LIFE is looking up for Sweden’s river mussels

Sweden’s freshwater river mussels are going through a tough time. Along with the aptly-named depressed river mussel, the thick-shelled mussel and river pearl mussel are all Endangered on the IUCN Red List and are rarely found in the waterways where they once thrived. 

LIFE CONNECTS - an €8.7 million EU-funded project now in its fifth year - aims to restore the fortunes not only of endangered molluscs but of entire ecosystems along 150 kilometres of seven rivers in southern Sweden. These rivers - which include 13 Natura 2000 sites - have suffered from centuries of damming, dredging, industrial pollution and construction. 

‘It's a really big project involving seven watercourses and seven partners,’ explains LIFE CONNECTS project coordinator Karin Olsson. ‘We aim to improve aquatic environments and restore flowing water to its natural state. This in turn enables migratory fish to get back into the river systems - they are very important for the survival of mussels, which depend on migratory fish for their reproduction.’ 

Among the project’s achievements so far have been to remove man-made barriers such as dams and hydro-electric turbines which prevented fish from migrating. ‘If you build a dam, you change the water environment,’ says Olle Calles, a fish researcher from project partner Karlstad University. ‘You make things difficult for species such as salmon that depend on being able to migrate between freshwater and saltwater in order to complete their life cycles. Populations decline or can even be wiped out.’ 

It’s not just endangered river species that will benefit. As the rivers come back to life, ecosystem functions and services estimated at around €6 million a year will benefit the local and regional economy. The counties of Kalmar, Blekinge and Skåne are already popular with hikers, nature-lovers and anglers, but the newly-restored water courses are already attracting more visitors. 

Tord Andersson, an environmental strategist with the municipality of Klippan in Skån, spends much of his time in an electric fishing boat on the river Rönne, where work is underway to remove three man-made hydro-electric dams. ‘In ten years' time, all migratory fish will pass these dams and we will have fantastically beautiful rapids here,’ he explains. ‘Now, the rapids are blocked, but it will be quite spectacular…that’s something pretty unusual in southern Sweden today.’ 

LIFE CONNECTS runs until 2026 and supports the EU Directives on habitats, water, birds and floods, as well as the European eel regulation and the European Green Deal. It also supports the #WaterWiseEU campaign to raise awareness of the increasing stress placed on Europe’s water systems, and how citizens and stakeholders can work together to see water differently.