Wuppertal, Germany
City population: 340237
Duration: 2006 – 2025
Implementation status: Ongoing
Scale: Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level
Project area: unknown
Type of area: Other
Last updated: October 2021

From 2006 onwards, the urban stream Wupper and its riverbanks were redeveloped and ecologically improved via several water management and planning measures across the city of Wuppertal. Initiated by the city administration and the public sector company Wupper, they aimed at improving the environmental- and water quality or the area and enhancing biodiversity in and around the Wupper. These efforts were accompanied by additional citizens' initiatives with the same goal. (Ref. 1, 2, 3, 9). According to the EU Water Framework Directive, 27 percent of the Wupper and its tributaries are now in good condition, which is well above the German average of 8 percent. The complete renaturalization is planned to be completed by 2025. (Ref. 12)

Renaturalization of the Wupper stream in Wuppertal (2014)
Renaturalization of the Wupper stream in Wuppertal
City of Wuppertal (2014), retrieved 08/10/2018 from Reinhard Gierse

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Grey infrastructure featuring greens
  • Blue infrastructure
  • Riverbank/Lakeside greens
  • Parks and urban forests
  • Green corridors and green belts
  • Rivers/streams/canals/estuaries

Key challenges

  • Water management (SDG 6)
  • Improvements to water quality
  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Habitat and biodiversity restoration
  • Habitat and biodiversity conservation
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Environmental quality
  • Waste management
  • Regeneration, land-use and urban development
  • Regulation of built environment
  • Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
  • Environmental and climate justice
  • Health and well-being (SDG 3)
  • Enabling opportunities for physical activity
  • Creation of opportunities for recreation
  • Cultural heritage and cultural diversity
  • Preservation of natural heritage

Focus

Ecological restoration of ecosystems, Protection of natural ecosystems, Monitoring and maintenance of habitats and/or biodiversity, Management and improved protection of rivers and other blue areas

Project objectives

Transforming the Wupper into a liveable stream. (Ref. 1) Recreating natural habitats for animals and different species (Ref. 1) Improving the environmental quality of the stream and its riverbeds and enhancing their recreational potential (Ref. 1) Reducing the water flow speed, initiating different streams to increase oxygen in the water, creating better living conditions for fish and creating retreats for the fish population (Ref. 3 and 9) Reduce littering, improve water quality and create a more natural environment (Ref. 9) Enhancing structural diversity of the river and its surroundings, improving the existing structure and creating new structures to give back the natural dynamics of the water body (Ref. 3)

Implementation activities

The works on the urban stream Wupper started in 2006 at the old market under the umbrella and funding of the "Regionale 2006" and are still in progress in different sections. (projected termination in 2025 / implementation of the Wuppertal 2025 strategy). Until 2016, 8km of the urban stream Wupper across the city were redeveloped and ecologically improved. In 2017, a 900m section was created and an extended riverbed was created in the Laaken district of Wuppertal. In 2019, a 500m section was renaturalized. Several water management measures were implemented: constrictions by walls, buildings and channeling were removed, slopes flattened, secondary tributaries, natural islands with trees, dead wood, gravel banks were created, riverbanks expanded to change the stream and alders planted at the riverbanks for erosion protection. Also, accessibility to the Wupper was improved with the construction of balconies and by transforming riverbanks into recreational spaces. In addition to the renaturalization measures taken by the city administration, citizens were active in the regeneration by painting river railings or constructing hatcheries (Ref. 1, 3 and 9).

Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities

Biodiversity conservation:

  • Protect and enhance urban habitats
  • Preserve and strengthen existing habitats and ecosystems
  • Create new habitats
  • Preserve and strengthen habitat connectivity
  • Reduce negative impacts and avoid the alteration/damage of ecosystem
  • Protect species
  • Undertake specific measures to protect species
  • Undertake specific measures to protect valued species

Biodiversity restoration:

  • Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems
  • Restore species (native, endangered, or unspecified)
  • Restore valued species
  • Other

Main beneficiaries

  • Local government/Municipality
  • Citizens or community groups
  • Other

Governance

Management set-up

  • Government-led

Type of initiating organisation

  • Local government/municipality
  • Public sector institution

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Dissemination of information and education
  • Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

Although the renaturalization project was commissioned by city of Wuppertal and implemented by the public sector company Wupper ("Wupperverband"), there are many more parties involved in this intervention, such as the regional government as a funding partner, planning bureaus, the fisheries sector, water, landscape and environmental authorities, landowners, the municipal utilities Wuppertal, civil society organizations and citizens. All of them are/were contributing their ideas to the project. (Ref. 1). Responsible for the operation of the monitoring is the regional government department for nature, environment and consumer protection of NRW (Ref. 10 and 11).

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Yes (Water Framework Directive (Ref. 11))
... a national policy or strategy? Unknown
... a local policy or strategy? Yes (In 2006, the city of Wuppertal initiated an open space programme with the goal to complete and improve existing open space in the valley as well as in the heights of the city. The redevelopment of the fomer industrial urban stream Wupper as an integral part of the city landscape via the construction of balconies, promenades and beaches along the stream formed one of its focal measures, laid down in the "guidance plan Wupper - turning 90 degress towards the Wupper" as one of its seven building block projects; it is also a model project of the "Regionale 2006" (Ref. 4 and 5))

Financing

Total cost

€10,000 - €50,000

Source(s) of funding

  • Public regional budget
  • Public local authority budget

Type of funding

  • Earmarked public budget
  • Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)

Non-financial contribution

Unknown

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Water management and blue areas
  • Improved water quality
  • Enhanced protection and restoration of freshwater ecosystems
  • Green space and habitat
  • Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
  • Reduced biodiversity loss
  • Increased number of species present
  • Increased ecological connectivity across regeneration sites and scales

Economic impacts

  • Unknown

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Increased opportunities for social interaction
  • Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
  • Other

Type of reported impacts

Achieved impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Yes

Presence of indicators used in reporting

Yes

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

No evidence in public records

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

Yes

References

1. Stadt Wuppertal (no date a) Ökologische Umgestaltung der Wupper. Available at: Source link 07 Sept. 2020]
2. Stadt Wuppertal (no date b) Stand der Umgestaltung. Available at: Source link [Accessed: 07 Sept. 2020]
3. Stadt Wuppertal (no date c) Wupperufer mit Schwüngen und Bögen vom Zoo bis Rutenbeck. Available at: Source link [Accessed: 07 Sept. 2020]
4. Architektenkammer Nordrhein-Westfalen and Ingenieurkammer-Bau Nordrhein-Westfalen (no date) baukunst nrw - Führer zu Architektur und Ingenieurbaukunst in NRW. Available at: Source link 07 Sept. 2020]
5. Regionale 2006 Agentur GmbH (2006) Dreiecksgeschichten. Eine Region in Bewegung. Regionale 2006. Remscheid. [Weblink unavailable in 2020]
6. Wupperverband für Wasser / Mensch und Umwelt (2017) Wasserwirtschaft im Wuppergebiet. Available at: Source link 07 Sept. 2020]
7. Neue Ufer Wuppertal e.V. (2014) neue ufer wuppertal e.V. Available at: Source link 07 Sept. 2020]
8. Stadt Wuppertal (2015) Strategie für Wuppertal. Wuppertal 2025. Wuppertal. Available at: Source link 07 Sept. 2020]
9. n.a. (2016) ‘Der Fluss wird immer naturnaher. Die Wupper wieder zurückerobern’, Wuppertaler Rundschau, 12 May. Available at: Source link [Accessed: 07 Sept. 2020]
10. Stadt Wuppertal and Gierse, R. (2017) Lebensader Wupper. Entwicklung und Perspektive eines Stadtflusses. Wuppertal. Available at: Source link [Accessed: 07 Sept. 2020]
11. Ministerium für Klimaschutz / Umwelt / Landwirtschaft / Natur- und Verbraucherschutz des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen (no date) Lebendigewässer in Nordrhein-Westfalen. Gewässerüberwachung (Monitoring). Available at: Source link 07 Sept. 2020]
12. Westdeitsche Zeitung. (2018). Wupper: Renaturierung soll bis 2025 abgeschlossen sein. [online]. Available at: Source link [Accessed: 07 Sept. 2020].
Renaturalization of the Wupper stream in Wuppertal (2016)
Renaturalization of the Wupper stream in Wuppertal
City of Wuppertal (2016), retrieved 08/10/2018 from Reinhard Gierse
Renaturalization of the Wupper stream in Wuppertal (2017)
Renaturalization of the Wupper stream in Wuppertal (2017)
City of Wuppertal (2017), retrieved 08/10/2018 from Reinhard Gierse