DANUBEIside Nature protectio alog the Daube River Cooperatio without borders The Daube is the most iteratioal river i the world, passig through te coutries o its 2,857 km jourey from the Black Forest to the Black Sea. F o l l o w t h e f l o w of It has bee a trasport ad commuicatio route for milleia, as well as a border of great empires. The river was divided ito East ad West durig the decades of the Iro Curtai. Today, the Daube coects coutries ad cultures ad through its etire river basi offers a livig eviromet for 81 millio people i oe macroregio. The growig together of Europea regios ad the dyamic ecoomic developmet i South-East Europe i recet years have put icreasig pressure o the atural treasures of the Daube. Its Protected Areas preserve the most valuable atural sites alog the river. Durig the last two t h e D a u b e - d isc o v decades, several ew Protected Areas were created alog the Daube. Nowadays, s, Biosphere Reserves, Nature Parks ad other Protected Areas play a key role i the sustaiable developmet of the regio. Aimals ad plats do ot recogise state borders. The success i coservig biodiversity o a Daube-wide scale heavily depeds o trasatioal cooperatio. This aspect has also bee take ito cosideratio strogly at the political level, i particular by the recetly adopted EU Strategy for the Daube Regio which calls for a Daube-wide approach to ature coservatio ad highlights the role of DANUBE- PARKS STEP 2.0 as a flagship project i Priority Area 6 (Biodiversity). Buildig o existig bilateral cooperatio, the Daube River Network of Protected e r a t u r e, a c t i o s a d Cotiue o page 2 pe o p Areas was established i 2009. By implemetig the DANUBEPARKS project, Protected Areas from early all Daube coutries have developed a strog ad erichig partership. For the first time, Daube Protected Areas joitly ad systematically tackled commo challeges ad problems o a Daube-wide scale. Trasatioal thematic task forces were established, promotig the itese exchage of experiece i habitat maagemet, coservatio of Daube flagship species ad river morphology. Trasatioal strategies were elaborated ad pilot projects of Daube-wide relevace were implemeted. However, trasatioal cooperatio of Daube Protected Areas meas more tha actios for aimals ad plats it also icludes raisig awareess of the values of itact ad ispirig ature. The Iteratioal Daube Festivals i the Protected Areas visitor cetres became a yearly focal poit for commuicatio, ivolvig ad ispirig the local populatio of the regio e l a l o g t h e r i v e r. Doauauwald Neuburg- Igolstadt 15 www.doauaue.de Locatio: Germay, betwee Neuburg ad Igolstadt Surface: 3,686 ha Good to kow: Oe of the largest riparia hardwood forests alog the Germa Daube. Ambitious project to brig back river dyamics ito the floodplai forest. 1
Cotiue from page 1 ad presetig characteristic music, dace ad food of the Daube regios. DANUBEPARKS STEP 2.0 is ow poised to stregthe the Network of Protected Areas as a joit voice for the Daube s atural heritage o Europea level ad to implemet trasatioal coservatio strategies. As all of us i the Daube regio faua ad flora, society ad local people, Protected Areas, various stakeholders share a commo ad coheret ecosystem, we will ot be successful i the sustaiable developmet of this regio by stadig aloe. The DANUBEPARKS Network is willig to cotiue, deepe ad elarge this trasatioal ad cross-sectorial approach to ature protectio alog the Daube River. Carl Mazao, Spokesma of the DANUBEPARKS STEP 2.0 project ad Director of the Doau-Aue A Chace for the Blue Daube For more tha te years, the Daube Delta Biosphere Reserve Authority has orgaised a art competitio for pupils aged 15-18. Sice the establishmet of the DANUBEPARKS Network, the competitio ad the resultig exhibitio have goe iteratioal. I 2013 ad i 2014, the Daube Delta Biosphere Reserve will collect your posters util the ed of April each year; the award ceremoy takes place i Jue of each year ad also ivolves a public vote (o the spot ad olie). After the exhibitio opes i Tulcea, it will travel through several Protected Areas ad Daube coutries. Updated iformatio ca be foud o: http://www.thebluedaube.ro/e Doau-Aue www.doauaue.at Locatio: Austria, betwee Viea ad Bratislava Surface: 9,353 ha Good to kow: Oe of the last freeflowig river sectios alog the Upper Daube with well preserved coheret floodplai forests. Best-practice projects i river revitalizatio. Záhorie Protected Ladscape Area www.sopsr.sk/ Locatio: Slovakia, betwee the Morava river ad Malé Karpaty Moutais Surface: 27,522 ha Good to kow: The first proclaimed lowlad Protected Ladscape Area i Slovakia. Protectig rare habitats at the Morava River, largest tributary i this sectio of the Daube. 13 m a r c h m o ra v i a Iteratioal Daube Festivals The traditio of Iteratioal Daube Festivals, where all the Protected Areas from the Network preset themselves to the local populatio, cotiues. I 2013, the Festival will take place i Tulcea, Romaia o the occasio of Daube Delta Day i the begiig of September. The followig year, we will travel to Bački Moostor i Serbia where the wellestablished Bodrog Festival will be celebrated with a focus o the Daube Protected Areas. If you live earby or will happe to sped your vacatio i the area, drop by ad celebrate with us! 1 September 2013: Iteratioal Daube Festival i Tulcea, Romaia 9-10 August 2014: Iteratioal Daube Festival / Bodrog Festival i Bački Moostor, Serbia Dua-Ipoly Programme www.duaipoly.hu Locatio: Hugary, North of Budapest Surface: 60,314 ha Good to kow: Oe of the most picturesque Daube sectios where moutais meet the river ad joitly form a uique ladscape. Home of several protected edemic plat ad aimal species. DANUBEPARKS STEP 2.0 ad the goals we are pursuig D o a u 14 DANUBEPARKS Network has started with the first Daube-wide SEE-project from 2009 to 2012. The mai goal was to set up cooperatio o a trasatioal level where it has bee oly bilateral or ot existig before, to fid joit positios ad commo strategies o pressig issues ad to lear from each other s practice, experiece ad pilot projects. The basis has bee laid ow we eed to build o those first successes ad further stregthe ad achor the etwork o differet levels. From 2012 to 2014, the ew SEE-project DANUBEPARKS STEP 2.0 is to cotiue with actios for White-tailed Eagle protectio, to set a ew focus o the protectio of Black Poplar as a flagship species of floodplai forests, to itesify the work o river morphology, ad to assess ad develop ature tourism offers. We ited to stregthe the voice of Daube Protected Areas o Europea level. I this respect, we work together with EU bodies ad atioal bodies as well as NGOs dealig with ature protectio or ature tourism alog the Daube, i particular with the Iteratioal Commissio for the Coservatio of the Daube River (ICPDR) ad the EU Strategy for the Daube River. The DANUBEPARKS iitiative is a growig Network. The partership icludes parters from early all Daube coutries, showig a growig role of Protected Areas from o-eu coutries. The strategic c/o Doau-Aue Schloss Orth, 2304 Orth a der Doau, Austria Phoe: +43/2212/3450-19, Fax: +43/2212/3450-17 g.frak@daubeparks.org, www.daubeparks.org elargemet process ivites all relevat Protected Area Admiistratios alog the Daube River to joi the Network ad could also itegrate riverie ature reserves o the larger tributaries such as Sava, Drava, Tisza ad Prut. Experiece ad competece gaied i trasatioal cooperatio should i the ed raise the stadig ad the efficiecy of maagemet of Protected Areas o local level. DANUEPARKS STEP 2.0 works to preserve ad develop the Daube River as a ispirig lifelie for a ew Europea macroregio, brigig trasatioal policies ad Photos: Daiel Petrescu, Roseberger, Kovacs, Frak, Leoa Valeriu, Baumgarter, Wager, Mazao, Zike, Badacu, Hafer, Hoyer, Nagy, Ker, Suciu, Schmidt, Bucher/BirdLife, Fiala, Zwefo, Bruck, Kracher, Daube Delta Biosphere Reserve, Srebara Nature Reserve, Kali- Lojsko Polje Nature Park, Dua-Dráva, Dua-Ipoly, BROZ, Doau-Aue EU-Fudig Programme: Europea Territorial Cooperatio South-East Europe EU-Co-fiacig rate: 85% Priority Areas: Protectio ad Improvemet of the Eviromet Areas of Itervetio: Promote cooperatio i maagemet of atural assets ad protected areas Website: www.southeast-europe.et strategies to life by cocrete ad visible actios. Achorig the Network should eable us to build a log-term cooperatio Natioalpark, Doauauwald Neuburg Igolstadt, ICPDR, Ballus, Alessadro, Pala, Lebesmiisterium Layout: Michael Kalb, www.michaelkalb.at Prited by www.berger.at, Prit ru of xxxxx. February 2013. Produced usig evirometally-friedly techologies ad materials. Errors ad omissios excepted. SEE Programme structure that will help protect the atural heritage of the Daube River i the decades to come! Imprit Duajské luhy Protected Ladscape Area Website: www.sopsr.sk Locatio: Slovakia, from Bratislava to Veľkolélsky Islad Surface: 12,284 ha Good to kow: Oce oe of the most dyamic ilad river deltas i Europe. Strogly altered by Gabcikovo hydropower plat, but still housig umerous sites of sigificat biodiversity. From the Declaratio of Tulcea to DANUBEPARKS STEP 2.0 Whe the Protected Areas alog the Daube met to sig the Declaratio of Tulcea i 2007, they recogised the ew opportuities ad challeges arisig from the accessio of Cetral ad Easter Europea coutries to the EU, the stroger EU ature legislatio, ad the ecessity to esure that ature protectio alog a iteratioal river was raised to a iteratioal level as well: With the commitmet to form a Daube River Network of Protected Areas, the spirit of DANUBEPARKS was bor. The first joit project, fuded by the ETC- SEE Programme as well, was implemeted Fertö-Haság D u a j http://fhp.emzetipark.gov.hu/ Locatio: Hugary, trilateral area with Austria ad Slovakia Surface: 9,175 ha Good to kow: Cross-border Natioal Park at the Neusiedler See. Also maages the Szigetköz area at the Daube, borderig the Duajské luhy Protected Ladscape Area. 2009 to 2012, with a multitude of acitivities (Project Report www.daubeparks. org). Durig this project, parters from Croatia, Serbia ad Germay cotributed actively to the implemetatio despite missig fiacial support; ew Protected Areas joied as observer parters. A secod etwork project was called for by the success of the first oe, ot to metio the fact that establishig a wellfuctioig ad sustaiable etwork takes loger tha three years. DANUBEPARKS STEP 2.0, therefore, builds o the mai achievemets of the past years ad focuses o the missig steps to achor the DANUBEPARKS Network i the log term. 11 12 Liliaa Ivaceco, Head of Educatio ad Commuicatio of the Daube Delta Biosphere Reserve Authority, explais the role of commuicatio activities i the project: From experts to geeral public Withi the DANUBEPARKS STEP 2.0 project, ature protectio ad commuicatio experts work together for a commo goal: to ivolve as may people as possible both iside ad outside the Protected Area staff i our ature protectio activities. The Daube Delta Biosphere Reserve Authority has had log-stadig experiece i this field, icludig participatio i iteratioal programmes ad maagemet of iformatio cetres or evirometal educatio i schools. Therefore, we also coordiate several activities withi the DANUBEPARKS STEP 2.0 project, such as the Chace for the Blue Daube competitio or the productio of a DANUBEPARKS caledar. Other parters will cotribute with brochures, a DANUBEPARKS book, promotioal items, exhibitios, media work, etc. I additio, we are plaig some evets for public outreach of protectio activities, such as the public witer cout of White-tailed Eagle or the labellig of outstadig Black Poplars. The best way to experiece our joit work ad the spirit of our collaboratio as felt at every Task Force Meetig ad i every Staff Exchage is to come ad visit oe of our two Iteratioal Daube Festivals, where we all get together ad celebrate! 10 D u a 2 3
Black Poplar Symbol for atural forests Daube Iside: Radmila, ca you tell us about your orgaisatio ad its role i the project? Radmila: Vojvodiašume is the public forestry compay of Vojvodia, a orther regio i Serbia alog the Daube River. We are resposible for the maagemet of all forests i this provice ad of several Protected Areas, amog them the Gorje Poduavlje Special Nature Reserve. Withi the DANUBEPARKS Network we are the oly forestry compay directly resposible for Protected Area Maagemet. I 2014, we will orgaise a joit coferece for Protected Areas ad forestry compaies to brig them together, discuss our results ad support the commo uderstadig of forest maagemet i ecologically valuable areas. DI: The Black Poplar is a flagship species i the DANUBEPARKS STEP 2.0 project. What is so special about it? Radmila: It is a rare tree species ad protectio is eeded for valuable old ad impressive solitary trees, but also for old growth stads. This will also help umerous other species, as they provide suitable estig coditios for large birds or dead wood for woodpeckers. Secodly, Black Poplar is a pioeer plat ad its rejuveatio depeds o river dyamics oly gravel or sad baks ad islads provide suitable coditios where seedligs of Black Poplar ca start to grow ad this is oe reaso why river dyamics are crucial for a viable Daube. Fially, there is a ogoig hybridisatio of Black Poplar with trees from forest platatios a hidde ad uderestimated threat for this tree species. s a v e 6 Radmila Sakic, seior officer for ature coservatio i Public Eterprise Vojvodiašume DI: How will you tackle these issues? Radmila: As a first step, we will develop a Daube-wide Black Poplar cadastre, showig sigle trees ad old tree stads. As a secod step, a selected umber of trees will be tested morphologically ad geetically, to determie whether they are pure Black Poplar ot mixed with hybrid poplars ad to fid out about local pheotypes that also differ alog the Daube. These actios will eable us to protect valuable old growth stads, as well as to select the right trees for reforestatio actios. We also ited to label the most impressive tree specimes to esure their coservatio, to preset them to the public, ad to highlight the fasciatio of the Daube Floodplai forests. What s i it for us? The view of a ew parter i the Network Daube Iside: Gora, you joied the DANUBEPARKS Network durig the implemetatio of the first project. What was your motivatio? Gora: I really liked the approach of ot focusig oly o oe coservatio issue, but dealig i a well-balaced maer with a mix of key issues for riverie Protected Areas. Also, if we wat to esure the itegrity of a riverie ecosystem we have to look beyod our borders, sice the river does t recogise them. Coservatio maagers should behave i the same way. DANUBEPARKS eables us to look at the river as a whole I believe this is the true value of this iitiative. Additioally, there are very tagible reasos for joiig the iitiative: As a importat area for Whitetailed Eagle, it was a must for us to be part of DANUBEPARKS actio pla. Aother key issue is that of hydro-morphological chages: At the Sava River they are ot yet Lojsko Polje Nature Park www.pp-lojsko-polje.hr Locatio: Croatia, 75 km dowstream of Croatia s capital Zagreb o the Sava River Surface: 50,650 ha Good to kow: This ature park i the Cetral Sava River Basi is a traditioal cultural ladscape perfectly adapted to the floodplai ecosystem. Gora Gugič, Director of Lojsko Polje Nature Park at a level comparable to other areas, but there are regulatio plas ad we wat to be prepared ad proactive. DI: What is the role of Protected Area admiistratios i ature protectio? Gora: We have a legal madate to protect, preserve ad promote a certai atural area. The pressure o those areas ca be high sice they maily appear at locatios of strategic importace for other sectors. May riverie ecosystems also host extraordiary cultural heritage ad traditioal kowledge. Thus, maagig such a area first ad foremost meas to balace all of these differet values ad iterests. DI: Lojsko Polje Nature Park is situated at the Sava River. What is your beefit from the DANUBEPARKS Network? Nature Park Kopacki Rit www.kopacki-rit.hr Locatio: Croatia, mouth of the Drava ad the Daube Surface: 23,891 ha Good to kow: Famous ilad delta at the cofluece of Dráva ad Daube. Largest desity of Whitetailed Eagle breedig sites. D u a Gora: First of all, the Sava River is oe of the most importat tributaries of the Daube. The Iteratioal Uio for Coservatio of Nature (IUCN) recetly recogised the huge atural ad cultural values of this river. Still, there are ideas to improve avigatio ad buildig hydropower statios all over the catchmet area. So there are may reasos for Protected Area admiistratios alog the Sava to lik up, which I hope to see i the ear future. O the Daube, these issues are preset already, so DANUBEPARKS experiece ad approaches are of high value for such a future iitiative. 9 7 8 Dyamics A river that ever looks the same River dyamics ad atural morphological processes are the key for log-term preservatio of the Daube River ecosystem. Ay artificial chage to the river, such as dammig, straighteig or dykig, has massive egative effects upstream, dowstream ad i the adjacet floodplais: These chages hider logitudial coectivity, essetial for fish migratio; reduce side erosio ad sedimetatio, which provides habitats for may edagered plat ad aimal species; ad icrease flood risks. Therefore, the DANUBEPARKS Network has worked itesely o river restoratio from the very begiig. Dua-Dráva www.ddp.hu Locatio: Hugary, ear the souther border Surface: 50,000 ha Good to kow: Hugaria part of the largest floodplai i the Middle- Daube regio. Optios: Protectig floodplais alog Daube ad Dráva Rivers. Famous estig site of Black Stork. Special Nature Reserve Gorje Poduavlje www.gorjepoduavlje.ifo Locatio: Serbia, alog the left bak of the river flow from the eterace of Daube ito Serbia Surface: 19,605 ha Good to kow: Forms the Serbia part of the floodplai area i the triagle cross-border regio - the largest floodplai complex i the Middle Daube. Specijali rezervat prirode Gorje Poduavlje Stela Bozhiova, Director of the Persia Nature Park Directorate, outlies the value of atural river dyamics. As the river itself is ot a Protected Area for the most part, but maaged by waterway compaies, cooperatio with stakeholders is a major task i this field. Durig the first project, a Strategy o Coservatio ad Navigatio was developed. Based o this, DANUBEPARKS STEP 2.0 iteds to formulate Daube-wide demads o three mai topics coservatio, restoratio ad sedimet balace all of them priorities i the Lower, Middle ad Upper Daube sectios. For implemetatio, a itegrative approach from ature coservatio, water maagemet, ad avigatio sectors is eeded. I cooperatio with NEWADA duo, the Network of Waterway Admiistratios alog the Daube, a cross-sectorial coferece ad workshop will be orgaised to discuss the differig viewpoits ad fid solutios for the protectio ad restoratio of valuable habitats while takig ito cosideratio the requiremets of the Daube as a trasport corridor. All coservatio ad restoratio actios eed scietific data for plaig. Therefore, DANUBEPARKS STEP 2.0 will repeat the Daube-wide moitorig of Littleriged Plover ad Sad Marti started i 2011. Both bird species are characteristic for dyamic river sectios, breedig o gravel ad sad islads or steep atural river baks. The moitorig is ow part of the Joit Daube Survey orgaised by the Iteratioal Commissio for the Protectio of the Daube River (ICPDR), ad thus gais additioal importace o the political level. D u a v s a v e Coservatio Alog the Lower Daube, maily i Bulgaria ad Romaia, there are still large atural ad dyamic river sectios. The mai goal is therefore to idetify those valuable areas ad fid measures to protect them adequately from artificial structures. Daube islads i particular represet these dyamic river habitats ad are ofte still i a atural state ad with a good habitat status. This qualifies Daube islads to serve as steppig stoes betwee the curret Protected Areas. The cocept of a wild Daube islad habitat corridor would cotribute to better habitat coectivity ad support the migratio of species characteristic of these highly edagered habitats. Restoratio The Upper ad Middle Daube is regulated for the most part dykes ad embakmets discoect the floodplais from the mai river. The mai goal here is to revitalise atural dyamics through the reductio of embakmets, modificatio of groyes, recoectio of side-arms ad more. There is a lot of experiece withi the DANUBEPARKS Network, ad we are itegratig this experiece ito plaig for a restoratio project o the Drava River, oe of the mai tributaries of the Daube. As river egieerig has major effects both up ad dowstream, we must t forget to deal with morphology ad restoratio at the mai tributaries as well! Sedimet balace The Upper Daube is a highly altered river, due to a chai of hydropower plats i Germay ad Austria alog the mai river as well as the tributaries. These dams stop the trasport of sedimets, iduce river bed icisio ad thus lower the water level uaturally, resultig i serious problems ot oly for ature coservatio but also i water maagemet, flood protectio, maitaiig ifrastructure, etc. Daube-wide cocepts are eeded ad we ited to stregthe the voice of Daube Protected Areas i this field. A joit process with relevat stakeholders should help the Daube Protected Areas to idetify actios eeded ad to pla measures o the local level. 4 5
The Daube River A trasatioal tourist destiatio? Thomas Scheider, project maager of the city of Igolstadt, has brought may visios for tourism ito the project. He explais the thoughts behid them: Sice the begiig, ature tourism has bee a importat topic o the ageda of DANUBEPARKS. We see it as a itegral part of wise maagemet of Protected Areas, providig relaxatio ad educatio opportuities to visitors ad locals. The implemetatio of the EU Strategy for the Daube Regio ow stregthes our Daube-wide view o tourism. Curretly there is o overview of Dauberelated educatioal offers, so we will do a assessmet tour i sprig 2013. This will provide ew ideas, cooperatio opportuities, ad a gap aalysis leadig to more strategic product developmet. Coected to this, we will also elaborate commo quality guidelies which will help all Protected Areas to improve their tourism offers. Lessos leart will directly be used i the cocept developmet for a DANUBEPARKS visitor cetre i Dömös, Hugary at the Daube Bed. Util its realisatio, digital iformatio corers will be established i oe existig visitor cetre of each Protected Area, to show Djerdap 5 www.pdjerdap.org Locatio: Serbia, o the border with Romaia Surface: 63,608 ha Good to kow: The most domiat atural pheomeo is the magificet Djerdap Gorge, oe of the logest ad deepest river gorges i Europe. Thomas Scheider, Project Maager of the City of Igolstadt the Daube as oe iterrelated ecosystem ad motivate people to visit more of these precious atural areas. While we wat people to visit the Protected Areas, we eed to respect the sesitivity of our sites: We strive to show ature s richess ad value without damagig it. The Daube Delta Biosphere Reserve ad other parters are workig o a assessmet of carryig capacities, importat as the basis for visitor maagemet i all Protected Areas. Developig tourism opportuities for people with disabilities was also chose as a iovative pilot project for ature tourism activities. Dua-Dráva will compile examples of good practices, ad a ew offer will be developed ad tested joitly, with all parters ad associatios for people with disabilities, i the Daube Riparia Forest Neuburg-Igolstadt. By establishig ew liks with tourist service providers ad cooperatig with tourism etworks like the Daube Competece Cetre, DANUBEPARKS will further promote sustaiable tourism ad evirometal educatio alog the Daube River. D u a v Daube Iside: Pál, you are the driver behid the future DANUBEPARKS visitor cetre, ad Dua-Ipoly has bee pursuig this visio for may years. What will be so special? Pál: First of all, there is o visitor cetre for the Network o the iteratioal level so far. The area chose, the so-called Daube Bed, is a excellet place for showcasig our joit values. It is a great challege to demostrate that the atural diversity of the Daube is at least as rich as the diversity of cultures, people, laguages ad local stories. The area surroudig the future visitor cetre i Dömös provides a taste of the historical ad atural values of the river: Aciet hermitages ca be foud o Szet-Mihály Hill, ext to them Peregrie Falcos est ad above the Daube the White-tailed Eagle flies. DI: How ca the visitor cetre, which is aturally at oe specific place, help all the other Protected Areas that are i some cases more tha a thousad kilometres away? Pál: The Daube Bed ad its surroudigs with Visegrád Castle is oe of the most spectacular ad well-kow tourist regios i Hugary ad eve alog the whole Daube, drawig plety of visitors. May of the tourists goig there could also be iterested i a vacatio at less well-kow Daube destiatios. The DANUBEPARKS study trail presetig all the Protected Areas will defiitely whet their appetite. DI: How do you imagie the future visitor cetre? What should it show the visitors, what will it eable them to experiece? Pál: We are at the very begiig of the plaig process, but the aim is clear: to make people uderstad that alog the Daube, everythig people, culture, ature is closely coected, ad that therefore the protectio of the Daube eeds to be coected as well. For this purpose we all eed to act together. We hope to desig a visitor cetre that will make people ot oly uderstad, but also feel ad experiece this coectio. Pla your ature vacatio alog the Daube Activities i the first DANUBEPARKS project established may tools to ease vacatio plaig for people iterested i ature alog the Daube River. The two mai tools for this are: The olie tourism platform with iformatio o excursios, visitor cetres ad other offers from the Protected Areas: http://www.daubeparks.org/?story=8 The olie maps of the Daube River ad its surroudigs: http://www.daubemap.eu/park/e We are lookig forward to welcomig you i our parks! Oe visitor cetre for the whole DANUBEPARKS Network Pál Kezdy, Head of the Project Maagemet Departmet White-tailed Eagle: Buildig o success Daube Iside: Tibor, you are leadig the coservatio activities for White-tailed Eagle i the project. What makes this large bird of prey so importat for Daube-wide ature coservatio issues? Tibor: The White-tailed Eagle is a magificet raptor, ad as a top predator of aquatic ecosystems it is of special coservatio cocer. Threats to this slow-reproducig species are maifold, icludig habitat destructio, disturbace or persecutio. Furthermore, it has bee prove to be a sesitive idicator of biocides ad pollutats so it helps us to uderstad ecosystems better. Fially, due to its large home rages it caot be preserved by sigle Protected Areas so it is a symbol of the eed for trasatioal cooperatio. DI: What is the role of Protected Areas for the coservatio of flagship species? Tibor: Daube Protected Areas play a key role for the coservatio of biodiversity, especially of characteristic species of large-scale habitat complexes. A large umber of White-tailed Eagles breed i the Daube Protected Areas so we have a big resposibility for them. Through the joit elaboratio of the Actio Pla for the Coservatio of the White-tailed Eagle alog the Daube DANUBEPARKS has also expressed its willigess to take over a leadig role i future coservatio activities. DI: This Actio Pla, developed i the early years of DANUBEPARKS cooperatio, was adopted by the Coucil of Europe/ Ber Covetio. What ca you do as a follow-up? Tibor: The Actio Pla was a importat first step. Its goal is to secure a viable populatio of this largest raptor i our regio by iteratioal cooperatio ad local actios. The daily maagemet of Protected Areas, habitat maagemet ad wetlad restoratio already cotribute sigificatly to the coservatio of the White-tailed Eagle. Close cooperatio with various stakeholders is eeded to esure efficiet coservatio, such as the forestry sector for the coservatio of estig sites ad hutig associatios to avoid lead poisoig. Moitorig data ca deliver crucial backgroud iformatio Tibor Parrag, Head of Departmet of Nature Protectio i Dua-Dráva as a basis for future coservatio. I DANUBEPARKS STEP 2.0, the Protected Areas will establish a harmoized Daubewide witer cesus, icludig ivolvemet of the public. This is a example of how Protected Areas ca act as multipliers to brig iterested people closer to ature. Help us protect the White-tailed Eagle! Have you see a White-tailed Eagle durig a walk alog or close to the Daube River? This is valuable iformatio for ature protectio please let us kow about it! At www.daubeparks.org you ca register ad the cotiuously iput your observatios this will help fid the best protectio measures i the future! If you would like to participate i scietific moitorig together with the experts, follow our aoucemets o www.daubeparks.org ad subscribe to our ewsletter. A Daube-wide public witer cesus of White-tailed Eagle will be orgaised i Jauary 2014 your best chace to get ivolved! 4 3 Persia Natural Park www.persia.bg Locatio: Bulgaria, about 80 km upstream from Ruse Surface: 22,000 ha Good to kow: With Belee Islad, the largest Daube Islad i Bulgaria, this ature park represets the lowlad river sectio with its broad riverbed, umerous islads ad sad baks, ad dyamic morphology. 2 Kalimok-Brushle Protected Site Locatio: North-Easter Bulgaria, Tutraka ad Slivo Pole muicipalities Surface: 6,000 ha Good to kow: The revitalizatio of these marshes could act as good example for more wetlad restoratio at the Lower Daube i the future. Д у н а в Ruseski Lom Nature Park www.lomea.org Locatio: Bulgaria, ext to Ruse Surface: 3,408 ha Good to kow: Gorge built by the Lom River, hostig aciet cave moasteries. The admiistratio also maages the Kalimok-Brushle Protected Site valuable marshlads alog the Daube. 6 7
1 Daube Delta Biosphere Reserve 2 Kalimok-Brushle Protected Site 3 Ruseski Lom Nature Park 4 Persia Nature Park 5 Djerdap 6 Lojsko Polje Nature Park 7 Kopački rit Nature Park 8 Gorje Poduavlje Special Nature Reserve 9 Dua-Dráva 10 Dua-Ipoly 11 Fertö-Hásag 12 Duajské Luhy Protected Ladscape Area 13 Záhorie Protected Ladscape Area 14 Doau-Aue 15 Doauauwald Neuburg-Igolstadt Achorig the Daube Iside: Georg, the Daube River Network of Protected Areas was established i 2009. Which goals have you reached so far, ad what is still missig? Georg: We defiitely did a good job developig a strog ad erichig partership ad a platform for itese experiece exchage betwee the Protected Areas i the Daube coutries. I additio, thaks to the ethusiasm of all colleagues, we created a lively Network resultig i visible ad cocrete positive results for the ature we are workig for. We reached iitial results towards the developmet of a strog joit voice o a strategic ad political level, but much more work has to be doe to stregthe our commo positio. DI: How do you wat to sharpe the strategic role ad positio of the DANUBEPARKS Network? Georg: First, the DANUBEPARKS Network is a log-term iitiative. A few years of etworkig o the Daube-wide scale is a short time, ad more years of growig together are eeded to develop this strog voice. Therefore, the fudig of DANUBEPARKS STEP 2.0 by the ETC- SEE Programme is crucial ad supports ot oly the implemetatio of river restoratio projects or actios for the coservatio of flagship species, but the strategic developmet of the partership DANUBEPARKS Network i particular. This icludes traiig to raise the skills of project maagers, strategic parterships such as with the Iteratioal Commissio for the Protectio of the Daube River (ICPDR) or the EU Strategy for the Daube Regio, sharig experieces with existig etworks like the Alpie Network of Protected Areas (ALPARKS), ot to metio the strategic elargemet of the DANUBEPARKS Network: Additioal Protected Areas alog the Daube ad its tributaries could cotribute to make DANUBEPARKS eve more effective. DI: What do you expect for DANUBEPARKS i the future? Georg: Today, we see the clear itetio o the political level, for example by the EU Strategy for the Daube Regio, to stregthe the Daube as a ispirig lifelie for the South-East Europe macroregio. This iitiative has to iclude itact ature, rich biodiversity ad ispirig a coectio betwee society ad the regio s atural treasures. Daube Protected Areas ca play a importat role as multipliers by likig this policy ad the visitors of Protected Areas. Cosequetly, I see a icreasig role for the Daube Protected Areas ad a clear missio of the DANUBEPARKS Network to stregthe the voice for ature coservatio o a Daube-wide scale. D u ă r e a Get i touch! Website & ewsletter subscriptio: www.daubeparks.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/danubeparks Email: office@daubeparks.org Д у н а й Daube Delta Biosphere Reserve Authority Georg Frak, Trasatioal Project Maager of DANUBEPARKS STEP 2.0 www.ddbra.ro Locatio: Romaia, Tulcea Couty Surface: 580,000 ha Good to kow: The secod-largest Delta i Europe, oe of the most importat river deltas i the world, ad the largest Protected Area alog the whole Daube River. 1 8