River Odense and Fjord

The nature restoration project River Odense and Fjord, which started in 2003, has been carried out and ended in spring 2011. The project is funded by EU Life Nature, the county of Funen and the Danish state.

Outcomes of the project:

  • New wetlands of 350 hectares.
  • Reduction of the nitrogen flow into the Fjord of Odense of approximately 60 tons per year.
  • A re-meandered watercourse stretch of approximately 10 km. of River Odense.
  • Grazing agreements for approximately 156 hectares along River Odense.
  • Grazing agreements for approximately 51 hectares along the Fjord of Odense.
  • Management plans for coastal meadows along the Fjord of Odense and for areas along River Odense.
  • Improvements in the conservation status for Habitat species and Habitat nature types.
  • Information boards.
  • Public observation tower.
  • Website, seminar and reports about the project.
  • Exchange of experiences between Germany and Denmark about the thick-shelled river mussel.
  • Monitoring of the effects.
  • Local involvement of land owners in relation to future management. Grazing guilds have been established.

The project started in 2003, where the land owners were contacted by the county of Funen to get permission to make a survey of the areas as part of the technical/biological pre-investigation. These were conducted in 2003 – 2006.

Process

In 2004 the project “Regional Actions to Improve Nature in River Odense and Fjord - REGAIN” was approved by the EU as a Life Nature Project, for which financing was secured from a combination of grants from the state and the county. The approval from the EU implied that further measures such as public facilities, management plans, nature management agreements, exchange of experience etc. were added to the project.

Life Nature Project

Due to the municipal reform the project was transferred to the Danish Nature Agency, Funen in 2007, which completed the project with funds from the Environmental Billion and grants for nature management.

The project is divided into two main areas:

For further information about the project:


A layman’s report (Danish/English version) has been written, which describes the project in details.

Contact

Annette Strøm Jacobsen
Project manager
ansja@nst.dk
+45 72 54 35 54
+45 25 26 95 66

Vibeke Birkelund
project assistant
vibbi@nst.dk
+45 72 54 35 51
+45 25 26 96 90