Impressions from the restauration conference
- Apr 30
- 3 min read
On 27 April 2026, the “Farming for Nature Austria” team, together with the organic farming association ERDE und SAAT, held a major event at the Ankersaal in Vienna on the theme “Renaturation – this is how it can be done.” Over 400 people attended the event, combined in person and online.
“On this day, we want to make a clear statement that the restoration of our indispensable resource, nature, is recognised. Experts from the fields of nature conservation and agriculture will use very concrete examples to show how they envisage improving habitats in our cultural landscape and what they are already doing to achieve this,” said Wolfgang Suske, project manager.
Johanna Gerhalter, a committed farmer from Salzburg, explained how she is already re-wetting a lowland bog on her farmland, the challenges she faces, and why she has taken the initiative in this area. Christian Schröck, one of Austria’s best-known bog experts, reported on the state of bogs in Austria.
Habitat restoration is also necessary in areas that are intensively farmed and far from being designated as protected areas. Farmer Johann Moser, together with a group of colleagues in the Inn Valley, has developed unique ideas on how to quickly arrive at effective solutions for improving habitats in their region. “Some birds fly endless distances from Africa to us here in Oberhofen to breed. Surely we can manage to provide them with suitable breeding sites,” says Moser, explaining the motivation behind his work.
Information and opinions were exchanged during a networking lunch and at numerous consultation stations with renowned experts. Representatives from the European Commission, the Ministry of the Environment and Agriculture, a youth organisation, the federal states and the scientific community then addressed the thorny issues of restauration in a closing discussion: How far have restoration plans progressed in Austria and other countries? What is the latest on funding? What about the voluntary nature of the initiative? – these were some of the questions discussed during the session. At the end of the day, the five new Ambassadors for Biodiversity were officially appointed.
The photos from the event are free to use; please include a link to our website.
The livestream of the event can be found here.
