The research question:

In the past, many meadows and pastures were irrigated in the alpine cultural landscape in order to increase yields and to prevent overgrowing with dwarf shrubs. The term "Waal" stands for manmade canals for irrigation of meadows and pastures. The objective of the research project is to find out where in the alpine cultural landscape canals for irrigation were made, their impact on biodiversity and to investigate their potential to mountain pastures of the present time.

Mountain pastures are rich in biodiversity. Agricultural cultivation contributes significantly to high biodiversity of the alpine landscape. Austria has about 9.000 mountain pastures and 500.000 ha pasture area, South Tyrol has about 1.700 mountain pastures. High value of the pastures in the society is also reflected in the agricultural funding programs that contribute to continuation of sustainable mountain pasturing. Nevertheless dwarf shrubs or matgrass is being spread on mountain pastures and former meadows and displacing pastures rich in biodiversity. The result is abandonment of land use. If alpine dwarf shrubs such as alpine roses or juniper are mowed without accompanying measures such as soil liming or fertilizing, mostly "secondary spreading" with blueberries or cranberries occurs. Areas with secondary spreading are key problem areas on mountain pastures.

In the past many farmers irrigated pastures and mountain meadows in the Alpine regions. For this purpose they have created a simple, small irrigation ditches to which the water was diverted from creeks. The water trickled over large areas of meadows and pastures, supplying soil with moisture and nutrients. Even today large differences in the biodiversity of pastures can be observed within former irrigation channels. Irrigation of mountain pastures is nowadays rarely practiced. Only remnants of this ancient culture technique are to be found as traces in the landscape.

The aim of the research project is to find out where this technique was practiced and its importance on biodiversity, agricultural yields and cultural landscape. Furthermore costs and benefits of other methods of improvement of pastures and recommendations for the mountain pasturing will be derived. The research will be carried out with three agricultural colleges in Carinthia, Salzburg and Tyrol. The partner schools have a focus on alpine pasture. Students gain insights into scientific ways of working, learn research methods and apply them in practice. They do field work, contribute to field trips and excursions, make interviews and they learn to record and analyze relevant data. Cooperation with experts and three schools promotes social skills and team collaboration.