Showcase category ➤ Freshwater Champion
Speciality ➤ Removing obsolete barriers in rivers (e.g.: culverts, weirs and small dams)
Pao Fernández Garrido
Senior Grants Manager at Open Rivers Programme
EC / PolicyMakers / Funders / Government
My Projects
Eleven culvert removals at the natural park of Forêt d’Anlier (Belgium)
Removal of 5 obsolete weirs in Giovenco River (Italy)
Removal of 8 abandoned barriers in Plitvice Lakes National Park, (Croatia)
First civil removal of an obsolete river barrier in Portugal: Galaxes weir removal.
Pre-demolition studies for the first dam removal in the Doamnei River (Romania)
Removal of three rotten and abandoned barriers in Upper Tisza River (Ukraine), improving public safety
- What impact did these projects have on biodiversity, if any?
Recovering freshwater native fauna populations. Unlocking new habitat to freshwater species.
My Focus and Approach
- Lessons Learnt - Some recommendations for others?
- What’s most important:
Good communication and partnering with all stakeholders.
- Do this, not that:
Don’t start preparing a project without meeting with the local community and listening their fears and concerns: address all their questions and find solutions if any “river use” will be affected.
- Always start by:
Finding similar projects already implemented in your country and outside your country: find and confirm the benefits that your project can bring to the community.
- What to do when things get difficult…:
Look for support from other countries (especially public administrations) who are implementing this river restoration projects. Show that what you are proposing was a success in other countries.
- The biggest barrier and what I am trying to do about it:
The biggest barrier I have encountered is fake information. I try my best to answer all journalists and clearly refute the wrong information that is shared among the public through social networks and the media.
- What’s most important:
My Journey
- My journey:
I studied Forestry Engineering in Madrid and did my master in Ecosystem Restoration. I had the great opportunity to do my master practices on fishway evaluations with PIT and Radio telemetry in Massachusetts and got specialised in technical and natural fishway design. Later I got trained on dam removal projects by Laura Wildman and her team in the USA. I started designing fishways in England, but very soon after I began working for World Fish Migration Foundation (WFMF) as the events coordinator for World Fish Migration Day and later, I was responsible for the collection of the river barrier inventories in Europe for the Horizon2020 project AMBER. I was the developer of Dam Removal Europe (DRE) initiative along with the founder of WFMF, and became the dam removal facilitator in DRE, for those organisations in Europe who were trying to include dam removal in their water policies or were trying to find information and experts to carry out a dam removal project. Now I am the Senior Grant Manager at the Open Rivers Programme, which is a grant-giving programme that supports barrier removal projects in Greater Europe - My Education:
Forestry Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) and a MSc in Ecosystem Restoration at the University of Alcalá, Complutense University of Madrid, UPM and Rey Juan Carlos University. - The Big Change:
To show the ecological, economic and safety benefits that removing abandoned and obsolete barriers can bring to society. - Favourite part of the work I do:
Meeting the practitioners implementing barrier removal projects and learning from them.
Interview
Key Topics:
Key Topics
These relate to specific topics (e.g. technical solutions; restoration activities etc.) addressed within the showcase materials.
- River longitudinal connectivity
- Barrier removals
- Restoring freshwater ecosystems
- Recovering freshwater species
- Recovering ecosystem services
- Avoid flooding in urban areas
Prone2Success Factors Demonstrated:
Prone2Success Factors Demonstrated
These are the Prone2Success checklist factors which are highlighted within this showcase. More information on the Prone2Success checklist can be found here.
- Measurable goals to improve ecological status
- Measurable goals to improve ecosystem services
- Supports WFD, NRL and other restoration policy goals
- Communicate/engage with stakeholders from the outset
- Engage with the local community from the outset
- Obtain sufficient finance for all project stages
- Restoration works (design) are self-sustaining
- Local planning processes are transparent / clearly understood
- Include long term monitoring
- Include adaptive management approaches (combined with monitoring)
- Ensure stakeholder understanding / education of restoration goals & benefits
- Demonstrate specific ecological improvements/legal compliance / communicating results during and after the project
- Take climate change into account
NRL Restoration Categories:
NRL Restoration Categories
These are the restoration categories (listed under Annex VII of the European Nature Restoration Law (NRL) which are relevant to this showcase.
- Improve hydrological conditions
- Re-establish river meandering
- Remove obsolete barriers
- Re-naturalise river beds
- Restore natural sedimentation
- Establish riparian buffers
- Assist migration of provenances and species
- Improve connectivity across habitats
- Remove / control invasive species
- Restore fish spawning / nursery areas
Was this information useful?
Yes
No
No
Thank you for submitting feedback.
Click here to share your thoughts
Resources
Eleven culvert removals at the natural park of Forêt d’Anlier (Belgium)
Removal of 5 obsolete weirs in Giovenco River (Italy)
Removal of 8 abandoned barriers in Plitvice Lakes National Park, (Croatia)
First civil removal of an obsolete river barrier in Portugal: Galaxes weir removal.
Pre-demolition studies for the first dam removal in the Doamnei River (Romania)
Removal of three rotten and abandoned barriers in Upper Tisza River (Ukraine), improving public safety
Dam removal in Europe: Barrier databases, policies, reasons behind and case studies