Posted on 05 July 2011
Sofia, Bulgaria – A one week expedition
under the patronage of WWF exploring bird
populations along the Bulgarian and Romanian
stretch of the
Danube has discovered a drastic reduction
of bird populations due to the unprecedented
low level of the river. The scientists counted
3145 pairs of nesting birds - herons, cormorants,
spoonbils and ibises - 500 pairs down from
last year. This is the lowest number compared
to the birds counted in 2006 and 2010 when
WWF carried out similar censuses.
The numbers of squacco heron, night heron
and little egret have been affected most
seriously, since their feeding grounds –
wetlands along the Lower Danube – have gone
dry. The numbers of cormorants, grey herons
and spoonbils are up. Special attention
was given to the colonies of pigmy cormorant
and the ferruginous duck, threatened species
that inhabit the common section of the Danube
in Bulgaria and Romania.
“When the river levels
are so low, water does not penetrate the
wetland areas and birds have nowhere to
nest”, said Ivan Hristov, Freshwater Coordinator
at the WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme.
“If this is accidental, then this will not
be a problem in the long run. However, if
the level of the river is going down long
term, then we are facing serious consequences”,
Hristov said.
The census was carried
out by one team of biologists travelling
on water and two teams travelling on the
ground. 15 experts took part in the expedition,
including WWF biologists and scientists
working for the Bulgarian Academy of Science
and the Romanian Ornithological Society.
The teams travelled from Srebarna Nature
Reserve next to Silistra on the Bulgarian-Romanian
border to Vidin on the Bulgarian-Serbian
border.
“The checks carried out by the scientists
provide vital data for long term conservation
measures along the Lower Danube”, Hristov
said. “The findings of the expedition once
again prove that rivers and wildlife do
not respect political borders and a common
cross-border approach is necessary”, he
added.
In 2000 WWF was instrumental
in establishing the Lower Danube Green Corridor,
an initiative supported by the Bulgarian,
Romanian, Moldovan and Ukrainian governments.
The Lower Danube Green Corridor Declaration
commit the four countries to preserve a
total of 935,000 ha, including enhanced
protection for 775,000 ha of existing protected
areas, and new protection for another 160,000
ha, and to restore 224,000 ha of former
wetland areas.
The current expedition
in effect provides quality monitoring of
the areas protected under the agreement.
This expedition is part
of the Green Borders project financed by
LIFE, the EU’s financial instrument supporting
environmental and nature conservation projects
throughout the EU.
