Protection & strengthening

Municipalities draft action plan for the Ried

The Ried, an important counterpart to urban sprawl.

(Bild: Land Vorarlberg)

The pressure on this special Vorarlberg landscape is growing. Dornbirn, Hohenems and Lustenau have jointly developed a concept aimed at protecting the Ried.  

The Ried in the municipalities of Dornbirn, Hohenems and Lustenau is a very special landscape area with a wide variety of qualities and functions. The result of centuries of agricultural use, this cultural landscape is now one of the largest contiguous open spaces in the entire Alpine Rhine Valley.

The Ried is highly relevant as a counterpoint to the densely built-up settlement area in the Rhine Valley - keyword urban sprawl - and as an important recreational area for around 100,000 people. It is also the basis for the production of regional foodstuffs.

The Ried is therefore a multifunctional landscape area whose importance for Vorarlberg cannot be overestimated.

Seven fields of action identified
In order to further strengthen and protect the green lung of the Rhine Valley, the three municipalities have now drawn up a landscape development concept (LEK). In it, the municipalities acknowledge the existing extent of the Ried and want to preserve it in the long term. The concept also sets out a wide range of current conditions (for example in terms of agriculture, climate change or water balance) and targets for further action have also been developed. Seven fields of action were identified, for example the Ried as a planning area, agriculture, nature and biodiversity or leisure and recreation.

The Ried is a local recreation area and home to plants and animals worthy of protection.

(Bild: Kurt Krimberger)

Immediate measures
Because those responsible have developed an extremely diverse bundle of tasks with different priority levels, the concept also includes a list of measures of the highest urgency. These include

- An agricultural concept is to be drawn up for the Ried.

- The municipalities will come together at regular Ried conferences to discuss the next steps.

- The designation of protected areas is to be examined.

- Ecological upgrading of the Rhine Valley inner canal.

- The status quo of the riding stables is surveyed (land use, number of animals kept, traffic volume including development concept).

- The riding huts are to be renovated. This may even mean dismantling those huts that should never have been built.