Posted on April, 27 2006

Vienna, Austria/Bucharest, Romania – With some 200,000ha in Romania and another 220,000ha in Serbia under water following recent floods, more natural retention areas are needed along the Danube River and its tributaries in order to limit the effects of inevitable future flooding, says WWF.

“Restoring former floodplain areas, especially along the lower stretches of the Danube River can yield multiple benefits not only in terms of enhanced flood protection, by soaking up floodwaters, but also for local livelihoods and nature,” said Christine Bratrich, head of WWF's Danube-Carpathian freshwater programme.

Floodplains are natural retention areas that act like sponges. They are broad flat areas of low-lying land near rivers, lakes and coasts that act as a natural storage reservoir, allowing large volumes of water to be stored and slowly and safely released down rivers and into the groundwater.

The estimated value of the various benefits from Danube floodplains, including flood management, water purification and fish production, is estimated to be €7,660 per hectare a year. Water purification through nutrient retention of Danube floodplains is worth an estimated €368 million per year. The Danube provides drinking water for 20 million people, and its wetlands are also among the richest natural areas. Some 100 fish species and 5,000 other animal species live along the Danube, the majority of them in wetland areas. The Danube Delta, a world heritage site, provides resting and breeding areas for more then 320 bird species, including 70 per cent of the world’s population of white pelicans.

An estimated 8,101km² of floodplains on the middle and lower Danube east of Vienna have restoration potential. A number of countries, including Hungary and Germany, have come to recognise the value of restoring floodplains as natural retention areas. Bavaria plans to create new flood retention volume of 20,000,000m³ by 2020. Following previous major flooding on the Tisza River, a major tributary of the Danube, the Hungarian government launched a major programme to give more space to the river, including restoration of 70,000ha of former wetland areas.

Implementing the Lower Danube Green Corridor could significantly contribute to the creation of flood retention areas. The agreement, signed in 2000 by the governments of Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine, calls among other things for the restoration of some 220,000ha of floodplain areas along the lower Danube from the Iron Gates dam to the Danube Delta. At present, only 6 per cent of the Lower Danube Green Corridor Agreement has been implemented.

“Implementing the agreement presents a win-win situation, yielding proceeds for people, in the form of flood protection and local livelihoods, as well as for nature,” said Orieta Hulea, WWF coordinator for the Lower Danube Green Corridor.

WWF calls on the governments of Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine to move forward in implementing the Lower Danube Green Corridor, and calls on the EU support an integrated approach to flood management that works with nature, not against it.

END NOTES:

• According to news reports, at least 2,500 people have been forced to evacuate their homes following several breaks in dykes on the Danube in Romania. More evacuations are expected. Sections of dyke have given way along the Danube in southern Romania near the communities of Bistret, Dabuleni, Sarata and Oltina. A 20m section of dyke gave way near Bistret, flooding at least four villages and 24,000ha of land. Disaster response teams are planning to evacuate approximately 9,000 people from their homes.

• From a ten-year comparative study of the world’s great flood disasters from 1950–1998 by the German insurance company, Munich Reinsurance, the number of global flood events increased threefold: 1950 – 1979 – 7/9 major floods per decade; 1980 – 1989 – 20 major floods; 1989 – 1998 – 34 major floods.

• For over a decade, WWF has been working to restore the floodplains of the Lower Danube and its tributaries in Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Moldova, thus contributing to the practical implementation of the Lower Danube Green Corridor Agreement signed by the governments of Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine in 2000.

Further information:
Christine Bratrich, Head of Freshwater
WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme
Tel: +43 676 842728215
E-mail: cbratrich@wwfdcp.org

Andreas Beckmann, Deputy Director
WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme
Tel: +43 676 8427 28 216
E-mail: abeckmann@wwfdcp.org