Search Results

Vienna, 21 January 2008 – Serbia today took over the Presidency of the ICPDR for the year 2008. The handover was made during an official ceremony hosted by the outgoing Presidency, Romania, at the premises of the Permanent Mission of Romania in Vienna, Austria. The Minister for Environmental Protection of Serbia, Saša Dragin, will serve as ICPDR President and guide its activities in 2008.

ICPDR Danube Watch: The Danube goes to school

Vienna, 19 January 2007. Romania will take over the Presidency of the ICPDR for the year 2007, on Monday, 22 January. The handover will take place at an official ceremony hosted by the outgoing Presidency, Moldova, at the Palais Pallavicini in Vienna, Austria, at 1700 hours. State Secretary of Environment and Water Management of Romania, Lucia Varga, will serve as President during 2007 and will guide the activities of ICPDR.

Three sub-basins of the Danube are partly located in Ukraine - the Tisza, Prut and Siret basins, as well as part of the Danube Delta. Furthermore, 2.7 million people live in the Ukrainian part of the Danube Basin, which is 3.3% of the total Danube Basin District. Ukraine has been a Signatory State to the Danube River Protection Convention since 1994. The Convention was ratified by the Ukrainian Parliament in 2002.

As both the largest remaining natural wetland and second largest river delta in Europe, the Danube Delta is one of the continent's most valuable habitats for wetland wildlife. Pollution and discharge manipulation from upstream has a huge effect on this area of high biodiversity, plus the delta continues to change ecologically itself – the Danube Delta spreads seaward at a rate of 10 to 25 metres every year.

Covering an area of 157,186 km², the Tisza River Basin is the largest sub-basin of the Danube River Basin. The Tisza River is the longest tributary of the Danube (966 km), and second largest in terms of flow after the Sava. The countries of the Tisza Basin (Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia) agreed to close transboundary co-operation, aiming to achieve integrated water resources management of the Basin.