The DEF campaign has support from the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands which coordinates International Wetlands Day.

A campaign to protect Danube wetlands was launched by the Danube Environmental Forum (DEF) on International Wetlands Day, February 2.

The campaign encourages water planners to learn more about wetland protection measures. Danube governments are now making plans to ensure their waters are protected by 2015, to fulfil the EU Water Framework Directive. This includes non-EU countries sharing the basin that voluntarily agreed to meet EU water law.

“We believe that these planning processes do not consider wetlands seriously enough,” says DEF spokesman Johannes Wolf. “Water cannot be properly protected without protecting wetlands.” National assessments prepared earlier on the status of Danube water resources did not adequately include wetlands, says DEF. International organisations such as the ICPDR, UNDP-GEF Danube Regional Project (DRP), WWF and the Ramsar Convention Secretariat have produced helpful tools to assist planners in their efforts, says DEF. The network of 174 environmental NGOs also supports a new DRP project that will produce guidelines and best practices for wetland protection.

DEF is pushing for national wetland inventories – largely non-existent in most countries. “How can you save wetlands if you don’t even have a list of where they are?” says Wolf. DEF will monitor progress in including wetland protection measures in national plans. Results will be released on Danube Day, June 29, and International Wetlands Day 2007.

Paul Csagoly
is a communications specialist for the UNDP/GEF Danube Regional Project,
and a writer on European environmental issues since 1996.