Danube day

В изпълнение на програмата на Сдружение Балканка за спасяване на Българските реки от убийственото влияние на ВЕЦ-овете у нас, във връзка с поетия ангажимент да помагаме  на структурите на МОСВ и БД, имам удоволствието да Ви поздравя от името на сдружението с Международния Ден на Река Дунав - 29.06.2017г.

 

Нека си пожелаем да постигаме заедно много повече успехи в преследване на целите по опазване на Реката и притоците Й на нашата територия.

Поздравяваме БДДР за правилната позиция, която е заела напоследък, спазвайки законите на страната да не издава нови разрешителни за водовземане, включително и за действащи ВЕЦ.

Призоваваме останалите дирекции да вземат пример от БДДР!

 

Няма да скрием, че получихме покана да се включим към организациите, които са организатори на събития по повод деня на Реката, но, след като установихме, че МОСВ участва като партньор и местен организатор, колебливо отказахме съучастие.

Все пак, моля, в прикачения файл да се запознаете със становище на нашите приятели от Danube Environmental Forum /DEF/, във връзка със съдбата на Реката и притоците й, което е много интересно.

 

Едновременно настояваме да се подхожда изключително внимателно със становища за допустимост на мини и кариери, защото следващият проблем при Белоградчик вече расте.

 

Предварително благодарим за разбирането и съдействието.

Честит празник!

Danube Basin Rivers in Danger because of
New Dam Plans!
Danube Day on 29th June stands for our common responsibility in the Danube river
basin to protect the Danube and its tributaries. The date refers to the Convention on
Cooperation for the Protection and Sustainable Use of the Danube signed on 29 June
1994 in Sofia. The motto this year is "Get active for a cleaner Danube!"
The implementation of the European Water Framework Directive with river basin
management plans brought some new instruments and perspectives to protect water
better. Yet cleaner water depends not only on the improvement of wastewater treatment
and more sustainable agriculture, reducing nitrate, phosphate, pesticides and erosion.
Cleaner water is also a result of living streams and rivers. Building dams in rivers and
streams reduces the capacities of self purification of water significantly. So the plans in
many countries to build new dams are contradicting the objective of cleaner water, too.
Much more: Dams are destroying river ecosystems and biodiversity. They are
destroying habitats and reproduction of many fish species as well as the damaged river
and floodplain water dynamics impacts many other species and habitats.
The "Guiding Principles" of the International Commission for the Protection of the
Danube (ICPDR) for "Sustainable Hydropower Development" are conveying the
impression that building new dams can be sustainable and less harmful for river
ecosystems. In Brussels the hydropower lobby tries to make dam building easier even
in protected areas of Natura 2000. There is much pressure from economic and financial
interests on the rivers. Especially the Western Balkans and the Sava river basin are in
the focus of the damming lobby but eventually all rivers are threatened.
Plans for thousands of new dams mean deterioration and destruction of rivers and are
contradicting efforts to improve river systems with their ecologically indispensable
dynamics, sediment regime and continuity, they are contradicting the objectives of the Water Framework Directive (WFD), of European and national biodiversity strategies.
Dams impacts are not really compensable and there are better environmental
alternatives e.g. for energy production than destroying rivers! Damming rivers causes
very negative impacts on ecological functions and biodiversity of river systems and it
reduces capacities for climate change resilience and flood protection working with
nature.
Instead of building new dams for hydropower and other new river infrastructure for
inland navigation worsening conditions for aquatic ecosystem services and biodiversity
the task of the WFD to mitigate impacts of existing infrastructure is often not solved.
Wave action from ships, hydropeaking and water abstraction of dams are often
obstructing the reproduction of fish and other aquatic species. In many cases there are
no or not functioning fish migration aids while downstream migration is still an unsolved
problem. One of the most important objectives is to preserve Danube sturgeon species.
The work of the Danube Sturgeon Task Force has set the scene for perspectives but
countries still have a lot to do to fulfil Bern Convention and Natura 2000 objectives.
To save the threatened core elements of Danube and Danube basin river biodiversity it
is important to start building and preserving the green and blue infrastructure of the
Danube river and its tributaries. A green and blue biodiversity corridor is a backbone of
European habitat connectivity.
Buffer strips and corridors along rivers and streams are important for better flood risk
management and biodiversity. These elements of an integrated flood risk management
help to keep water clean. If we really want to protect water and rivers in the Danube
River Basin dam building plans should be stopped and flood risk management as well
as nature conservation and climate protection should be improved by more natural
water retention, by re-vitalizing rivers, streams and wetlands and floodplains.
Gerhard Nagl, M.A.
Speaker
Danube Environmental Forum (DEF)
Martin-Luther-Str. 14