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Eleonora Nikolova, Mayor of Rousse,
meets local children who collected more than 30 waste bags full of
rubbish from the Danube riverbanks. |
Cartoon characters flickered and danced across screens in water-themed
films, as participants enjoyed competitions and excursions on the Danube
led by the Ministry of Environment and the Danube Basin Directorate. Dolores
Arssenova, Minister of Environment and Water, launched celebrations in the
town of Vidin. Arssenova addressed Bulgaria’s readiness to cooperate
with all Danube countries for the conservation of the river, and received
messages written by children from Bulgaria, Romania, and Serbia and Montenegro
calling for conservation of the Danube Basin.
The Bulgarian Children’s Eco Parliament displayed its work, and the
young ecologists organized a special session dedicated to Danube Day and
river conservation. Discussions and conservation activities were targeted
to improve public awareness of the environmental, socio-economic and cultural
importance of the Danube, and to focus attention on hot issues associated
with the river.
The Bulgarian division of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Danube
Environmental Forum (DEF) Centre for Environmental Information and Education
(CEIE) focal point organised a national NATURA 2000 conference and demonstrated
a unique way to give back to the river. Children and adults participated
in the release of fingerlings of carp and sturgeon, two of the many species
of fish that call this great European river home.