- Some 2,500 hectares with a remarkable biodiversity could dry up following a court decision, despite the opposition by locals.
- The solution lies in the government’s hands
- A photography exhibition shows the beauty of the Carasuhat area_ and what is at risk
The Danube Delta will lose 2,500 hectares in favor of intensive agriculture, WWF-Romania (World Wide Fund for Nature) warned Friday.
The annual International Day of Wetlands on February 2, sees a state of uncertainty hovering over the Carasuhat area of the Danube Delta.
The area was partially re-natured by a European project between 2012 and 2016 and then partially flooded in 2023. But a court ruling in December 2024 threatens to impose the draining of the 2,500 hectares of Delta, in the Carasuhat area near Mahmudia and Beștepe.
“Over the past nine years, we’ve proven in the Mahmudia-Carasuhat region that investments in nature restoration work and can bring prosperity to local communities. This shouldn’t be destroyed, but preserved and replicated in as many areas as possible in the Danube Delta and beyond,” said Orieta Hulea, director of WWF-Romania.
| Eight years ago, part of the former Carasuhat agricultural enclosure was returned to the Delta through an ecological reconstruction project. In 2023, flooding caused the area to double.
Since 2016, the number of guesthouses in Mahmudia has tripled. Local people return from foreign countries and open businesses – along with the water, life has returned to Mahmudia and Beștepe. The locals live from fishing and tourism (accommodation, public catering, boat trips) and 97% of them (according to a 2023 survey) want to keep the flooded area as it is, contrary to the interests of agricultural companies in the area. |
WWF-Romania says it supports the communities of Mahmudia and Beștepe who want to keep the delta close to their home, a delta that has started to provide them with income from sustainable tourism and fishing and that offers them the prospect of a future.
The WWF-Romania website has posted a petition addressed to the Romanian Government and the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests. Almost 10,000 signatories are asking the Government to allow the water to remain in Carasuhat and at the same time allow compensation to agricultural companies and farms.
