Beate Striebel-Greiter – We Are River People

She collected insects and enjoyed reading about wildlife and watching nature documentaries on television. Her grandfather had a library full of nature books, with volumes on apes by Dr. Jane Goodall. While the jungles of Africa are a long way from the Alps and Lake Constance region where Striebel-Greiter grew up, Goodall’s life and career inspired her to pursue a career in wildlife conservation.

Striebel-Greiter earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at the University of Innsbruck, followed by a master’s degree in zoology and behavioral science at the University of Vienna. Along her educational path though, she realized she was more interested in applying science rather than working in scientific research herself. She applied for an internship with WWF in Vienna in 2001. There she began working her way up through the ranks of WWF. In her early career, she worked in the large carnivore program to restore wolves, brown bear, and lynx in Europe. Eventually, she rose to become the Conservation Manager for WWF Austria, a role she held for five years. In 2017, Striebel-Greiter began working for WWF  International, managing its international initiative to restore sturgeons, focusing on the Danube region.

Striebel-Greiter says she was fortunate to have joined WWF out of university and to have her dream career in conservation. She describes her approach as pragmatic, a good fit with WWF’s overall pragmatic approach to conservation. She enjoys working with European Union policymakers and the diversity of people and cultures throughout the Danube watershed.

From its headwaters in Germany’s Black Forest, the Danube forms the world’s most international river basin, encompassing the territory of 19 countries in its catchment basin, and flowing for 2,857 km through ten countries to its mouth in Romania at the Black Sea. Striebel-Greiter explains that there were once six species of sturgeon in the Danube, but only four species remain there today. Sturgeon have inhabited the earth since the age of dinosaurs, but their survival in the Danube and other rivers around the globe is endangered by dams and other barriers to fish passage. Of the six species of sturgeon originally found in the Danube, only three anadromous species (beluga, stellate, and Russian sturgeon) and one freshwater species (sterlet) remain. For example, beluga sturgeon, prized for their eggs and meat, once migrated from the Black Sea to Germany. In 1972, however, Striebel-Greiter explains, a massive hydroelectric dam was completed at the Iron Gate Gorge on the Romania-Serbia (then Yugoslavia) border. A second hydroelectric dam, Iron Gate No. 2, was built 80 km downstream from Iron Gate No. 1 and completed in 1986. Neither dam has any fish passage facilities Striebel-Greiter says. Consequently, spawning habitat for beluga and other anadromous sturgeon was reduced to only the lower 800 km of the Danube.

Striebel-Greiter says sturgeon are a symbol of many threats to the Danube.  Sturgeon can grow to a length of 6 m., are long-lived and slow to reproduce. In addition to the loss of connectivity from source to sea in the Danube which results in loss of genetic diversity,  sturgeon are threatened by overexploitation in the form of illegal fishing in the river and bycatch in Black Sea fisheries.

Removal of the Iron Gate dams, or at least installation of lifts or bypass channels around the dams, would reopen some 960 km of the Danube River, running all the way to the Gabčíkovo Dam in Slovakia and Hungary, restoring access to spawning habitat for many migratory fish including sturgeons. However, Striebel-Greiter says currently neither option is likely to come soon. The Iron Gate dams produce a tremendous amount of electricity for both Romania and Serbia. Installing fish passage facilities at the dams is estimated to cost 800 million euros, according to a recent feasibility study.  So, as the pragmatist she is, Striebel-Greiter focuses on reintroduction of sturgeon to the remaining spawning habitat, promoting genetic diversity, protecting the remaining stretches of free-flowing river above and below the Iron Gate dams, and advocating for stronger laws and enforcement against overexploitation of sturgeon. As Striebel-Greiter puts it, “Every individual counts.”

Striebel-Greiter is proud of her efforts to develop a European action plan for sturgeon recovery.   “We have a realistic chance to revive the populations both downstream and the freshwater populations ,” she says.

Striebel-Greiter now  lives in Bregenz, Austria, with her husband, two teen-aged sons, and their dog . She is happy to live again in the scenic Alps and Lake Constance region of her youth, but the Danube and its sturgeon  are never far away. She lived and worked in Vienna for more than two decades and frequently travels throughout the Danube watershed to meet with policymakers and colleagues.

She says that her scientific training has enabled her to effectively translate scientific information for policymakers.  She also thinks that sturgeon are particularly appealing to people. She points to a project called the LIFE-Boat 4 Sturgeons, where sturgeon are being reared for reintroduction on a floating facility in the heart of Vienna, which has raised public awareness and support for sturgeon restoration.

Recognizing that saving endangered species is often a Sisyphean task,  Striebel-Greiter takes the long view.  Sturgeon have survived for 250 million years, she points out, and that , captures the public’s imagination.

She also finds inspiration herself from her colleagues working against tremendous odds and in trying circumstances , such as those in Ukraine who, despite the war raging around them, continue their efforts to restore sturgeon to the Danube.  “My colleagues and their passion motivate me most – not only the ones working in WWF, but all the experts that devote their career to wildlife, spend endless hours in the field, have to endure difficult and also confrontational situations with stakeholders,” Striebel-Greiter says.   One can easily imagine that somewhere Dr. Goodall is nodding in agreement.