Cross-border cooperation in climate proofing

The CLIMANATRES project (Climate-proofing ecological restoration plans in the middle and lower Danube Region) is a new project aiming to strengthen the scientific and planning basis for climate-resilient nature restoration.

Spanning the middle and lower Danube basin and the Sava basin, CLIMANATRES tackles a shared pressing challenge: as climate change alters temperature, rainfall patterns and hydrological regimes, restoration plans that have been designed under past conditions may no longer ensure long-term ecological stability. The project aims to “climate-proof” restoration by integrating high-quality climate data and modelling into habitat suitability analyses. This will help identify where restoration of EU priority habitats remains viable and where alternative strategies are needed.

Beyond research, CLIMANATRES will create practical tools and decision-support systems to translate scientific findings into policy and planning. The cross-border cooperation of the project’s transnational consortium, which combines scientific research, policy expertise and practical conservation experience, will develop shared databases, habitat suitability maps and decision-support tools that will be freely available to planners, authorities and NGOs throughout the region. Moreover, pilot areas along the Sava River corridor and the Danube–Tisa catchment area will demonstrate how regional-scale climate models can be translated into concrete, local restoration measures. These pilots will serve as examples of how cross-border data sharing and coordinated planning can deliver coherent restoration outcomes.

CLIMANATRES co-funded by the Interreg Danube Region Programme. Running from April 2025 to March 2028, it brings together 11 partners from six countries (Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria). The project is coordinated by the HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research in Hungary and has a total budget of nearly €2 million.

You can find more about the project here.