Connecting rivers and seas – the Danube/Black Sea experiment Laurence Mee.

Connecting rivers and seas – Connecting rivers and seas – the Danube/Black Sea the Danube/Black Sea

experimentexperimentLaurence Mee

•17 Countries17 Countries

•over 160 million peopleover 160 million people

•2 million square kms2 million square kms

THE BLACK SEA BASINTHE BLACK SEA BASIN

Transboundary issuesTransboundary issues

Examples of sub-regional and basin wide problems

CZCS June 1979

The Black Sea ecosystem is severely

damaged by eutrophication

There are pollution hot spots in the DanubeThere are pollution hot spots in the Danube

Black Sea habitats are being destroyedBlack Sea habitats are being destroyed

Institutional development Institutional development success storiessuccess stories

9 years of partnerships with GEF and European Community support

Sustainable institution building to address Sustainable institution building to address regional issuesregional issues

Start up

Exit

Inve

stm

ent

cost

Benefits

BASELINE (Government investment in regional solutions

ALTERNATIVE (adequate regional institutions)

TIME TO ACHIEVE INSTITUTIONAL SUSTAINABILITY

GEF investment

Sustainable institutions

The Black Sea Commission Secretariat

•1993 - Bucharest 1993 - Bucharest ConventionConvention•1993 - Odessa 1993 - Odessa Ministerial DeclarationMinisterial Declaration•1993 Black Sea 1993 Black Sea Environmental Environmental ProgrammeProgramme•1996 Black Sea 1996 Black Sea Strategic Action PlanStrategic Action Plan

The Bucharest Convention is in force!

The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River

•1992 GEF/EC Environmental Prog.

•1994 Strategic Action Plan

•1994 Danube River Protection Conv.

•1997 Danube Pollution Reduction Prog.

•1998 International Commission for Protection of the Danube River

•2001 DANBLAS Danube-Black Sea Task Force

The Danube Convention is fully in force

Controlling eutrophicationControlling eutrophication

A basin wide approach

Total N & P fertiliser application, Danube Basin

0500000

100000015000002000000250000030000003500000

1963

1966

1969

1972

1975

1978

1981

1984

1987

1990

1993

1996

Me

tric

to

ns

Total-P

Total-N

At least 50% of the nutrients reaching the Black Sea come from agriculture

The green revolution

End of centrally planned economy

Estimated maximum environmental releases of Nitrogen by pigs and humans, Danube Basin

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

350000

Year

1964

1968

1972

1976

1980

1984

1988

1992

1996

tons

, tot

al N

Humans-N

Pigs-N

Animals release nutrients to rivers and the atmosphere

The experimentThe experiment•An adaptive management programme by the Danube - Black Sea Joint Working Group

•An investment of more than $100 million international funds

•A strategic partnership with 17 countries

“The long-term goal in the wider Black Sea Basin is to take measures to reduce the loads of nutrients and hazardous substances discharged to such levels necessary to permit Black Sea ecosystems to recover to conditions similar to those observed in the 1960s.”

The Long-Term GoalThe Long-Term Goal

As an intermediate goal, urgent measures should be taken in the wider Black Sea Basin in order to avoid that the loads of nutrients and hazardous substances discharged into the Seas exceed those that existed in the mid 1990s. (These discharges are only incompletely known.)

First adaptive management goalFirst adaptive management goal

Variation in observed area of NW shelf summer hypoxia with increasing loading of nitrogen fertiliser in the Danube basin

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5

Nf, Nitrogen fertiliser, million tons/year, averaged over the 7 years prior to each data point

Th

ou

san

ds

of

sq

uar

e k

m o

f h

ypo

xia

1961-1972

1973

1974-1991

1994-1996

Reduce input levels to here

The inputs of nutrients and hazardous substances into both receiving Seas (Black Sea proper and Sea of Azov) have to be assessed in a comparable way. To this very end a common Analytical Quality Assurance (AQA) system and a thorough discussion about the necessary monitoring approach, including the sampling procedures, has to be set up and agreed upon between the ICPBS and the ICPDR.

The ecological status of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov has to be further assessed, and the comparability of the data basis has to be further increased.

Both the reported input loads as well as the assessed ecological status will have to be reported annually to both the ICPBS and the ICPDR.

“Strategies for economic development have to be adopted to ensure appropriate practices and measures to limit the discharge of nutrients and hazardous substances, and to rehabilitate ecosystems, which assimilate nutrients”

The Black Sea Basin Strategic The Black Sea Basin Strategic PartnershipPartnership

• Over US$70 millions grant funding committed• Incremental cost funding - helping to pay the

extra costs of nutrient reduction on new projects in the basin

• Typical grant size $5 millions• Project examples: Agricultural reform,

wetlands restoration, WWTPs, product substitution

“Based on the annual reports and on the adopted strategies for the limitation of the discharge of nutrients and hazardous substances, a review shall be undertaken in 2007. It will have to focus on the further measures that may be required for meeting the long-term objective”

The task ahead: Reviewing The task ahead: Reviewing compliance and setting new targetscompliance and setting new targets