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Evidence on plastic pollution has already been gathered in both the freshwater systems and the marine environment (including the Danube and the Black Sea) over the last decades. Scientific investigations identified strong linkages between marine pollution, terrestrial areas and land-based activities. Poor waste management, everyday littering, plastic industry facilities, consuming of products of textile and cosmetic industries in households and tire abrasion pollute rivers that further discharge plastic litter into the receiving seas. While priority should be given to reducing plastic pollution at source, river clean-up actions are also highly important to eliminate plastic litter accumulation hot-spots.

In the Danube River Basin, five main pressures that affect water status: organic substance pollution, nutrient pollution, hazardous substance pollution, hydromorphological alterations and effects of climate change (drought, water scarcity, extreme hydrological phenomena and other impacts), have been identified as Significant Water Management Issues (SWMIs). The groundwater quantity and quality are also under constant pressure.

Rivers, lakes, transitional and coastal waters, as well as groundwater, are vital natural resources. A significant proportion of water resources are exposed to environmental pollution or other potentially damaging pressures. Protecting and improving the waters of the Danube River Basin is therefore essential for the natural environment, the sustainable development of the region and the long-term health, well-being, and prosperity of the population.

We Pass was an initiative aiming to facilitate fish migration in the Danube River Basin, set up by the ICPDR, Jaroslav Černi Institute, DDNI, CDM SMITH, OAK Consultants, and the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research. The focus was on the preservation and reestablishment of endangered fish species migration routes in the Danube River, its tributaries, and specifically at the Iron Gates.

Sturgeons and other migratory fish species represent a historic, economic and natural heritage of the Danube River Basin and are indicators of the ecological status of aquatic ecosystems, especially of the functionality of ecological corridors. Their populations have suffered substantially from overfishing, pollution, habitat destruction and disruption of their migration routes. The need for their conservation is recognized at a high political and management level (EUSDR-PA 06, Biodiversity, DRBMP).

The Joint Danube Survey 3 (JDS3) was the world’s biggest river research expedition of its kind in 2013, the UN International Year of Water Cooperation. Its results were published in a comprehensive report in early 2015.

Report on Monitoring Programmes in the Danube River Basin District according to Water Framework Directive Art. 8 of 2006. Documents are divided into groundwater and surface water, including all relevant annexes.

The Pressures and Measures Expert Group (PM EG) deals with pollution-related pressures, identifies the drivers behind them and recommends measures to address pollution sources.

The Monitoring and Assessment (MA EG) deals with ICPDR activities concerning surveillance as well as investigative monitoring and water quality analyses.

Sturgeons are sensitive to environmental pressures and therefore valuable indicators for healthy rivers. This is why the ICPDR has endorsed sturgeons as flagship species. There are six species of sturgeons native in the Danube River Basin, but the survival of these ancient fish is threatened by a range of issues. Through the "Danube Sturgeon Task Force", the ICPDR contributes to actions such as the protection of habitats, the development of migration aids, the breeding of healthy stocks in sheltered facilities, or the struggle against illegal fishing and caviar trade.