On 01 February 2017, the Federal Cabinet approved the federal programme Blue Ribbon Germany.

In this way, the Federal Government will invest more in the renaturation of federal waterways and set new accents in nature and water protection, flood prevention as well as water tourism, leisure sports and recreation.

The waterways owned by the Federal Government run through the whole of Germany like a blue ribbon. However, the demands on these waterways have changed. At present, the core network of major rivers and canals is still mainly used for the transport of goods (approx. 4,500 km). In addition, however, there are about 2,800 km of secondary waterways on which hardly any freight travels. It is above all these secondary waterways, which today are of practically no importance for the transport of goods, that are to be developed in the future in equal measure in ecological terms and upgraded for leisure and recreation.

The federal programme Blue Ribbon Germany, which has been drawn up jointly by the Federal Ministry of Transport and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, provides a framework for action over the coming years and decades. Although it concentrates on the network of tributary waterways, it also defines 'ecological stepping stones' for the busy federal waterways.

With the federal programme Blue Ribbon Germany, the federal government assumes responsibility for the waterways it owns and uses the competence of the Waterways and Shipping Administration to preserve and restore near-natural riverine landscapes. It is made clear that freight transport is not the only decisive criterion for investment decisions, but that the recreational benefits and ecological development potential of a waterway are also assessed.

The federal program has been published at the following link: <a href="http://www.blaues-band.bund.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Publikationen/BBD_02_2017.pdf;jsessionid=E432E94D78994F7EB16CBF30AF157700.live21302?__blob=publicationFile

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