PRESS RELEASE Danube NGOs Get USD 636,000 to Reduce Danube Pollution

 

(Szentendre, Hungary: March 7, 2006) A total of 62 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were awarded over USD 636,000 today to reduce nutrient and toxic pollution in Danube waters. The NGO projects were launched in 11 Danube River Basin countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine. Projects are expected to run until January 2007. At the regional level, five multi-country projects will include building bridges between stakeholders near the Hernad River in Hungary and the Sebes-Koros River in Romania. Public participation will be increased in managing the Sava River Basin. Best agricultural practices will be promoted to reduce pollution from farming in lower Danube countries, and the benefits of using re-usable diapers and environmentally friendly detergents will be extolled in Slovenia and Croatia. At the national level 57 projects are being supported. They include: reducing pollution from Danube rivers, such as the Sava, Drina, Ipoly, Prut, Zitova and Maramures; campaigning for and promoting organic agriculture in Vukovar, Croatia, in the Morava River Basin in the Czech Republic, in Subotica, Serbia and Montenegro, and in Moldova; promoting best agricultural practices to eliminate nutrients and toxics in Croatia, Hungary, and Serbia and Montenegro; promoting environmentally friendly detergents in the Czech Republic and Slovenia; and implementing new wastewater cleaning systems for households and farms in Slovenia. “The work that these NGOs will do in raising awareness about water pollution issues and solutions is crucial for us,” said Kari Eik of the United Nations Development Programme-Global Environment Facility’s Danube Regional Project (DRP), which is responsible for awarding the grants. “The people of the Danube have a right to be informed about the quality of their water. Their countries have agreed to clean these waters by 2015 to meet international policy.” This second round of DRP grants builds on the DRP’s first round of 65 grants, which started in 2004. “Key successes from the first round included the protection of Slovakian wetlands, improved trans-boundary water protection between Moldova and Ukraine, and raising awareness among 200,000 residents in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Entela Pinguli, grants manager with the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC). This granting programme is managed by the REC through its head office in Hungary, in cooperation with its offices in the 10 countries listed above. The autonomous REC Moldova coordinates and implements the grant programme for Moldovan NGOs. More info and background materials are available online at: Danube Regional Project Grants. For more information, please contact: Entela Pinguli Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe Tel: (36-26) 504-065 Fax: (36-26) 311-294 E-mail: Epinguli@rec.org

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