The Danube Delta, the landscape of 2009
26.11.2009
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The Danube Delta
, one of the most spectacular natural spaces – and also one of the most fragile – in Europe has been
promoted at a European Union level, for the
benefit of the 15 communities living at the river’s mouth, totalling to a population of over 14,000
villagers.
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The intense international movement for the promotion of the Danube Delta as the landscape of the year, for the benefit of the area’s natural patrimony
and of the 15 communities living here (who could start making money from ecologic tourism, agriculture and arts & crafts traditions) ends this
December 2009.
“For three years, under the “Danube Delta – landscape of the year” heading, several actions have taken place, meant to intensify protection measures
for the unique biodiversity of the Delta, as well as to promote the opportunities this region has for the development of sustainable tourism”, says
Grigore Baboianu, governor of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Administration (ARBDD).
Endangered fish resources
The international project “Landscape of the year”, which has taken place in the past three years in the Delta, was started in 1989 by the “Friends of
Nature” organization in Austria. The Danube Delta was included in this project because of the value the natural patrimony administered by ARBDD holds.
The initiators of the project say that this patrimony is not known well enough, and that the “anthropologic factors are still significantly damaging
the area’s biodiversity” – a reference to the fact that fish resources are being improperly exploited.
Apart from trying to raise awareness in the European and international public opinion about the Delta’s biodiversity value, the promoters of this
project have focused on trying to sustainably develop an area in which 15 human communities are living, totalling over 14,000 people. This is how the
sustainable development strategy initiated by specialists at the National Research Institute – “Developing the Danube Delta” was promoted. According to
it, the first step is to diminish the pressure local communities put on endangered natural resources, such as fish. In order to ensure existence
resources to the local communities in the Delta, specialists from the Tulcea Institute are suggesting alternative solutions of economic development,
both for the benefit of the 14,000 souls living there and the ecosystem’s. Ecotourism, ecological agriculture and using reed for decorative weaving are
the main alternatives for a sustainable development on the territory of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, concluded specialists.
Training courses for the people of the Danube
Several training courses were organized within the “Landscape of the year” project, in tourism and development of arts & crafts skills, at which
hundreds of young people from most Delta villages participated, says the ARBDD management. Several exhibitions and tourism fairs were also organized,
with products specific for the Delta, meant to promote these economic alternatives for a sustainable development of the area.
Apart from the Austrian “Friend of Nature” and ARBDD, those who managed this international project, those who got involved in promoting the Danube
Delta as a landscape of the year were: The International Danube Protection Committee, The Romanian Ornithological Society, the Danube-Carpathian
program of the WWF, the “Danube Delta” National Research-Development Institute, the Institute for Eco-museum Research in Tulcea, the Tulcea County
Council, the Tulcea City Hall and the Romanian Ecotourism Association.
«
Numerous international debates organized throughout this project have intended to bring the Danube Delta into the European spotlight. The Danube Delta
is one of Europe’s most spectacular and, at the same time, most fragile natural environments
» , says Grigore Baboianu, governor of the Danube Delta.
On-line resources:
Communities from the Mărginimea Sibiului and the Danube Delta are mobilizing to offer Romania a “future in tourism, which could be brilliant”
Murighiol, a fisherman’s village, is turning into a luxury resort
100 million Euros to preserving fishermen’s communities
Keywords: The Danube Deltalandscape of the yearARBDDtraining coursespromotion