Moving forward WWF International Danube-Carpathian Programme A look back at 2006–07 © WWF-Canon Vorauer / Anton Moving forward Significant changes continued to The WWF Danube-Carpathian Our work continued to be guided by the sweep the Danube-Carpathian re- Programme focused its efforts last 5-year Strategy (2005–10) that was gion last year, presenting new chal- year on restructuring and developing its developed with and is supported by the lenges but also many opportunities operations in order to better meet the 3 WWF stakeholders that are active for conservation and sustainable challenges and grasp the opportunities in the Danube-Carpathian region. The development in the region. Most for conservation in the region. Two new Programme Implementation Agree- significantly, Romania and Bulgaria legal entities were created to support ment signed by all parties represents a joined the European Union, taking the staff and projects in Romania and truly integrated network response to the on innovative legislation, e.g. on wa- Bulgaria, and operational systems were urgent threats facing this region and the ter and river basin management as overhauled to ensure that these offices opportunities it offers to ensure that at well as nature conservation, but are fully integrated into the programme. least one sizable corner of Europe can also potentially destructive policies We also significantlyexpanded our remain wild. on transportation and development. public outreach and fundraising, led by our first campaigns in Romania The following report, which follows the and Bulgaria. structure and targets of our 00 Strat- egy, summarises our work, achievements At the same time, we continued our and challenges over the past financial strong conservation work. For the year (July , 006 – June 30, 007). first time, WWF can truly say that it has a programme in the Danube-Carpath- Michael Baltzer ians working from field to global levels. Director, WWF-International The impacts of our programme for the Danube-Carpathian Programme last six years are showing significant improvements in the protection of biodi- versity in every corner of the region and inspiring large-scale conservation efforts across the world. Conserving the Matrix of Life 2010 Conservation Objective 1: In Romania and Bulgaria, WWF contin- At least 5% of the region will fall ued to support national authorities and within a protected area network rep- lead NGO efforts in site identification resentative of the region’s biodiver- and designation. WWF has helped to sity and is under improved manage- establish national NGO coalitions ment against the standards in 005. that are pushing for timely and effective designation of Natura 000 sites. We are well on our way toward reaching this objective, primarily thanks to the Working in close cooperation with the EU’s Habitats Directive establishing the WWF-European Policy Office and other Beckmann © Andreas Natura 2000 network of specially pro- European partners, WWF also led tected sites. Efforts until now have been efforts in the region to secure and pro- mainly focused on the designation of the mote financing for nature conservation sites, but are shifting to emphasise prac- through EU rural and regional devel- WWF lost no time in making use of new tical implementation, especially financing opment programmes, which will total provisions provided by Romania and Bulgaria‘s and management for the sites. € 34 billion for Romania and Bulgaria accession to the European Union and submit- in 007–3. ted to the European Commission 60,000 sig- Roughly 8% of EU territory is currently natures collected by WWF and NGO partners protected under the EU’s Natura 000 in support of petitions that called on national network of specially protected sites. authorities to take action to protect their The percentage of coverage is likely to natural heritage. Pictured: WWF-DCP Head be significantly higher across the Dan- of Carpathians/Forests and Protected Areas ube-Carpathian region. Erika Stanciu and European Commission officialLadislav Miko. 3 2010 Conservation Objective 2: Lateral and longitudinal connectiv- ity on the Danube will be restored sufficiently for sturgeon to return to the river and habitat connectivity in the Carpathians will be sufficient to support viable populations of large carnivores and herbivores. In the Danube, our efforts to protect and restore populations of Sturgeon experienced a major breakthrough when the International Commission © Whitley Award © Whitley for the Protection of the Danube River WWF project leader Dr Bohdan Prots received the prestigious Whitley Award for his work to protect (ICPDR) agreed to make the Sturgeon the Transcarpathian riverine forests, “Europe’s jungle” in Ukraine. (Pictured with HRH Princess Anne). an indicator species for river connec- tivity for implementation of the EU Water WWF also kicked off a major, 5-year Progress was also made on gaining pro- Framework Directive. Building on that programme to support protected areas tection for a number of valuable areas, significant policy landmark, WWF is now across the Carpathian Mountains, including in Transcarpathian Ukraine as working with the ICPDR to investigate op- part of a global WWF initiative support- well as the Lower Prut River in Moldova. tions for restoring fish movement across ed by the MAVA Foundation to support the Iron Gates dams, which are the major implementation of the Convention for Bi- In Romania and Bulgaria, we focused on barriers to fish migration on the lower ological Diversity’s Programme of Work securing effective protection for national 000 km of the Danube. Restoration of on Protected Areas. WWF supported parks and other protected areas (see sturgeon migration would be a landmark the creation of the Carpathian Network below for further details). for the success of the Water Framework of Protected Areas – a governmental co- Directive across Europe and would have alition under the Carpathian Convention significant implications for other major committed to the effective management river basins across the globe. of this network. 4 The EU’s innovative Water Framework Directive, which sets out a blueprint for achieving good ecological status of water bodies through integrated river basin mana- gement, continues to provide an important framework for developments and WWF’s work on the Danube. WWF has also taken the lead on the identification and protection ofHigh Conservation Value Forests and High Nature Value Farmlands to increase the natural matrix and protect critical habitat outside of protected areas. Across the Carpathian Mountains, WWF worked with other organisations in the Carpathian Ecoregion Initia- tive on a major project to identify and © WWF-Canon / Hartmut Jungius protect ecological networks which is to be completed next year. In terms of bear conservation, in addition to continuing involvement in policy making, WWF initi- From the largely untamed middle and lower stretches ated in northern Romania the first dem- onstration project focused on community of the Danube to the spectacular Danube Delta at its managed bear tourism and conservation activities in the Carpathians. mouth, the Danube is home to some of the richest wetland areas in Europe and the world. 5 2010 Conservation Objective 3: Furthermore, WWF has just begun Two major landscape initiatives, a large-scale project with support from the Lower Danube Green Corridor the European Union to protect the and the Upper Tisza, will have se- chain of Danube Islands that still mark cured two of the most important large the Danube as one of the world’s last conservation areas in Europe and major rivers in a relatively natural state. will have effectively demonstrated To counter persisting threats to one of a vision for sustainable development the world’s most spectacular natural and integrated biodiversity conserva- areas, WWF developed a vision for tion in the region. the sustainable development of the Danube Delta and launched a major The Lower Danube Green Corridor is initiative to support its implementation now showing significant results on the over the next several years, focusing on ground. We have focused our efforts on wetland restoration, sustainable tourism, ensuring that the EU’s Natura 000 net- agriculture and shipping. work of specially protected sites pieces together the main pearls in the chain In September 006, WWF organised of wetlands strung along the Lower the firstPeople’s Summit bringing to- Danube. The target set in 000 to cre- gether communities and individuals from ate 1 million hectares of protected all walks of life to catalyze grassroots areas is now close to being achieved. support for the Lower Danube initiative. © Andreas Beckmann © Andreas Spurred on by the floods of 006, In 006, WWF expanded its work in the Lower Danube governments are the Upper Tisza river basin in northern A wide range of WWF initiatives are conver- reconsidering their mitigation plans for Romania, Hungary and Ukraine. We fo- ging to ensure the protection and sustainable flooding on the river and are looking cused on developing new businesses development of the Upper Tisza river basin to wetland restoration as the answer. It and financing schemes to maintain in Romania, Ukraine and Hungary, including now looks as if the target of 240,000 biodiversity in this remarkable corner of development of payments for ecosystem hectares of restored wetlands may in Europe. services, sustainable forestry and agriculture fact be exceeded. as well as tourism. 6 2010 Conservation Objective 4: The threat to sustainable develop- ment and biodiversity from two major drivers for change in the region, agriculture/forestry and infrastructure development, will have been abated and their influence used instead to support biodiversity conservation. WWF continues to be a driving force for sustainable forestry management in our region. Our efforts continued to pay off last year when the Bulgarian For- est Administration committed to secur- ing FSC certification for 1 million ha of forest, following on FSC certification for million ha of Romanian forests in the previous year.