The Danube Delta has the potential to position itself on the European tourism market. Marketing ought to focus on products that meet the criteria of sustainability and local values.

The Landscape of the Year (LoY) formally concluded in September last year with a conference called, Promoting sustainable economy – the key to conserving nature and biodiversity, held in the new eco-tourism centre of Tulcea. The title of the conference made it clear that this closing event was a call for further action – as all activities have been since the initiative’s kick-off in June 2007.

In fact, sustainable development is a complex process and always a work in progress. For three years the Landscape- of- the- Year project in the Danube Delta focused on the issues of sustainable tourism, environmental education and the sustainable use of reed – the delta’s most abundant natural resource. The project stimulated action at the conceptual level and in practice, following three essential principles: First, an open and dependable communication designed to gather people from diverse organisations around one table. Second, to look beyond the Danube Delta and cooperate with international experts. Third, to implement practical measures involving local people that may serve as models to build on in the future.

This approach proved to be of value not only for the content, but also for the contacts. “The amicable note was of great importance,” said Cristian Mititelu from the Danube Delta Biosphere Administration and member of the LoY project group, “as it opened up new communication channels between individuals, institutions, the local population, and decision-makers. Less bureaucracy, more interpersonal exchange.”

Transferring ideas. For the reed issue, the point was to transfer an idea from Austria to the Danube Delta: the use of reed as multifunctional construction material. The delta boasts the largest unbroken expanse of reed worldwide. Why not try to install a sustainable, regional economic cycle from harvesting to the marketing? Such a cycle would also meet ecological aims, as reed must be harvested at regular intervals to avoid a silting-up process.

Romanian and Austrian specialists met near Lake Neusiedel – a trailblazer for innovative reed products – and laid the base for an experts seminar in Tulcea, before the issue was finally presented to the public during the concluding conference. “The real barriers are in our minds,” said Austrian specialist Rudolf Denk. “Therefore it is all the more important to find fellowcampaigners and to put in place best-practice examples. Why not one of the Biosphere Reserve’s envisaged new visitor centres?”

Implementing sustainable tourism. The Landscape-of-the-Year partners set practical examples in the field of sustainable tourism, which is a constant issue in the area given the economic potential of the tourism sector on the one hand and the ecological impacts of an uncontrolled development on the other.

By offering special training courses for nature guides and guest house managers in the delta, a crucial point of all sustainable concepts was translated into reality: to qualify local people for tourist services – as a base for an additional income – while educating them on ecological values and needs, encouraging them to take over an active, responsible role in the development of sustainable tourism.

“People must still come to value participation and cooperation as something worthwhile. And that’s exactly what they have experienced in this project,” said Carmen Chas¸ ovschi, an expert with gtz tourism.

Other measures included a cross-border model tour and the implementation of a Natura Trail together with school children. In fact, all these activities demonstrated what is possible – but also what is necessary, generating the required feedback for the conceptual level.

Putting a common strategy into practice. The notion of a ’common sustainable tourism strategy‘ for the Danube Delta, developed and agreed upon by all stakeholders, has been the leitmotif of diverse studies, discussions and seminars, to which the Landscape- of- the- Year partners contributed actively.

As the region includes many divergent interests, this has been all but an easy process. But in the end, the efforts have given results. Sustainable solutions and concrete proposals on how to tackle them are on the table. Now it’s up to public and private decision-makers to take the necessary steps.

As a result of a panel debate and on the base of the existing concepts and former discussions, a Resolution on Sustainable Tourism Development in the Danube Delta was elaborated.

Another paper? Yes, but one that summarises in a single page the decisive steps to implement the common strategy systematically. This makes it a point of reference for future action, agreed and signed by all relevant stakeholders, and explicitly supported by the Romanian minister for environment, László Borbély, who affirmed in a personal meeting with the LoY partners:

“We cannot afford to let such initiatives pass by without lasting effects. We must use the results and suggestions in a pragmatic way and establish synergies between the different projects”. In the Danube delta, the time is ripe to make these words come true.

For more information on the Landscape of the Year, including the final report, please visit:
www.landscapeoftheyear.net/danubedelta.

Stefanie Röder was NFI coordinator of the Danube Delta – Landscape
of the Year Project