The Danube-Morava floodplain system is one of the last major wetlands in
the entire Danube Basin. As such, it has received multiple protection status
in both Austria and Slovakia, with parts of it being designated as a national
park, nature reserve, Ramsar site, biosphere reserve, protected landscape
and Natura 2000 site. It has also benefited from a number of model river
and wetland restoration investments made by GEF, EU-Phare, EU-Life, etc.
In August 2001, the environment ministries of Austria, Slovakia and the
Czech Republic signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish in the
floodplain system a trilateral Ramsar site to be jointly and sustainably
protected. This innovative agreement even received the Ramsar Wetland Conservation
Award 2002, honouring the stimulating role that NGOs played in this process.
This remote area of pristine nature along the former Iron Curtain has been
attracting a growing number of visitors who enjoy unique bird watching,
wet meadow trails and jungle-like forests.
However, the lack of any important transport line north of the Danube has
since 1990 bothered traffic planners and triggered them to plan a new high-capacity
transport infrastructure in the area. Today, there is only a ferry at Angern-Záhorska
Ves and a railway bridge at Marchegg used by only a few trains. In 1998,
Austrian government experts and environmentalists recommended that the ferry
at the Angern border crossing be replaced by a road bridge, which they thought
would little affect the valuable wetland. Similarly, the plans to upgrade
the Marchegg railway bridge to make it suitable for pedestrians and bikers
were supported as ecologically acceptable.
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The upcoming EU accession, however, has inspired economic development planners
to demand north of the Danube Floodplains National Park a completely new,
four-lane highway running up to the Marchegg bridge and to rebuild the bridge
to carry heavy trucks. A new industry park is planned at Marchegg and should
be linked with the new industry plants north of Bratislava.
While the re-building of the existing bridge would seem to bring about no
major change at first sight, the far-reaching direct effects such as pollution
and noise, and indirect effects known from similar areas all over Europe
spell disastrous prospects for the wetlands; such a big new route would
not only attract local, inter-city and international traffic from Poland,
Ukraine, Hungary and Germany, but would also trigger the building of new
transport service and commercial facilities. A fast connection to both cities
would stimulate new housing, shopping and entertainment projects in the
surrounding area of Marchegg in Austria and Devinska Nova Ves in Slovakia.
As a result, the currently peaceful back country would within years turn
into an “industry and fast-food suburb” that white storks, beavers
and nature tourists would be pushed out of.
Even the Austrian Auditor’s General Office in late January 2004 expressed
its serious concern to the Lower Austrian provincial parliament, concluding
that this road and bridge as well as the Danube- Oder-Elbe navigation canal
would destroy the Morava wetlands. The Ramsar site would deteriorate, as
roads and bridges are not compatible with the “wise use” concept
to which all governments have committed themselves.
At a meeting with Lower Austrian traffic planners in mid-January 2004, local
citizen initiatives declared their strong opposition to the plan and won
the support of all major Austrian and Slovak NGOs such as WWF, Greenpeace,
Global 2000, Daphne and BROZ. They demand that a strategic environment assessment
of the entire region be carried out to allow more alternatives to be compared.
The Marchegg bridge, they agree, should be used for more railway transport
(including industry) but a road connection should rather be built around
Angern.
NGOs have already started contacting the EU institutions in Brussels. The
Morava road bridge is a test case that will show whether the enlarged European
Union will, indeed, give priority to transport development over environment
protection. Should this prove to be the case, the conflict may be further
heating up in 2004.
More information:
www.zinke.at
www.wuk.at/bimm