Irrespective of these values, these natural jewels in the Danube basin belonged to the most endangered habitats until recently. In the last 100 years, more than 80% of the Danube river basin’s wetlands and floodplains have been destroyed by various drainage measures or other activities. Until now, the sad remains have been disconnected islands of green following adverse impacts of development, dam construction, pollution.

A gift to the earth

This shall now have an end in Eastern Europe! In the frame of Europe's largest, cross-border wetlands protection and restoration initiative the governments of Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and the Ukraine signed an agreement this summer committing themselves to protect, or rather restore wetlands. This “Gift to the Earth” will establish a “Green Corridor for the Danube” of at least 600,000 hectares comprising the existing and newly protected areas along the river. At the same time the four countries commit themselves to get control of their environmental problems and to look for local, national and international partners supporting them in the protection and restoration, and also in the sustainable management of the Green Corridor.

The Green Corridor will considerably contribute to one of the major WWF aims that Philip Weller, the director of the WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme, describes as follows: “Intact wetlands and floodplains provide extraordinary benefits to people and nature. Therefore we aim to double the surface of protected freshwater ecosystems world-wide. We welcome an initiative of this scale to manage the region’s natural habitats in ways that also provide economic benefits such as fisheries and tourism.”

Things are progressing since the signing of the agreement. The Ukraine reports the beginning of two restoration measures in the Danube delta on a surface of 8,000 hectares (Kartal Polder and Stensovsk-Zhebrijanskie Plavni). This June the river dynamics were restored in the Popina Polder (Romanian part of the Danube delta). In Bulgaria the WWF, the World Bank, GEF and state representatives are in a preparative phase for an extensive Danube restoration programme that shall include 5,000 hectares of floodplain area. In addition, Bulgarian organisations, or rather ministries, the WWF and local NGOs are elaborating plans to restore the natural forest stand on 62 Danube islands. The measures will be implemented in 2001.

Last but not least the Environmental Ministers of Bulgaria and Romania recently met to start talks about cross-border protection areas along the Green Corridor. The nature parks Persina (Bulgaria)-Balta Suhaia (Romania) and Kalimok-Balta Graeca are in preparation.

In a ceremony on the occasion of the signing of the commitment last summer Romica Tomescu, Romania’s Minister of Environmental Protection, spoke in the name of the signatory states and concluded: “It is our vision that other countries along the Danube will join this initiative for a full-length Green Corridor, connecting Danube countries from the Black Sea to the Alps, including many EU accession countries.” (Source: aqua press Int. 06/2000)
Mag. Christof Hahn

Information & Contact:
WWF Austria
Danube-Carpathian Programme
Ottakringer Strasse 113–117
A–1160 Vienna
Phone +43 1 488 17-0