Posted on 17 February
2010 - Vienna - A decade after four governments
agreed to work together to establish a “green
corridor” along the entire length of the
Lower Danube River, Europe’s most ambitious
wetland protection and restoration programme
is well ahead of targets for creating protected
areas.
The Lower Danube Green
Corridor Declaration, signed by environment
ministers of Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine
and Moldova in 2000, pledged to boost protection
for 775,000 ha of existing protected areas
and bring another 160,000 ha under protection
along the river’s final 1000 kilometres.
The level of achievement
however was much higher with some 1.4 million
ha has been brought under protection to
the benefit of some of Europe’s most outstanding
wildlife and in enhancing water security,
flood control and recreational opportunities
for the area’s 29 million people.
Running behind target
however is the task of wetlands restoration
with the countries slightly more than a
quarter of the way to their target of restoring
224,000 ha of former wetlands.
It is calculated that
over the past couple of centuries, some
80% of the Danube’s original floodplains,
including important wetland areas, have
been lost mostly due to drainage for agriculture
and industry as well as flood prevention
and navigation.
Wetlands protection
and restoration key to a healthy river
“Wetlands protection
and restoration is the key to a healthy
river able to better deal with both droughts
and floods,” said Andreas Beckman, Director
of WWF’s Danube-Carpathian Programme. “Wetlands
are not only cheap to maintain, but also
save money and this is why we are taking
steps not only to protect what remains,
but actually to regain at least some of
what has disappeared.”
The wide array of benefits
provided by wetlands include flood and drought
management through holding and slowly releasing
water and water purification through filtration.
Wetlands are also areas rich in resources
such as fish and reeds.
€500 per hectare a year
in wetland benefits
The value of the various
benefits from Danube floodplains is estimated
to be at least €500 per hectare a year.
But while WWF would
like to see more work on wetlands restoration,
Beckman said it was still appropriate to
pay tribute to the protected area achievements
of the four countries.
“The Lower Danube Green
Corridor was and still is the most ambitious
wetland protection and restoration initiative
in Europe,” he said.
“We are looking forward
to more ambitious targets for the next phase
of developing the green corridor – and hopefully
to celebrating again that the river is better
protected than we had expected.”
Ministers of the environment
and their deputies from the four nations
gathered in Vienna this week to celebrate
the ten year anniversary of the Lower Danube
Green Corridor and affirmed their commitment
to continue working together to develop
the corridor. The celebration was a side
event at a ministerial meeting of all 14
Danube nations to adopt a five year management
plan for the river, one of the world’s most
international waterways.
Key topics in the plan,
which will also benefit the efforts in the
lower Danube and its outstanding delta area
include reducing pollution, offsetting the
impacts of structural changes to the river,
improving urban wastewater systems, bringing
phosphate free detergents to all markets
and better managing pollution accidents.
WWF research around
the world has also shown that rivers and
basins functioning naturally will be those
best able to cope with challenges of climate
change such as more frequent and severe
floods and longer and deeper dry spells.
"WWF is calling
on all countries of the Danube basin to
set qualitative and ambitious targets for
each country for wetland protection and
restoration as a cost-effective means for
securing a host of essential ecosystem services
including flood management, clean drinking
water and better protection from climate
impacts,” said Andreas Beckman.
“Let us continue giving
life to the Danube, so that the Danube can
continue giving life to us."
Along the Lower Danube
Green Corridor
After squeezing through
the Iron Gates gorge and dams between Serbia
and Romania, the Danube flows free for 1,000
kilometers through Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova
and Ukraine before emptying into the Black
Sea. The Lower Danube is one of the last
free-flowing stretches of river in Europe.
Dependent on this part
of the river are not only Europe’s greatest
natural treasures, but also the 29 million
people who live in the Lower Danube River
basin – people who directly benefit from
the many services that the river provides,
from drinking water to natural resources
and recreation.
In the Lower Danube
the natural dynamics of the river have formed
and re-formed nearly 200 islands that are
home to rich floodplain ecosystems. The
islands are important elements of the Danube
migration corridor – stepping stones for
fish, fowl and other fauna as well as flora
on their journeys up and down the river.
The Danube’s greatest
jewel is its delta, Europe’s largest remaining
natural wetland area and, as regarded by
WWF, among the 200 most valuable ecological
areas on earth. A total of 5,137 species
have been identified along the lower stretch
of the river, including 42 different species
of mammals, and 85 species of fish.
The Lower Danube and
Danube Delta are especially important as
breeding and resting places for some 331
species of birds, including the rare Dalmatian
pelican, the white-tailed eagle, as well
as 90% of the world population of red-breasted
geese.
Beluga sturgeon, which
can grow to a length of 6 meters – the size
of a large dolphin - are famous for their
caviar. They spawn in the gravel banks of
the Lower Danube and migrate downstream
to spend the rest of the year in the Black
Sea.
Bulgaria
The most ecologically-important
areas along the Lower Danube Green Corridor
in Bulgaria are the Islands of Belene and
Kalimok Marshes. There, former floodplain
forests and wetlands are being restored,
reconnecting them with the river, creating
rich feeding, breeding and spawning grounds
for fish, flora and fauna. This has provided
opportunities for fishing, and economic
benefits from grasslands and wetland resources,
along with the survival of the riverine
floodplain forest as an ecologic benefit.
These model projects are the first of its
type in Bulgaria.
Romania
The Danube Delta is
one of the world’s most important eco-regions
for biodiversity. In Romania, dry and unproductive
land on the major islands of Babina and
Cernovca has been returned to the river.
The islands have been turned into a mosaic
of habitats that offer shelter and food
for many species, including rare birds and
valuable fish species. The economic benefits
of the restoration works (3,680 ha), in
terms of increased natural resources productivity
(fish, reed, grasslands) and tourism, is
about €140,000 per year. Progress with restoration
is also moving forward on the Lower Danube
islands from Calarasi to Braila.
Moldova
In Moldova, large sections
of the Lower Prut River have been brought
under protection and management plans are
being prepared. With the support of the
local community, a new management plan will
be implemented at the Lake Beleu Scientific
Reserve. This first attempt for an integrated
management of wetlands will be expanded
in the Lower Prut area as part of a Trilateral
Biosphere Reserve between Moldova, Romania
and Ukraine.
Ukraine
On the Ukrainian side
of the Danube Delta, authorities and NGOs
are working hand in hand to develop a vision
for the protection and restoration of the
wetland areas – and have taken steps toward
its realisation. Bulldozers have breached
dikes on Tataru and Ermakov Islands, restoring
natural flooding to 800 ha. This has allowed
for the re-establishment of natural flooding
conditions, creating rich feeding, breeding
and spawning grounds for fish, flora and
fauna. Today amazing rare birds, such as
white-tailed eagles, pygmy cormorants and
ferruginous ducks, thrive on Tataru Island,
while inner lakes serve as spawning places
for young fish from the Danube.
