Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
The Wachau, part of the Danube valley, is characterized by rocky slopes and cliffs. Land-use in the Wachau is mainly vineyards and orchards on the slopes, with arable land on the valley floor. Extensive areas of forest also remain on the slopes but native broadleaved species have been replaced with
Picea. The Jauerling, a low mountain to the north-west of the Wachau, is covered by non-native
Picea forests, interspersed with patches of broadleaved forest and grasslands.
The site is important for species characteristic of open woodland, non-intensively managed orchards, rocky slopes and cliffs.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The floor of the Wachau is threatened by agricultural intensification, infrastructural development and housing development. Afforestation threatens the remaining grasslands and native broadleaved forest is being converted to
Picea monocultures.
National None
International High25,000 ha of IBA covered by Special Protection Area (Wachau-Jauerling, 45,802 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Wachau (Austria). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/wachau-iba-austria on 23/11/2024.
