29 Jun 2007 - Vienna,
Austria – Every year on this day, the European
nations where the Danube River flows celebrate
the continent’s greatest river system; a
system that supplies drinking water to millions
and supports diverse habitats and rich biodiversity.
“While many will sing praises of the Danube
on this day, popping the champagne corks
is premature as river engineering projects
promoted by national governments and supported
by the European Union could transform our
living river into little more than a shipping
canal,” said WWF freshwater expert Dr Christine
Bratrich.
A recent WWF report lists the Danube as
one of the world’s top ten threatened rivers.
Shipping corridor
WWF is concerned that EU plans to artificially
deepen, regulate and/or dam 1,000km of the
Danube as part of a integrated river transporation
systems, known as Corridor Number 7, will
destroy many of Europe’s last great river
landscapes and remaining wetland areas.
This includes such renowned natural areas
as Straubing-Vilshofen in Germany; the exceptionally
rich wetlands along the Hungarian, Croatian
and Serbian stretches; islands between Bulgaria
and Romania; and the spectacular Danube
Delta.
“Political decision makers have set ambitious
goals and made significant progress in finding
sustainable solutions for inland navigation
and protecting the Danube, particularly
in supporting the implementation of the
EU’s Water Framework Directive,” added Dr
Bratrich.
“But at the same time, ongoing and planned
projects are threatening the Danube and
a range of valuable benefits and services
that the river provides, from drinking water
and fishing to tourism and recreation.”
The threat is perhaps most acute along
a 200km-stretch of the river in Romania,
where dozens of islands are slated for destruction
in the name of shipping. The EU-financed
project, which is now moving forward, will
cut off 90 per cent of the migration routes
of beluga sturgeon. It will also destroy
valuable bird resting and breeding area
that qualifies for protection under the
EU’s Natura 2000 network of specially protected
sites.
Save the Danube campaign
Through WWF’s Save the Danube – Stop the
Canal campaign, the global conservation
organization and its partners are calling
on the EU and Danube countries to: stop
plans and projects that will turn the Danube
into an exclusive transport corridor; and
to develop a comprehensive solution for
sharing the river, not just for shipping
but also for fishing, tourism, agriculture
and biodiversity needs.
WWF also supports the ongoing dialogue
process on shipping on the Danube led by
the International Commission for the Protection
of the Danube River (ICPDR) to find the
best environmental standards for navigation
on the Danube.
“Current approaches to promoting shipping
on the Danube are expensive and unnecessary,”
said Michael Baltzer, director of WWF’s
Danube-Carpathian Programme. “They are focused
on adapting the river to ever-deeper ships,
rather than promoting new technologies in
ship design, logistics and communications
that can increase shipping capacities while
limiting impacts.
“We must use innovation and proven technology
to fit the ships to the river and not the
river to the ships,” he stressed.
END NOTES:
• The Danube flows west to east through
the following countries: Austria, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Romania,
Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine.
Christine Bratrich, Head of Danube/Freshwater
WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme
+ More
Bluefin must feature at next ICCAT meeting
26 Jun 2007 - WWF is urgently calling for
Mediterranean bluefin tuna to feature on
the formal agenda of the next meeting of
the International Commission for the Conservation
of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), scheduled to
take place in Istanbul, Turkey, in November.
This recommendation follows the failure
of the EU to impose sufficient measures
to enable the species' recovery, and the
subsequent legitimisation of its plunder
by EU fleets.
The urgent need for revision of the management
of this fishery is further highlighted by
reports of illegal fishing for bluefin tuna
observed in recent days in the Mediterranean.
European Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg
indicated in a communication earlier this
year that "ICCAT may revise the Recovery
Plan at any moment on the basis of new scientific
advice or weaknesses detected in its implementation",
referring to the so-called 'recovery plan'
for East Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin
tuna pushed by the EU and agreed at ICCAT
in 2006.
"In light of the inadequacy of this
plan and the clear weaknesses in its implementation,
WWF invites the European Commission — and
all other ICCAT Contracting Parties — to
support the plan's urgent revision at the
next ICCAT meeting in November," said
Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF
Mediterranean.
Gemma Parkes, WWF Mediterranean
