Floodplain Conservation Versus Landscape Development—How to Tackle the Multifunctional Management Issue

Ecosystems lining rivers perform a number of functions making it reasonable to protect them from significant degradation. A natural characteristic of floodplains is their regular inundation, during which sediments, wood and nutrients are eroded, mobilized or deposited, thereby restoring these valuable ecosystems. However, the key attributes of floodplains, such as fertile soil, flat terrain, availability of water, sediments and wood, are also the subjects of human exploitation. The flood control embankments in urban and agricultural areas are justified and effective solutions to reduce flood risk. However, when combined with unnaturally incised and enlarged river channels, they are limiting natural flooding and connectivity of floodplains is fundamentally degraded. To analyze different approaches to floodplain protection, we conducted a review supported by the expertise of specialists in selected countries of Central and Southern Europe. We concluded that in most of these countries, there is no targeted protection of floodplains as an ecological phenomenon. Comprehensive protection is mostly only afforded to small-scale areas, valued due to the occurrence of Europe's most threatened species and habitats (Natura 2000 network). Except for segments of a few large rivers, these sites are not connected and therefore significant support for the longitudinal continuity of water-dependent ecosystems cannot be expected. This inevitably leads to the gradual degradation of floodplain ecosystem functions and services. The floodplain management in non-urban areas, wherever natural spillover of floods to the surroundings is possible and where floodplains have been inappropriately embanked, seems to be a suitable solution for supporting the ecological functionality of these ecosystems.