Public and private stakeholders discuss agriculture and environment

The role of leading companies in contributing to the conservation and protection of water and freshwater eco-systems in the Danube River Basin was discussed at an Agricultural Forum held in Budapest. Alongside the ICPDR as organiser, the event included several companies such as The Coca-Cola Company and Coca-Cola Hellenic, Agrium, Agrana, General Electrics, Dreher and Cargill Hungary, as well as other international businesses. At the forum, participants discussed what companies already do for water protection and how support for these efforts can be provided. For combating agricultural pollution, the ICPDR has compiled recommendations on best agroindustrial techniques (BAT) for all relevant point discharges of agriculture. These are designed to serve as a reference for decision-makers and local environmental or agricultural authorities to control pollution and improve water quality in the Danube. The forum discussed possibilities to use the supply chains of large corporations to promote and increase the application of BAT among farmers that are difficult to target directly.

1. Zoltan Szemerey, Hungarian Landowners Organization and Manfred Röttele, TOPPS, Project manager; 2. Andreas Beckmann, WWF Danube Carpathian Programme; 3. Balázs Medgyesi (left), Commissioner for the EU Strategy for; the Danube Region, Hungary; 4. Ulrike Gehmacher, Coca-Cola Hellenic; 5. Tony Baynes and Tim Copeman, Coca-Cola Hellenic; 6. Joachim Heidemeier, Umweltbundesamt (Germany), and Michaela Popovici, ICPDR Secretariat

7. Adriana Mircea Mirela, GE Romania; 8. Daniela Catana, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Romania; 9. Lukas Maier, Agrana; 10. Meglena Plugtschieva, National Assembly of Bulgaria; 11. Wolfgang Stalzer, ICPDR President 2012