World Wetlands Day 2011

ICPDR continues efforts for wetlands

The 2nd of February is the World Wetlands Day. The ICDPR takes this occasion to highlight its ongoing efforts to protect, restore and create new wetlands in the Danube River Basin.

Wetlands are not only areas of natural beauty with high recreational value for locals – they also play a major role for many areas in which the ICPDR is active. Wetlands can serve as retention areas in flood events, they help to bind pollutants, they influence aquifers and are valuable habitats. As breeding grounds for rare species of Danube fish or birds, the remaining wetlands of the Danube River Basin are often protected areas and important hotspots of biodiversity. This in turn supports considerate forms of tourism, fisheries and other economic and social interests of local communities.

For many years, the ICPDR has dedicated considerable efforts to the protection, restoration and creation of new wetlands in the Danube River Basin. Like all of the ICPDR’s core objectives, the relevant measures are based on the Danube River Protection Convention of 1994. They were reflected in policy plans such as the Joint Action Program 2001-2006, and, most importantly, the Danube River Basin Management Plan (DRBMP) and the Joint Program of Measures of 2009.

The DRBMP identified four particularly severe issues that cause environmental pressures in the Danube River Basin: organic, nutrient and hazardous substance pollution; as well as hydromorphological alterations such as the construction of dams or flood protection dykes. The latter ones are particularly severe for the wetlands and the DRBMP dedicates a lot of attention to measures to ease them. In total, some 330,000 hectares of wetlands in 17 main areas were identified.

The ICPDR is working towards the progressive re-connection of wetlands and floodplains – as of 2009, some 80 percent of them were classified as disconnected. Until 2015, significant wetland areas of up to 500 hectares will be reconnected to rivers with catchment areas of approximately 4000 square kilometres. Additional activities in the frame of projects such as the IUCN European Green Belt or the Lower Danube Green Corridor will contribute to improved wetland management in future years. The ICPDR further accommodates the exchange between its contracting parties, interest groups such as hydropower industries and official ICPDR observers with a strong interest in wetlands, such as the Ramsar Convention, the Danube Parks or WWF.

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