Resource description:
The Danube, its tributaries and floodplains are among the most valuable freshwater habitats in Europe. The connectivity between the river and the floodplains as well as the habitats’ status degraded in the last 100-150 years due to river regulations, which affected both biodiversity and the ecosystem services that the freshwater habitats provide. Despite the past deterioration, the restoration potential in the Danube catchment is high, especially in its middle and lower parts.
”Lower Danube Floodplain - an area of welfare” in Lower Danube is a vision of wise land use management of 390,000 ha of floodplain, taking into account the needs of local communities. This plan aims to identify common actions to create a resilient Danube floodplain to climate change, translated here by reducing the risk of floods and drought, increasing biodiversity, and the socio-economic development of local communities. Thus, new, strategic activities are added to the activities already implemented, which makes the Danube floodplain be restored on a large scale. This goal is made possible by inter-institutional cooperation to implement large-scale restoration.
The document summarizes the activity of WWF Romania and the stakeholders involved in the last 20 years and establishes a way forward for the next 25 years. It is expected that this document will contribute to the need to understand the urgency of the large-scale implementation of nature-based solutions along the Danube as adaptation measures to the effects of climate change. The content of the document was developed as part of the MERLIN project, funded under the H2020 program of the European Commission.
Author/Contact:
Camelia Ionescu (WWF Romania), Iulia Puiu (WWF Romania), Mara Nilca (WWF), Albert Scrieciu (GeoEcoMar)
- Read the report (14.58 MB)