Vienna is restoring nature on the former Breitenlee railway yard, a site of about 90 hectares, under the EU-funded LIFE VienNATURA project. The city describes it as its largest renaturation project. The site now has Natura 2000 protection, and the aim is to preserve and restore habitats for rare and protected animal and plant species.
From railway yard to protected area
Construction of the marshalling yard in Breitenlee began during the First World War. The project was stopped in 1926, and the land was used for other purposes, for example as a storage site. The area covers about 90 hectares, comparable to the size of the Josefstadt district. Species such as the red-backed shrike, the hoopoe, the sand lizard, various orchids and more than 140 species of wild bees live there. The City of Vienna bought the site with support from the federal biodiversity fund.
Who is involved and what changes
The city takes part through its environmental protection department, its forestry and agriculture enterprise and its waste management department. The partner organisations are BirdLife, the Natural History Museum Vienna, the city network ICLEI Europe and EuroVienna, an agency specialised in EU projects.
The city says that leaving fallow land alone mainly benefits invasive species, which spread quickly and displace site-typical plants. In Breitenlee, invasive species such as goldenrod and tree of heaven are being removed and replaced with site-typical plants such as oaks. In the short term this means that established wasteland is cleared. The goal is flower-rich dry grassland and habitat for the red-backed shrike, the sand lizard, the lizard orchid and the military orchid. Project leader Ferdinand Schmeller of the city’s environmental protection department called this a big step to secure biodiversity in Vienna for the next generations.
Visitors and next steps
A gentle path guidance system is planned so that the meadow habitats can develop undisturbed. In protected areas, visitors may in principle not leave the marked paths. A nature trail and an information hub in a disused railway carriage will soon provide information on the site’s fauna and flora. The project also creates space for recreation and nature experience for all residents of Vienna.
On 14 October 2026, the project team held an information event for residents. During a joint planting action, native plants adapted to the site were put in the ground. Experts answered questions in the evening, including on path guidance and conservation work on the site.