Search Results

Bucharest, 23 February 2007. The European Commission and Environment Ministers from all countries of the Danube River Basin and Black Sea region adopted a Declaration on the Enhancement of Cooperation during a High Level Meeting in Bucharest, Romania. The Declaration recognizes the important values of the region, historical damage it has undergone and recent signs of environmental recovery as a result of cooperative actions.

Changes in corporate practice are essential to achieve progress in meeting the obligations and activities under the Danube River Protection Convention. The cooperation with the business and industry sectors is important for the long-term success towards achieving sustainable water management.

Three sub-basins of the Danube are partly located in Ukraine - the Tisza, Prut and Siret basins, as well as part of the Danube Delta. Furthermore, 2.7 million people live in the Ukrainian part of the Danube Basin, which is 3.3% of the total Danube Basin District. Ukraine has been a Signatory State to the Danube River Protection Convention since 1994. The Convention was ratified by the Ukrainian Parliament in 2002.

As both the largest remaining natural wetland and second largest river delta in Europe, the Danube Delta is one of the continent's most valuable habitats for wetland wildlife. Pollution and discharge manipulation from upstream has a huge effect on this area of high biodiversity, plus the delta continues to change ecologically itself – the Danube Delta spreads seaward at a rate of 10 to 25 metres every year.

The Sava is the Danube's largest tributary of the Danube in terms of discharge and the second largest in terms of catchment area. The Sava is shared by Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro. The joint management arrangements acted as a pilot for the implementation of the European Union's Water Framework Directive for the Danube and Europe.

Covering an area of 157,186 km², the Tisza River Basin is the largest sub-basin of the Danube River Basin. The Tisza River is the longest tributary of the Danube (966 km), and second largest in terms of flow after the Sava. The countries of the Tisza Basin (Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia) agreed to close transboundary co-operation, aiming to achieve integrated water resources management of the Basin.

The Black Sea Commission is an intergovernmental organisation responsible for the implementation of the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution, and sets the legal framework required for regional cooperation and the activities necessary to reduce pollution and enhance the protection of the marine environment.