Vesselin Koev, Biodiversity Expert of the Persina Nature Park Directorate, collects samples to monitor the ecological effect of the restoration on the wetlands.

Wetlands in the river ecosystems are well-known for their importance as habitats for water birds, as well as for their role in supporting fish populations. However, these areas are also important to people. The Bulgarian Wetland Restoration and Pollution Reduction Project seeks to reintroduce the wetlands to the flora and fauna of Bulgaria, and also to the people. This will be accomplished by successfully restoring the marsh areas as viable habitats and thus restoring their importance in the region.

A foundation of support.
As preparation of the Project Appraisal Document began, there were extensive meetings and broad consultations with representatives of the local communities, farmers and the general population, as well as with representatives of the regional structures of government institutions. As with every new start, much effort had to be put forth to maximise the benefits of project implementation.

The advantages of involving the local community and stakeholders in the planning phase later became evident, and there has been significant progress in the attitude of the local communities toward the implementation of such a large-scale international project. Due to the growing support, more and more people now refer to it as "our wetlands project".

Losing water.
Both marsh areas were once in the Danube floodplain, but after 1948 the marshes were drained and the land was used for agriculture. At present, the marshes are recharged through ground waters and they dry up during the summer.

"Prior to 1948, fish from the Danube used to enter these marshes to spawn. These marshes maintained the fish populations in the Danube which allowed the local population to sustain itself on fishing," explains Dr Yordan Kutsarov, the Executive Director of the Kalimok-Brushlen Protected Site Association. "After the construction of the Danube River protective dyke, the marshes were drained, the link to the Danube was lost, the fish disappeared, and people lost their livelihood," he added. In addition to the loss of the fish populations, water fowl that once nested in the marsh were dislocated.

Reconnecting to the Danube.
Research and modelling work proved that it would be feasible to restore the hydraulic link between the former marshes and the Danube River. This would be done by constructing engineering facilities and a small infrastructure, such as inlet and outlet sluices along the Danube dykes and channels.

Once the links to the Danube are restored, the marsh areas will be flooded with water. This will create conditions necessary for the fish to spawn in the marshes, which will provide food to lure back the water fowl and otherwise restore the ecosystem.

Monitoring for successful management of the marshes.
Persina Nature Park was designated under the Protected Areas Act in 2000, and the Kalimok-Brushlen Protected Site was designated in 2001 by orders of the Ministry of Environment and Water. As both protected areas have been recently established, they do not yet have management plans. At present, management plans are being developed with the support of the EU PHARE programme.

The ecological effect from the restoration of the wetlands will be closely monitored, and the data will be compared with data collected after the facilities and infrastructure are constructed. This will allow comparison and assessment of the wetlands' maintenance. A comprehensive monitoring programme has been established at each site to monitor and manage its ecosystem and biodiversity.

The project is an important contribution to the Lower Danube Green Corridor, established by the lower Danube governments Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine in 2000.

Other benefits.
Through this project, important data has been collected by monitoring the baseline biodiversity and water quality. This data will be compared to data gathered after the series of flooding of the wetlands following the construction of the facilities.

"During the baseline monitoring, new species for Belene Island were found," states Stoyan Mihov, the PCU local liaison officer in the town of Belene. "These are the small rice mouse, a forest lizard, [and the] Danube newt."

The project has allocated funds for public awareness for the local stakeholders regarding biodiversity conservation, and by means of special funding it encourages local farmers to adopt organic faming. In addition, the restored wetlands will serve as natural nutrient traps which will reduce pollution in the Danube.

This is a pilot project and its successful implementation will likely lead to the restoration of other wetlands in the Danube and Black Sea Basins.

THE WETLAND PROJECT

The Bulgarian Wetland Restoration and Pollution Reduction Project was launched in October 2002 in the frame of the 'Danube-Black Sea Strategic Partnership', financed by the Global Environment Facility and World Bank. It is co-financed by the Bulgarian government, the EU PHARE programme, the Austrian government and other bilateral donors. The total cost of the project is USD13.28 million, of which USD7.5 million was granted by the Global Environment Facility.

Two wetland areas were selected for restoration: one on Belene Island in the 1,090-hectare Persina Nature Park, and the second the 1,250 hectare Kalimok marsh in the Kalimok-Brushlen Protected Site.

The project's developmental objective is to spur local authorities to adopt sustainable natural resources management practices in these wetland areas. It is a demonstration project with a fiveyear implementation period. Dyke and drainage construction is planned to be completed by the end of 2005, and the first flooding to fill and restore the marshes is expected in 2006.

The Bulgarian Wetland Restoration and Pollution Reduction Project marks the first time a wetland restoration of this scale has been implemented in Bulgaria. The project will serve as a model for reduction of transboundary nutrient pollution load from agriculture in the Danube River and Black Sea basins, while preserving important endangered species in protected areas.

For more information, please visit: www.worldbank.bg/wetlands.

Marieta Stoimenova
is the Project Manager for the Ministry of Environment and Water’s Project Coordination Unit.