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.

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.

In a time when churches are being used less and less as places of worship, adapting them into places of culture and retreat is becoming increasingly important. To mark the 300th anniversary of the painter "Kremser Schmidt", his paintings in Wösendorf parish church were lavishly restored. In order to be able to protect the paintings better for future generations and to make their contents easier to see, a new LED lighting system should be installed.

The DANUBEparksCONNECTED project promoted by the "Danube Transnational Programme" runs from 2017 to 2019 and aims at counteracting the fragmentation of habitats along the Danube. The DANUBE HABITAT CORRIDOR campaign is designed to retain important habitats and their connections to each other by means of a Danube-wide strategy and initial pilot measures. A special focus lies on the island habitats of the Danube, the riparian forests and dry grasslands.

In recent years, a number of initiatives have established themselves in the region in late autumn and winter which have had a very positive impact on the development of tourism and thus on extending the season. Apart from the long-distance hiking trail “World Heritage Trail Wachau”, which can be easily hiked even in the colder months thanks to the mild climate, numerous cultural initiatives, such as “ELIT” (European literature days), “Wachau in Echtzeit” (Wachau in Real Time - curated by Ursula Strauss) as well as many Advent markets and culinary events have become established. The implementation of the mobility concept (bus connections) means that all municipalities in the region can now also be easily reached without a car.

The European Diploma for Protected Areas is doubtless one of the most valuable awards that can be bestowed upon a region. Awards can be given to sufficiently protected natural and cultural landscapes – in the case of the Wachau, the designation of the valley as a landscape conservation area is the gentlest possible but nevertheless sufficient level of protection – above all due to their special quality in scientific, cultural, aesthetic and/or recreational terms.

The municipalities of Mautern, Bergern, Furth, Rossatz-Arnsdorf and Schönbühel-Aggsbach will be intensifying their collaboration over the coming years and focusing on the common positioning of the south bank. Under the direction of Martin Vogg, who was previously responsible for the project Wachau 2010 plus, existing offers should be combined with new ones and wrapped up into bookable packages, starting with the two locations of Maria Langegg and the Aggsbach Charterhouse.

The Management Plan for the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Wachau was presented at Göttweig Abbey on 29 March 2017.