Unique cultural landscape between Melk and Krems Dry stone walls, terraced vineyards, apricot orchards, dry grasslands, the free-flowing Danube, ...

The Wachau is a section of the Danube valley that is unique anywhere in Austria and home to a many rare animal and plant species. All supervised areas lie within the European Nature Reserve Wachau. The preservation of this unique biodiversity is heavily dependent upon the maintenance of the areas. The dry grassland areas have to be mown annually or at least every two years, otherwise excessive growth of shrubs will occur.

The association for the World Heritage Municipalities Wachau, province of Lower Austria/Nature Conservation department and Blühendes Österreich (Blooming Austria) have made it their goal to support an agricultural business in establishing an extensive sheep grazing regime in the Wachau Valley and in the Jauerling-Wachau Nature Park.

Young women living in rural areas overwhelmingly underestimate their personal opportunities for the future compared to those living in urban areas. This is resulting in a brain-drain of well-educated women. This project is intended to highlight how modern and diverse the situation for women can be in rural areas and what opportunities for the future are on offer in the Wachau-Dunkelsteinerwald region.

Dürnstein is currently faced with the problem of very large numbers of visitors flowing into the historic town centre at certain times. This causes considerable inconvenience for local residents. The aim is distribute visitor streams better with a plan for structural measures at and around car park P1.

"Overtourism" is a buzzword that is often used in connection with Dürnstein. The historic town centre is one of the best-known sights of the Wachau World Heritage Site. However, the old town is absolutely overrun at certain times. Various measures on every level should help to avoid conflicts and ease the current situation.

Exercise and sport play an important role in maintaining life-long health, yet studies show a lack of exercise and sport in the Austrian population. The “Melk Exercise Park” is intended to help change this failing in Melk and the surrounding area in a completely accessible way.

Krems-Stein, the idyllic twin town, is considered to be the "Gateway to the Wachau" and a pioneering model of monument management with World Heritage status. At the same time, however, the town’s more recent history – and above all its contemporary history – is marred by numerous dark spots.

The Wachau region was inscribed in the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites as a continuing cultural landscape in 2000. Little is known about the value of World Heritage, in particular the “OUV - outstanding universal value”. A major awareness-raising campaign is intended to change this and specifically address the population. The knowledge and importance of the Wachau Cultural Landscape should be imbued in the population as a way of getting everyone to handle this World Heritage site with greater sensitivity.

The Nature Park owes its great diversity of plants and animals to its mosaic-like cultural landscape and the extensively used meadows. Global changes are forcing many agricultural businesses to specialise or shut up shop. A consequence of this are meadows that are no longer managed and increasingly turning into woodland. To counteract this trend and preserve diversity in the Jauerling-Wachau Nature Park, a nature park brand is under development. This label stands for management compatible with nature and gives the businesses’ products added ecological value.