BRINGING BACK LIFE - WHY HEALTHY ECOSYSTEMS MATTER

Water is something we all rely on, but its value extends beyond what we use in our homes and businesses every day. Much of the world’s biodiversity thrives in and around water.

Without healthy ecosystems, there is no life for animals, such as birds, insects, fish and plants. This can also have a significant impact on people. Deteriorating ecosystems cannot perform the essential functions they otherwise provide for free such as filtering and retaining water, delivering clean drinking water, and buffering the effects of both floods and droughts.  Healthy ecosystems also provide recreational space and the assurance that nature is supported. For fishermen and farmers, a dry river or unhealthy soil can spell economic disaster.

This threat is real. In Europe, only 37% of the surface waters achieved a good or high ecological status and only 29% have a good chemical status[1]. It is vital that we work together to help protect our ecosystems; tackling the water crisis is at the heart of our joint action.

That’s what the Living Danube Partnership, a seven-year cross-sector partnership (2014-2021) aimed to do. Supported by The Coca‑Cola Foundation, the Partnership brought together WWF Central and Eastern Europe (WWF-CEE), the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), in a partnership with local and national authorities and stakeholders, to promote the restoration and conservation of rivers and wetlands in the Danube River Basin.

The River Danube is the largest in the EU, and a significant lifeline for European communities and the 7,000 species that call the river’s basin home[2]. “The different ecosystems provide different services to the local communities,” explains Stoyan Mihov, Freshwater Program Manager, WWF-Bulgaria.

The Partnership’s work in the Danube River Basin

Two centuries ago, the Drava River on the Croatian-Hungarian border was bringing the gifts to local communities: from crops to fish, drinking water and cultural anchor. Since then, decades of human activity have taken a toll on the ecosystem. Most notably, a long meandering stretch of the river was cut off at the end of the 18th century. Water levels fell, wildlife was impacted, and livelihoods were lost.

At the Old Drava oxbow site, the local project team implemented a bottom weir with fish pass at the outflow and limited dredging of the oxbow bed[3]. Native tree species were planted in order to improve the biodiversity of the floodplains and, together with local anglers, angling platforms were renovated and more than 40 abandoned and run-down platforms were removed, improving fish habitats and the health of the wetland. Local communities saw the wetland coming back to life each day.

Meanwhile, in Bulgaria, the Persina wetland on one of the Danube’s islands has grown quiet. As the wetlands dried out, the ecosystem and surrounding life degraded. The majestic native Dalmatian pelicans were gone – a clear sign that something had gone terribly wrong for biodiversity. It was apparent that action needed to be taken.

In Persina, the local implementation team modernised the existing lock gate to improve the water supply from the Danube, and installed a real-time water level monitoring system to improve water levels monitoring. When water came back to the Persina wetland, so did the melodic noise of nature. Birds, fish and amphibians returned to the wetlands, and finally so did the Dalmatian pelicans. They could settle on newly constructed pelican platforms. The return of wildlife also meant improved prospects for nature.

Beyond the Danube and across Europe, many projects focused on water stewardship have been helping support ecosystems and communities.

These are just a selection of the many water stewardship projects we undertake, and of the impact we can collectively achieve for our ecosystems and communities when we work together.

Further readings