Field surveys and GIS mapping across 624 km of the Middle Mureș River and its Târnava Mică and Niraj tributaries to build a verified barrier inventory and identify the next candidates for removal.
The Mureș is one of the longest tributaries of the Danube, flowing over 700 km from the Eastern Carpathians across Transylvania and the Pannonian Plain before joining the Tisza in Hungary. Its middle section, together with the Târnava Mică and Niraj tributaries, forms a critical ecological corridor supporting Natura 2000 alluvial forest habitats and species such as the European beaver, Eurasian otter, barbel, nase and more than 25 other fish species.
The catchment has already suffered pressure from historic mills, irrigation structures and, more recently, a severe salt pollution event on the Târnava Mică following the mining disaster in Praid. Restoring connectivity here will link the previously mapped Upper and Lower Mureș sections into one continuous river system.
| Project status | Live |
|---|---|
| Project type | Barrier identification and prioritisation |
| Country | Romania |
| River | Mureș (Middle section) and tributaries Târnava Mică and Niraj |
| Focal species | European beaver, Eurasian otter, barbel, nase and over 25 fish species |
| Organisation | Romanian Wilderness Society (RWS), with Milvus Group and Fauna & Flora as supporting partners |
| Website | srswild.ro |
Romania’s national barrier database is incomplete: many structures are missing, misclassified, or lack basic information on condition, functionality and ownership, making it hard to plan restoration with confidence. Public funding for barrier removal is also extremely limited, and Romanian NGOs rarely have access to co-financing mechanisms that would let them prepare river restoration work independently.
Building on the completed barrier mapping of the Upper Mureș grant and Fauna & Flora’s earlier work in the Lower Mureș, this project closes the last remaining data gap in the basin. Systematic field verification, ownership research and stakeholder engagement will turn an incomplete desk-based record into a reliable, basin-wide inventory that water authorities and conservation partners can act on.
This project will complete a basin-wide barrier inventory for the Mureș by surveying 624 km of river and mapping every barrier’s location, condition, ownership and ecological impact.
Working with Milvus Group, the project team will integrate verified data into the national geoportal, identify new stakeholders, and bring them into the existing Mureș Basin Steering Committee to coordinate future removals.
The project will prioritise the most impactful, “ready-to-remove” barriers and prepare for a follow-on dam removal application. By the end of the project, the project team expects to have identified viable removal candidates, strengthened the collaborative framework with national water authorities, and laid the groundwork for the next phase of river restoration across the Mureș catchment.
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