| |
 |
|
Background information The WFD’s definitive feature is the use of river basins as the basic unit for all water planning and management activities. This recognises that water represents physical and hydrological boundaries, but not political or administrative limits. Mainly through the development and implementation of River Basin Management Plans, the WFD’s overall environmental objective is to achieve a "good" status for all of Europe’s surface- and ground waters. Consequently, WFD implementation should involve a vast range of stakeholders, ranging from individual consumers, major water-using sectors (such as agriculture and industry) and secondary uses (such as water-based recreation) to water supply/treatment companies, scientists, nature conservationists and those authorities involved in planning land and water use at local, regional, national and international levels. According to WFD provisions, the public is to be informed of definitions of river basin characteristics, and is to be actively involved in the drafting of river basin management plans and subsequent programmes to implement these measures. You can download EU WFD and implementing guidelines here: http://forum.europa.eu.int/Public/irc/env/wfd/library
The Aarhus Convention establishes a link between government accountability and environmental protection. It also focuses on interactions between public and public authorities in a democratic context, and is helping to forge a new process of public participation in the negotiation and implementation of both effective domestic environmental requirements and, potentially, of international agreements. Despite signatures — and, in some cases, ratification of the Aarhus Convention — and truly remarkable progress in several of the Danube countries, there remains a lack of the good practices necessary to translate precepts of the Aarhus Convention from words into deeds. Bulgaria, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Serbia and Montenegro, have developed strategies for implementing the convention and have carried out capacity-building activities to put convention principles into practice.
The Danube Regional Project (DRP) is one of the world’s largest environmental projects. Funded by GEF and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the project covers the entire Danube Basin. Its central partnership is with the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), and it works closely with governments, businesses, industries, NGOs and communities of the 13 Danube countries. DRP work is dedicated to the protection and rational use of the Danube’s water and its ecosystems, and is based on the Convention for the Protection and Sustainable Use of the Danube River. This helps to establish institutional and legal instruments at both national and regional levels to ensure nutrient reduction and sustainable management of water bodies and ecological resources, involving all stakeholders and building up adequate monitoring and information systems. The DRP is committed to openness and sharing information. It aims to oversee that the right information reaches people of the Danube Basin in a way that is helpful, positive and understandable. For more information on the Danube Regional Project, please contact:
The ICPDR implements the Convention for the Protection and Sustainable Use of the Danube River. Its central endeavour is to protect the Danube and its tributaries (the world’s most international river basin) by reducing pollution and promoting the rational use of its resources. Following the commitment of Danube Basin countries to implement the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) on their territories, the ICPDR was officially designated as the platform for implementation of the international aspects of the WFD in the Danube River Basin — and is thereby coordinating the development and establishment of a Danube River Basin management plan. The ICPDR and its expert groups (appointed by the governments of the 13 Danube countries) have embraced a range of themes, such as: river basin management, WFD implementation, pollution control and monitoring, accident prevention, flood protection, economic analysis, and ecological aspects of land use, wetlands and protected areas. The ICPDR is committed to serving as a platform for information and stakeholder participation in Danube Basin-related issues. For more information on the ICPDR, please contact: |
|
Background information |
    
|
|||
|
