Here, brewery owner and President of WWF Austria Gustav Harmer shows the congratulations of Prince Philipp, then President of WWF International, on the successful "Natur freikaufen" (Buy Nature Free) campaign.
After the memorable joint river trip by Bernd Lötsch and Hundertwasser in 1988, the Donauauen National Park Association, Bernd Lötsch, supported by Hundertwasser, and the WWF initiated the "Natur freikaufen" ("Buying Nature Free") campaign in order to prevent the Austrian Danube Power Plants from buying the floodplains in 1989/90. Harmer vouched for the purchase with his private assets. With the help of a live ORF broadcast lasting several hours, the missing donations (6.5 million euros) were raised in a single night. 412 hectares could thus be secured as the core of the Donau-Auen National Park.