Pannonian saline lakes in Europe are found only in parts of eastern Austria, Hungary and northern Serbia. Due to their high salinity, these stagnant waters are home to many species of plants and birds that are typically found only on beaches, but the condition of the lakes is deteriorating rapidly as a result of human intervention. In recent years, local water directorates, universities and WWF staff have installed sluices in the area to increase water retention. Thus, we have already managed to save some of Seewinkel's ditches from desiccation, and as a result of the success of the project, the restoration of other lakes has also begun.

Barcs, also known as the capital of the Drava, is located in one of the most beautiful parts of the Croatian-Hungarian border, rich in natural values. The fast-flowing, clear-water Drava has formed several oxbows and meanders in the area; The Old Drava is also located here, the longest former sidearm of the river in Hungary, which meanders for more than 15 km in the border area - but its water has gradually decreased in recent years. To save the area’s valuable wildlife and improve the oxbow’s water supply, a water retention structure with a fish ladder was built in partnership with local water and nature directorates.

The Lankóc forest is a Natura 2000 site on the left side of Drava, formulated as a mosaic landscape, with meadows among forest sites. The total size is more than 2,000 hectares with both untouched, strictly protected and more intensively used parts where wood production is also taking place. The Lankóc forest, which consists mainly of oak-ash-elm groves and alder swamp forests, is in great need of abundant water supply, which the project solves by water retention in drainage canals.

The sidearms that naturally formed along the Danube and Drava were often artificially separated from the main riverbed. These man-made changes can deteriorate the ecological balance of sidearms and, in critical cases, even the loss of floodplains. Under the Living Danube Partnership program, WWF, in cooperation with the water authority and municipalities, has embarked on restoration work on six sidearm of the Drava in Croatia so that they can return to their original ecological function.

Forests from the Široki Rit in northern Serbia have been reduced as a result of regular flooding since the second half of the 18th century. This only began to change after the 1950s, when the regulation of the Danube began to dry up and replenish the countryside. In recent years, we have widened and deepened the water supply channel to the area to restore the wetland to its original ecological function. Today, Široki Rit is one of the most important shelters for the surrounding waterfowl and the local amphibian and fish population, where migratory birds traveling through the world can also rest.

Located on the Romanian section of the Danube, Gârla Mare is a huge marsh in the former floodplain of the river. The wetland was originally separated from the Danube for fish farming, but in recent years it has been proven how important a water-retaining area we have lost, so in 2016 the restoration of the connection between Gârla Mare and the Danube has begun as part of the WWF project. Work has focused mainly on the canal supplying the area, and in some places we are strengthening existing embankments to protect fishponds from possible flooding, and to create some open water in closed reeds to increase the diversity of habitat and species.

Persina Natural Park is located in the province of Pleven in northern Bulgaria. Here, the Danube stretches as a natural border between Bulgaria and Romania, and on its way to the Black Sea, it embraces smaller and larger islands and fills them with alluvium. One such formation is the island of Persina, which, although it functions primarily as a prison island, is an important natural treasure where pelicans, once a rarity throughout Europe, nested. The island, which is rich in freshwater swamps, floodplain forests and agricultural areas, is surrounded by a flood defence embankment, through which sluices allow the water of the Danube into the interior areas. By modernizing the sluices regulating the water supply and installing up-to-date monitoring system of the water level, we have achieved that a richer aquatic life can reappear. And in recent years, a larger number of pelicans have moved back to special platforms installed in the large marshes.

In Bulgaria, a number of dams have been built in recent decades that have restricted the free movement of water and fish floating in it. WWF has restored more than 120 km of river connections to protect river fish stocks under the Living Danube Partnership initiative. In practice, this meant dismantling natural barriers (small dams) as well as building a fish ladder that would allow free crossing for fish living in the river.

The Kalimok marsh, west of the Bulgarian city of Tutrakan, was an important centre for commercial fishing until the ’50s. At this time, however, the swamp was drained and separated from the Danube, leading to a steep decline in fish production. As attempts to cultivate the area and later plans to create artificial lakes proved useless, the decision was made to reconnect the wetlands and the Danube. In 2007, new sluices were installed to increase the water supply of the swamp, and the water management system of the wetland was also optimized during the Living Danube Partnership program. Kalimok is now protected from external interference by national and EU legislation.