Project data
- Started: 1, Jul 1998
- Planned end date: 31, Dec 2010
- Executant: Mike Baltzer
- Managing Office: WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme Office (DCPO)
- Address:
WWF Danube-Carpathian
/ Programme Office (DCPO),
Mariahilferstrasse 88a/3/9
1070 Vienna /
Austria /
+43 1 524 54 70 - Status: active
- Modified: 3, Feb 2009
- Published: 9, Feb 2009
High banks of the Danube River on the Romanian/Bulgarian border. Orjahovo, Bulgaria.
© WWF-Canon / Anton VORAUER
Geographical location:
Europe/Middle-East > -Regions- > Danube-Carpathian
Europe/Middle-East > Eastern Europe > Bulgaria
Europe/Middle-East > Eastern Europe > Czech Republic
Europe/Middle-East > Eastern Europe > Hungary
Europe/Middle-East > Eastern Europe > Moldova
Europe/Middle-East > Eastern Europe > Romania
Europe/Middle-East > Eastern Europe > Slovakia
Europe/Middle-East > Eastern Europe > Slovenia
Europe/Middle-East > Eastern Europe > Ukraine
Europe/Middle-East > Europe General
Europe/Middle-East > West Central Europe > Austria
Summary
The Danube-Carpathian region stretches from Germany in the west to Romania and Ukraine in the East, from Poland in the north to Bulgaria in the south. From the Carpathian Mountains to the Danube River, the area is one of the last European habitats of the brown bear, wolf and lynx.
WWF’s work in the region focuses on the conservation, restoration and sustainable management of the region’s natural resources. Priorities include work on forestry and protected areas in the Carpathians, coastal conservation of the Black Sea, and freshwater and wetland conservation of the Danube and its tributaries.
Background
The Carpathian Mountains are the backbone of Central and Eastern Europe - home to a wide array of wildlife, many nationalities and a rich cultural heritage. Exceptionally abundant in natural diversity, the region supports species not found anywhere else in the world and is also the last European habitat (outside Russia) of the brown bear, wolf and lynx.
In addition, the region contains some of the continent’s most extensive areas of both mountain or virgin forest and receives twice the rainfall of surrounding areas. It is this freshwater that feeds the Danube and the Vistula rivers.
Designated as a Global 200 Ecoregion, the Carpathian mountains are among the richest, yet most endangered, natural areas in the world.
Objectives
1. Monitor developments in the conservation of the Danube.
2. Maintain the maximum possible biological diversity.
3. Assure ecologically sound dynamics of wetland and flood plain areas.
4. Enhance rehabilitation of damaged areas.
5. Strengthen cooperation between WWF and other environmental groups.
6. Influence the EU accession process in favour of environmental protection.
Solution
This programme aims at the conservation, restoration and sustainable management of natural resources in the region. Its teams work on forestry, coastal conservation of the Black Sea, and the freshwater and wetlands of the Danube and its tributaries.
It also addresses policy issues - EU accession, conflict, toxic spills - and includes the production and distribution of publications in support of its overall goals.
In particular, it helps raise awareness and interest in the protection and restoration of the Danube-Carpathian region. Fact sheets on wetland and forest conservation and sustainable management have been produced, and distribution of information by digital media is now being planned.