Thaya WILDRiver

Thaya WILDRiver

The 2 kilometres of Thaya WILDRiver is embedded in the Thayatal National Park, Austria. It is Austria’s smallest National Park, located in the north-eastern part of the country, at the border with Podyjí National Park in the Czech Republic. Thayatal National Park – one of the last near-natural valleys in Central Europe – was established in the year 2000. The name Thayatal can be translated into the ‘valley of the Thaya river’, which is an impressive valley with steep cliffs, dense broadleaf forests and valuable fragments of WILDRiver. The Thaya WILDRiver is a segment of the Thaya river and spans a length of over 2 kilometres, linking the Thayatal WILDForest and the Podyjí Wilderness. The Thaya WILDRiver is characterised by extraordinary scenery, being home to features such as meanders and alluvial plains around the river Thaya. The Thaya river is and always has been the key element and driving force behind the establishment of the transboundary protected area of the Podyjí National Park in Czech Republic and Thayatal National Park in Austria.

European Wilderness Quality Standard Audit System

The 2 kilometres of Thaya WILDRiver were subject to a Quick-Audit in summer 2017 and in June 2018 and meet the Bronze Wilderness Quality Standard. The Thayatal National Park and the Podyjí National Park together with the European Wilderness Society will consider the opportunity to implement a European Wilderness Quality Standard Full Audit and create the first Transboundary Wilderness in Central Europe in the coming years.

Biodiversity

The territory of Thayatal National Park has a very high biodiversity. There are several hundreds of vascular plant species, fungi, lichens, mosses, birds and mammals. There is a rich variety of forest types, such as oak and hornbeam-oak forests, relict pine forests, spring alluviums alder forest, and the native beech forests in the higher parts of the National Park. The Thaya WILDRiver is located in an impressive valley with steep cliffs, gentle meadows, natural forests and fascinating flora and fauna. The area is located on a distinct climatic border where continental and Central European flora and fauna come together. A significant part of the area is covered with forests, of which a considerable percentage is currently left to spontaneous development. The aim in the coming years is to let 75%-85% of Thayatal National Park develop under spontaneous succession and to protect spontaneous dynamics of biodiversity.

Wilderness Tourism Experience

The Thayatal National Park lies in a very densely populated area with good transport accessibility, 95 km from Vienna and 220 km from Prague. The park itself is not accessible for cars, but is accessible by a network of marked trails for pedestrians. Only the city of Hardegg, which is situated in the center of the National Park is accessible by bike or car. The trails lead around the Thayatal WILDForest and Thaya WILDRiver, therefore, the character of the area can be seen from several attractive sightseeing points. A system of information panels in the field outside of the WILDRiver area provides the visitors with valuable information about the area. Additionally, there are trails that lead along parts of the Thaya river, which provide several sightseeing points to view the character of the river. Thaya WILDRiver is not accessible for tourists, but a network of trails enable visitors to discover and experience the surrounding Thayatal forest and river, which also have a wild character.

WILDRiver Brief