WWF Response

Adapt the ships to the river, not the river to the ships!

River modification projects along the Danube
© WWF

"I have seen technical fixes, for example on the Drava River. They do not work; they are only theoretical. We have to learn to work with nature and not always try to control nature. In the end it's always more powerful." David Reeder, senior Technical Advisor, WWF - working to help save the danube, holds a speech in Bogojevo in Serbia.
© WWF-Canon / Bryan Marx

WWF wants the Danube to be a living river system for people and nature.

WWF believes that the ships should be changed to fit the river - the river should not be changed to fit the ships.

• Are environmentally sustainable
  
  • basin-wide and locally, with an overall positive net gain ecologically (e.g. through restoration activities tied to the project), at each project site and for the river system as a whole.
  • globally, by helping to reduce transport emissions responsible for global warming (e.g. by replacing high-emission road and air transport with low-emission ships).
  • with arguments backed up by sound scientific evidence.
    
    
• Are in line with all existing international legislation, especially those of the EU (e.g. Water Framework Directive). No new basin-wide legally binding depth requirements beyond existing ones - the Budapest-based 'Danube Commission' has set the minimum depth requirement for the river at 2.5 meters.
  
  
• Provide socio-economic benefits to local communities.
  
  
• Involve all relevant stakeholders, affected communities and environmental NGOs in the planning and decision making processes from the beginning.
  
  
• Conform to a Danube basin-wide plan for sustainable inland navigation. This would provide guidance on:
  
• ecological impacts resulting from proposed site-specific project interventions to the river (e.g. digging to various depths).
  
• best available practices and technologies, especially in terms of ship design (e.g. emissions, depth requirements)
  
• intermodal solutions, combining different modes of transport in order to be efficient, and minimze ecological impacts
  
  
• Respond to realistic economic demands by future potential users.
  
  
• Promote an expansion of inland waterway transport and rail on behalf of road transport.
  
  
• Make the Danube a model example for sustainable navigation in Europe and world-wide.