]> 2026-04-27T11:44:21+00:00 Case study:Skjern River Project 500 en The restoration of Skjern River - The National Forest and Nature Agency (Denmark) NERI Technical report no. 531. Restoration of Skjern River. Summary of environmental monitoring results 1999-2003. Andersen, J.M. 2005. 96 pp. Skjern River - Restoration of habitats and wildlife of the Skjern LIFE and Europe’s rivers - best river restoration project Approved Barrier removal Yes Yes No Improvement No Fish,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,No,Improvement Invertebrates,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,No,Improvement Fish Invertebrates Yes Re-meandering The Nature Agency, Danish Ministry of the Environment. Yes No Yes false Demolishing pumping station .jpg Bulldozing new river.jpg Excavators skjern river.jpg New wetland.jpg Removal of an old pumping station Bulldozing of the new river course Excavation of the new river course The new wetland No 55.90364,8.440394 Niels Dahlin The Nature Agency, Danish Ministry of the Environment. Lisborg Monitoring strategy Barrier removal,,Creation of wetland,,Re-meandering, ,Monitoring strategy,,Creation of a working group and an advisory board were established with representatives from local and national authorities and NGOs., Yes No No Yes No Awaiting results Improvement No Riparian vegetation,No,Yes,No,Yes,No,Awaiting results European otter,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,Awaiting results Amphibians,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,No,Awaiting results Atlantic salmon,Yes,No,No,Yes,No,Awaiting results Birds,Yes,Yes,No,No,No,Improvement River water discharge and concentrations and transports of pollutants,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,No,Improvement Yes No Riparian vegetation European otter Amphibians Atlantic salmon Birds River water discharge and concentrations and transports of pollutants 5183 Yes No Yes No No Improvement No Nutrient concentrations,Yes,Yes,No,Yes,No,Improvement ,No,No,No,No,No, Nutrient concentrations Yes No 2004-12-31Z 2453370.5 Overall view of the Skjern during (left) and after (right) restoration.png Complete In within a catchment area of 250,000 hectares, the River Skjern (in western Jutland) is the largest river in Denmark in terms of water flow. Previous to human alteration, there was a huge expanse of marshland (4,000 ha) with a mixture of reed-swamps, meadows, meandering watercourses and shallow lakes at mouth of the river. The delta area constituted the habitat for thousands of migratory bird species and also for stable breeding populations of bittern ("Botaurus stellaris"), black tern ("Chlidonias niger") and corncrake ("Crex crex"). Other species (i.e. European otter ("Lutra lutra"), Atlantic salmon ("Salmon salar"), etc.) were also relatively common until the 1960’s, following the straightening and channelizing of the Skjern and the cultivation of the marshland. This had negative impact on wild flora and fauna species, and dealt to water quality issues with severe effects of the fish and waterfowl populations of Ringkoebing Fjord. In 1987, the Danish government decided to launch a major strategy to restore marginal areas to their former natural state and to introduce more compatible land use. The River Skjern was to be the milestone of this strategy. The part involving restoring areas of conservation value of the Skjern was brought as a LIFE-Nature project in January 2001. The "Restoration of habitats and wildlife of Skjern River" aimed to restore 875 ha of the river valley and to improve biological diversity over 1,600 ha by re-introducing grazing. Construction work in the river bed and its tributaries was undertaken for re-meandering 20 km of the river along a more natural course. This enhanced nutrient retention capacity of the river system and enhanced the physical conditions of the site. By the end of project in December 2004 about 1,200 ha of grassland were established, which was less than originally foreseen (1,600 ha). The reason is that the restoration work finally resulted in increased areas of floodplain. However, these extended wetland areas have benefited important species such as the spotted crake ("Porzana porzana"), avocet (Recurvirostra spp.) and bittern (Ardeidae spp.) and consequently will lead to more enhanced nature conservation. Monitoring for the assessment of the ecological conditions in the restored area started in 2000. From 2004, the environmental monitoring programme for the project area became part of the national environmental monitoring programme (NOVANA). This surveillance monitoring is more extensive compared to the 2000-2003 monitoring programme for the Skjern River project area. The River Restoration Centre would like to thank Niels Dahlin Lisborg from the The Nature Agency (Danish Ministry of the Environment) for providing the information and photographs for this case study. Skjern River Project skjern river project http://www.SkjernEnge.dk No Skjern Jutland and Funen Creation of wetland Creation of a working group and an advisory board were established with representatives from local and national authorities and NGOs. Skjern Fisheries Habitat and biodiversity Social benefits 37926811 Skjern 2013-02-13T12:55:04Z 2456337.0382407 2017-06-01T14:47:06Z 2457906.1160417 Skjern River Project 500 1 plainlist 5 [[Category:Case study]] [[Project title::!Skjern River Project]] [[Subcatchment title::Skjern]] Skjern River Project# QUERYc1c9c9c72f1cea8c6caf6e14623d1261