a dam
Close a canal & hydropower plant
All water back into the original river
Re-meander and enlarge
the original river
Restoring 30 meanders (17 km -> 21 km)
Free passage past a fish farm
30.000 m3 new spawning gravel
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Houting-project
Sneum Å
Re-meander 3 km of the river and
create 70 ha new nursery areas
Close 4 fish farms
… and 6 fish farms more
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Houting-project
River Ribe Å
Stamp Mill demolished
New flooding frequency to improve
nursery areas
Free passage past two
fish farms
Spawning-riffles
Purchase of commercial netting rights
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Houting-project
River Ribe Å
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Houting-project
River Vidå
Free passage past an old mill
by constructing a sheet
pile through the millpond
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Houting-project
River Vidå
90 ha wetland
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Houting-project
River Vidå
Free passage past
fish farm
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Houting-project
So…
is 13 mio. € expensive…???
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Houting-project
Moving of the old airport
terminal in Copenhagen
In 1999 the old airport terminal
from 1939 was considered
worthy of preservation and
had to be moved on huge
flatbed trucks for 4 km.
The moving and
reestablishment of the terminal
amounted to…
13 mio. €
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Houting-project
The Houting –
A nature restoration sledge hammer
• Restore 30 km rivers
• Remove 13 obstacles
• Give access to 130 km new river
habitats
• Eliminate mortality of fry
• Create new spawning grounds
• Create 500 ha new nursery areas
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Houting-project
The Houting –
A nature restoration sledge hammer
But in ADDITION :
• Close or rebuild 10 fish farms
• Remove a major dam
• Free access in River Kongeå
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Houting-project
The Houting –
A nature restoration sledge hammer
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Houting-project
Houting-project
Follow the progress in the Houting-project
from the project homepage
www.houting.dk