WWF in the Danube- Carpathian Region

hindsight 2010

In action

© Daniel Petrescu

20 years of change, 20 years of WWF

It has been 20 years since the fall of the Iron Curtain and the start of WWF’s work in the region. We took the opportunity to look back at the past two decades in this dynamic and quickly changing region, and asked key partners, staff and stakeholders to look ahead to challenges and opportunities in the region and WWF’s role in addressing them. Download the document at www.panda.org/dcpo

in the Danube-Carpathian region

Blue DanubeThe Danube River basin is the most international river basin in the world, draining 19 countries on its 2,800 km journey from the Black Forest in Germany to the Black Sea. From the largely untamed middle and lower stretches of the river to the spectacular Danube Delta at its mouth, the Danube is home to some of the world’s richest wetlands.

© Daniel Petrescu

Much is looking up for the Danube

Over the past 150 years, the Danube has been much abused. Particularly the upper reaches of the river were straightened, corseted and dissected. Waste and pollution made much of the river unswimmable.

Fortunately, over the past 20 years much has changed for the better. Water quality is improved thanks to tougher environmental standards and investment in waste and water treatment, among other things. Most of the remaining wetlands are now protected, and some of those lost are being restored. The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River and the EU Water Framework Directive have given the world’s most international river a framework for governance and integrated river basin management that is an example around the world. But much more needs to be done...

© WWF Austria

Our Goal: A Living DanubeBy 2020: 2 million ha of floodplains on 1,500 km of free- flowing river sections are protected and connected to the river system in order to sustain biodiversity, build resilience and provide ecosystem goods and services for people.

Our Focus:• Wetland protection, restoration• Danube Sturgeon• Addressing threats: navigation, hydropower• Good river basin management

© Daniel Petrescu

WWF projects implemented/under implementation

Future WWF projects –under development

In the Danube River Basin Management Plan adopted in 2010, the governments of the Danube countries committed themselves to protecting and restoring floodplains and wetland areas in order to secure ecosystem goods and services and enhance resilience in the face of climate change. WWF has been working for over two decades to promote conservation and restoration of Danube wetlands, with over two dozen projects realised, ongoing or in the pipeline to date.

New hope for Danube wetlands

10 years of the Lower Danube Green CorridorIn 2000, the governments of Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Moldova signed an agreement for the protection and restoration of floodplain areas along the last 1,000 km of the Danube. The agreement, which was facilitated by WWF, was and is the most ambitious wetland protection and restoration initiative in Europe. Ten years on, the countries have significantly exceeded their protection targets, bringing ca 1.4 million ha under some form of protection – nearly a third more than the 1 million ha originally planned. Progress on the restoration target of 224,000 ha is further behind, with some 65,000 ha of floodplain areas restored to date. WWF organised a series of events to celebrate the anniversary of the agreement, including one that took place at the Ministerial Meeting of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River in Vienna in February 2010.

© Katharina Stögmüller

Europe’s Amazon

WWF followed up on the major breakthrough achieved in 2009 when the governments of Croatia and Hungary agreed to establish a trans-boundary Biosphere Reserve – Europe’s largest riverine protected area, totalling some 630,000 ha and including unique areas of the Kopacki Rit, Europe’s “Amazon”. We worked with relevant authorities to extend the protection to include valuable stretches of the Drava, Danube and Mura rivers in Slovenia, Austria and Serbia, and thus create the world’s first trans-boundary biosphere reserve shared by five countries. At the same time, we moved forward with practical conservation, with wetland restoration projects in Croatia and Serbia set for implementation in 2011.

In 2009, Hungarian and Croatian Ministers and Prime Ministers agreed to establish the Drava Biosphere Reserve.

Mura-Drava-Danube

© Arno Mohl

Restoring Liberty Island

On the Middle Danube, work moved forward on the restoration of Liberty Island in Hungary, led by WWF-Hungary and the Danube National Park with support from The Coca Cola Company and the Hellenic Coca Cola bottling company.

© WWF Hungary

Danube parks

WWF provided training and other support for protected area managers especially on the Lower Danube. Danube protected areas were also strengthened by support provided by WWF and The Coca Cola Company to the newly established Danube Association of Protected Areas, which is now off and running thanks to a major grant of 2.3 million Euro from the EU.

Danube sturgeon

There are several species of Sturgeon on the Danube, including the giant Beluga (Huso huso), which can reach up to 7 meters in length. The Danube’s flagship species has survived the dinosaurs, but now teeters on the brink of extinction. The conservation action plan for Danube sturgeon that was facilitated by WWF and adopted by the Bern Convention in 2007 has been adopted by the parties of the Danube protection commission as part of the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive. In 2010, we led efforts to identify and secure key spawning areas for sturgeon on the Lower Danube.

Ancient survivor on the brink of extinction

© WWF DCPO

Sustainable livelihoods on the Lower Danube

In 2010 we continued promoting rewards for farmers, fish pond managers, tourism and other businesses on the Lower Danube that contribute to water, soil and biodiversity conservation. The focus for our efforts was on ensuring the effective use of relevant EU funding programmes, e.g. agri- environmental measures, as well as innovative financing schemes. A major issue for 2011 will be helping to shape EU funds that will become available in the next budget period 2014-20.

© WWF DCPO

Navigating perils for the Danube

A series of planned navigation projects could have a major impact on the Danube as a living river. In response, WWF continued to lead a network of partners across the Danube that are addressing navigation projects from Germany to Ukraine. In Romania, current plans to improve navigation on the Lower Danube between Calarasi and Braila could sound the death knell for Danube sturgeon. On WWF’s urging, the Environmental Impact Assessment for the project was rejected as entirely inadequate; negotiations are still ongoing with the Ministries of Transportation and Environment and European Commission regarding possible improvements to the project.

© Michel Gunther / WWF-Canon

© WWF Hungary

Toxic waste

On 4 October, 2010 approximately 1 million cubic metres of toxic red sludge escaped from a breach in reservoir number 10 of the MAL AG aluminium plant at Ajka in western Hungary. It was the worst environmental disaster in Hungary’s history and underlined the serious risks to people and nature posed by dozens if not hundreds of similar toxic waste sites scattered across the former Communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. WWF called on Hungarian authorities and EU institutions to examine not only the immediate causes of the disaster but also the relative effectiveness of EU legislation and other measures to prevent similar catastrophes from occurring at waste sites across the region.

Danube StrategyWWF actively participated in development of the Danube Strategy, the EU’s macro-regional development strategy for the Danube basin. The draft strategy and action plan that was published by the European Commission in December 2010 includes many of WWF’s key priorities, including wetland conservation and restoration, protected area management and sturgeon conservation. The strategy is expected to be formally adopted under the Hungarian Presidency of the European Union in June 2011.

© Alexander Ivanov

International cooperation for the Danube

In February 2010, the governments of all countries in the Danube basin officially adopted the Danube River Basin Management Plan. Wetland protection and restoration as well as sturgeon conservation are major priorities under the groundbreaking plan, which will guide common efforts for environmental improvement across the basin. WWF is an official observer and active participant of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River, which is responsible for guiding development and implementation of the plan.

WWF and partner Bund/FoE presented a petition, signed by 100,000 people, calling on governments to ensure navigation projects do not harm the Danube as a living river.

Ministerial Meeting of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River, February 2010

© Katharina Stögmüller

Green CarpathiansThe Carpathian Mountains are Europe’s last great wilderness area – a bastion for large carnivores, with over half of the continent’s populations of bears, wolves and lynx, and home to the greatest remaining reserves of old growth forests outside of Russia.

© WWF DCPO

The Carpathians face an uncertain future

There have been some remarkable successes in protecting the Carpathian Mountains. Some 20% of the area, including many of Europe’s most valuable natural treasures, are now under some form of formal protection. The governments of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine have formally shouldered responsibility for ensuring the protection and sustainable development of the mountains through the Carpathian Convention. Unfortunately, too much of this progress is still on paper and not in practice. The globally important Carpathians continue to face growing threats, from logging to infrastructure development, much of which it poorly planned if not actually illegal.

© Wild Wonders of Europe / Cornelia Doerr / WWF

Our Goal: Green CarpathiansBy 2020: 15 million hectares of mosaic landscapes, including High Conservation Value Forest and Farmlands, remain preserved and interconnected.

Our Focus:• Protected area designation and management• Forest protection and management• Carpathians bears• Addressing threats: illegal infrastructure and logging• Carpathian Convention

© WWF DCPO

A bonanza of protected areas in Ukraine In Ukraine, 29 protected areas were established, increasing national coverage to 669,000 ha, or some 5.5% of the national territory. Additional areas were protected by regional governments, including valuable riverine forests in northwestern Ukraine, the “jungles” of Transcarpathia, which have been a long- standing focus for WWF’s protection efforts.

© WWF DCPO

Support for protection

A major focus for our work has been on improving conditions for protected areas in the region, including legislation and financing. In Romania, the situation of protected areas took a decided turn for the worse in 2010. Initial hopes that a protected area agency would finally be established were dashed by the new government at the beginning of the year. Financial difficulties at the State Forestry Administration, which manage most of the country’s leading protected areas, have brought many park administrations close to bankruptcy. WWF launched a public awareness campaign in December to draw attention to the problem and pressure political decision makers to take action.

© WWF DCPO

With major support from the MAVA Foundation and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we continued our long-term training programme for Carpathian protected area managers, focusing especially on participative management practices that involve local communities and stakeholders in caring for – and profiting from – natural jewels. WWF also began distributing information and management effectiveness tracking tools that will help protected area managers across the region. We also continued supporting the fledgling Carpathian Network of Protected Areas, providing secretarial and other functions in cooperation with the Secretariat for the Carpathian Convention. More generally, a major focus for our work was supporting implementation of the EU Natura 2000 network across the region.

Enhancing capacity, enhancing protection

© WWF DCPO

Southern Carpathians

WWF launched an initiative to create Europe’s largest protected landscape and wilderness area. Stretching from Serbia across Romania to Brasov, the Southern Carpathians incorporate nearly 1 million ha of already protected areas, including jewels such as Retezat, Domogled and Piatra Craiului National Parks. The project focuses on developing coordinated management for the existing protected areas and promote the area as one of Europe’s premier ecotourism attractions.

Europe’s Yellowstone

© Wild Wonders of Europe / Cornelia Doerr / WWF

Maramures

We continued our efforts to develop economic mechanisms to maintain the rich landscape and associated ecosystem services in the area of Maramures Nature Park in northern Romania. They include integrated forestry management, support to local farmers to introduce new grazing practices and tap EU funds, tourism development as well as possible development of payments for ecosystem services involving the City of Baia Mare and the farmers on Oasi Guteau plateau from where the city draws its water. Across the border in Ukraine, we continued a major project funded by the Norwegian government focused on strengthening protected area management and local communities and stakeholders in the Carpathian area of Ukraine.

A new economy to preserve an old landscape

© Emil Pop

Old growth forests

The Danube-Carpathian region has Europe’s largest remaining stands of old growth and virgin forests outside of Russia. But these treasures are disappearing. A study of natural forests in Slovakia undertaken with support from WWF and Norway found that only 0.47% of Slovak forests can be considered to be Old Growth – roughly a quarter of what had been expected. Identifying and protecting remaining areas of natural forest will be a major focus for WWF’s work in 2011 – the International Year of the Forest – and coming years.

Europe’s greatest remaining treasures

© Juraj Vysoky

Managing forests responsibly

WWF continued promoting FSC certification in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine through awareness raising, training and support for information centres as well as technical assistance – we are currently on track to have 3 million ha of forests FSC certified by the end of 2011 in Romania and Bulgaria. At the same time, we promoted efforts to protect the most valuable forest resources even in commercially logged areas, through identification and protection of High Conservation Value Forests in Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine.

© WWF DCPO

Threat: Illegal logging

Illegal logging remains a major challenge in the region. One important tool for addressing the problem is an internet-based system that WWF developed in cooperation with the Romanian government to help document and therefore control the flow of timber.

© WWF DCPO

Threat: InfrastructureConstruction of a road through one of Europe’s last great wilderness areas at the edge of Retezat National Park is temporarily halted while negotations continue. Elsewhere, destruction continues. Development of ski areas is exploding throughout the Carpathians and Bulgarian mountains, in spite of very uncertain prospects for many low-lying areas as the climate warms. In Bulgaria, illegal pistes and resorts are being built in national parks and protected areas at Rila, Pirin and most recently at Mount Vitosha overlooking the Bulgarian capital. In Ukraine, plans to build a road through Gorgony Nature Park have apparently been shelved and the park director – who had opposed the construction – reinstated to his position.

Bulldozers in Vitosha Nature Park, Bulgaria

© WWF DCPO

Carpathian Convention

WWF continued to actively participate in and support the Convention for the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathian Mountains. Following adoption of the Biodiversity Protocol in 2008, work continued on protocols on Forestry and Tourism, which are expected to be formally adopted by the Carpathian governments in May 2011.

© WWF DCPO

Winning support

Our Goal: A movement for conservation and sustainable living across the Danube-Carpathian region. By 2015, WWF will be in regular contact with 250,000 people across the region and working with strategic partners from the corporate sector to promote low- carbon energy and good stewardship of biodiversity as well as water and forest resources.

© WWF DCPO

Earth Hour 2010

WWF organised Earth Hour in the follow-up to the Copenhagen summit on climate change. The global lights-out event for climate action was the biggest event of its kind, ever, involving 88 countries and over 4,000 cities and towns. In the Danube- Carpathian region, Earth Hour events were staged in over 200 cities in Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine. Thanks to pro-bono support from creative-partner Ogilvy, WWF’s Earth Hour campaigns in Romania and Bulgaria received gold awards.

© WWF DCPO

National Parks Day

In May 2010, WWF organised Carpathian Parks Day, working with dozens of protected areas across the Carpathians from Romania to Slovakia and Ukraine to organise clean-up events as well as presentations to visitors and local communities. In Bulgaria, WWF organised National Parks Day with support from Globul, the mobile phone company. Thousands of people and celebrity ambassadors spent the day volunteering for their favorite nature park.

© WWF DCPO

Bulgarians sign for forestsIn March 2010, WWF handed Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov a 60,000 signature petition asking his government to find a long-term solution to the problem of forest management in the country. The popular forest campaign ad, showing the green disappearing from the Bulgarian flag, won silver at the advertising community awards in May 2010. The popular support and concern gave WWF and allies the support needed to prevent dangerous loopholes in the new law on forests.

© WWF DCPO

2% for Carpathian bears

WWF ran its first public fundraising campaign in Romania in spring 2010, calling on Romanian taxpayers to dedicate their 2% tax assignation to the protection of bears in Romania.

© WWF DCPO

Schools for a Living Planet

30 schools from 10 countries of the region participated in the Schools for a Living Planet programme organised by WWF- Austria with support from the Erste Bank Foundation. In Romania, over 2,800 schools participated in the Schools for a Greener Future programme of WWF and CD Press.

© WWF Austria

Climate Change and Energy

Our efforts to raise awareness of Climate Change continued during 2010. We worked closely with industry associations, parliamentarians and other environmental organisations to improve the new Bulgarian Energy Strategy as well as to promote WWF’s Climate Policy Tracker in the region.

30 companies from Romania and Bulgaria shared their experience of taking measures to tackle climate change during a video conference between the two countries ahead of Earth Hour 2010. The event was organized by WWF, the British Council and the British Embassies in Sofia and Bucharest and hosted by UK Ambassadors H.E. Steve Williams and H.E. Robin Barnett.

© WWF DCPO

Working as OneIn 2010 we took further steps to integrate more closely WWF’s work across the Danube-Carpathian region, including WWF organisations in Austria, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and beyond. One instrument for this was development of a Strategic Plan that will guide our work for the next five years.

WWF Danube-Carpathian Team Meeting, Backij Monostor, Serbia, June 2010

© WWF DCPO

© Dobrin Kashavelov / Circle

Our focus in 2011 Forests International Year of Forests, protection of old growth forests

Money for nature Programming for EU agriculture and rural development funds

Wetlands Launch of new conservation and restoration projects on Drava and in Danube Delta

Awareness Launch of 2-year water and wetlands tour, Earth Hour , 50th

Anniversary of WWF

Protected area management and Environmental guidelines for hydro- power

WWF-DCP gratefully acknowledges the generous financial and other support provided by our partners and supporters in 2010.

The following list is limited to direct supporters of the WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme, WWF-DCP/Bulgaria, WWF- DCP/Romania and does not include supporters of work implemented by other WWF organisations, e.g. WWF-Hungary, WWF-Austria or WWF-Germany, in the region.

Programme Funders (providing 200,000 E or more):

The Coca Cola Company (Danube basin conservation, via WWF-US)The Coca-Cola Foundation (for Water Tour and wetland restoration, to begin in 2011) Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, Germany (Lower Danube Green Corridor) European Commission (support for core activities, restoration of Danube Islands, Green Borders, Bulgarian Nature Parks, Natura 2000) IKEA (sustainable forestry in Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine, via WWF-Sweden ) MAVA Foundation via WWF-International (support for Danube navigation and Carpathian protected areas) Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (support for protected areas in Ukrainian Carpathians) UNEP/GEF (Payments for Ecosystem Services project)

Project funders (providing 75,000 E-200,000 E):

EEA /Governments of Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein (High Nature Value Farming, water management and Natura 2000 projects) Lafarge Romania (conservation projects and awareness raising in Romania)

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Partners & supporters

Supporters (providing up to 75,000 E in financial and in-kind support):

Alertis Fund Aroma Bulgaria British Embassy Sofia (Climate Change)CEE Trust (NGO networking on water policy in Romania)Coca-Cola Serbia (Earth Hour)European Commission (for capacity building on water policy in Serbia)Globul Bulgaria (Parks Day)Hellenic Coca-Cola Romania (Tisza River Clean-up)Mindshare (Bucuresti) (pro bono ad placement for WWF campaigns) Mindshare (Sofia) (pro bono ad placement for WWF campaigns) Netex Construction Romania Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (for capacity building on Natura 2000 in Serbia, via WWF-MedPO)Ogilvy & Mather (Bucuresti) (pro bono creatives for WWF campaigns) Ogilvy & Mather (Sofia) (pro bono creatives for WWF campaigns) Ogilvy & Mather and SPN Ogilvy (Kyiv) (pro bono creatives for WWF campaigns) Ogilvy & Mather (Serbia) (pro bono creatives for WWF campaigns) Ogilvy PR (Bucuresti) (pro bono PR for WWF campaigns) Ogilvy PR (Sofia) (pro bono PR for WWF campaigns) Philips Ukraine (Earth Hour)SAB Miller (water stewardship project in Ukraine, via WWF-UK)Sony (Earth Hour, via WWF-International)World Bank (illegal logging project in Ukraine)

Supporters from within the WWF network include:

WWF-Austria, WWF-Denmark, WWF-European Policy Office, WWF-Germany, WWF-Hungary, WWF-International, WWF-Macroeconomic Policy for Sustainable Development Programme Office, WWF-Mediterranean Programme, WWF- Netherlands, WWF-Norway, WWF-United Kingdom, WWF-USA

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Partners & supporters

We look forward to working with you

The WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme gratefully acknowledges funding support from the European Commission. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of WWF and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.

Visit us: http://www.panda.org/dcpo, /bulgaria, /romania, /serbia, /ukraine, www.wwf.at, www.wwf.de, www.wwf.hu, www.wwf.pl

© WWF DCPO