Besides serving as a home for a huge diversity of living organisms, wetlands limit the negative impact of climate change – they play an important role in flooding protection and mitigate the effect of droughts. They are also appreciated for their water-filtering qualities, for providing food, timber and biomass and for enhancing the development of sustainable tourism.
Over the last 150 years nearly 80% of the natural wetlands in the Danube-Carpathian Region – which includes a great part of Central and Eastern Europe, – were destroyed. Among the most serious factors for water habitat destruction are human actions to claim new areas for agriculture, navigation improvements, development of hydro-energetic projects etc.
On the EU level, the last status analysis for species and habitats from the Natura 2000 Ecological Network for the period 2007 – 2013 revealed that the status of habitats like wetlands and grass communities is still quite alarming. [1"> In the last 10 years the WWF and its partners have restored over ten thousand hectares (nearly 25 000 acres) of wetland in the Danube-Carpathian Region, Bulgaria included. Funding for the restoration activities is provided by European funds and by the cooperation programme of the WWF and the Coca Cola Foundation in support of wetlands in the area.
This year marks the 10th anniversary since WWF’s registration in Bulgaria. According to the Waters Programme Manager Ivan Hristov the general attitude towards wetlands in the country has changed over the last decade thanks to the efforts of the organization.
Until recently the need for wetland restoration was overlooked; there even existed policies to drain such areas. The WWF supported some of the largest-scale projects for wetland restoration in Bulgaria; they cover territories in Persina Nature Park and Kalimok-Brashlen Protected Area. Also, the WWF plays a key role in the restoration efforts along the course of Russenski Lom and Vesselina rivers, as well as in those for the riparian forests, said Mr. Hristov.
The expert highlighted the crash of commercial fishing on the Danube River after the destruction of its wetlands as an example for their importance. In the past about 65% of the fish caught in some sections of the Danube River consisted of wild carp but after the draining of the lakes and wetlands along the river where the species used to spawn, its status rapidly turned to critically endangered (Red Data Book of Bulgaria, 1981). A decade later the species was declared extinct. The carp that are found in the river today are cultivated, and the amount of fish caught has decreased several times; this has led to the end of commercial fishing on the river.
Celebrating the World Wetland Day on February 2nd
