The new Coordination Office of the Danube WILDisland Ramsar Regional Initiative is officially registered by the Bulgarian authorities. The office is hosted by the Persina Nature Park, Bulgaria and is the third regional office of the DANUBEPARKS Association, after the headquarters, hosted by the Donau-Auen National Park, Austria and the Secretariat, hosted by the Kopački rit Nature Park, Croatia.
The newly established office will be responsible for the operational work and practical coordination of the Danube WILDisland Ramsar Regional Initiative (RRI), the communication with its partners, donors and member states.
A new full-time employee will be in charge of the preparation of various strategic documents, including work plans and annual budget, as well as the public communication and awareness activities to promote riparian conservation and revitalization. The new officer will organize joint meetings and experience exchange events and develop funding proposals and external projects for all the Member Countries. We hope that this will give an additional boost to the WILDisland initiative and contribute to its long-term sustainability and further expansion Danube-wide.
This is a major milestone for the development of the DANUBEPARKS Association as a trans-national network of protected areas, NGOs and forestry institutions, operating with functional offices in Upper Danube, Middle Danube and now already also Lower Danube. We see this as a prerequisite for fair consideration of the interests of all states along the Danube, strengthening the local connections and recognition and supporting the local partners of the Association.
This activity was implemented within "Establishing the Danube WILDisland Regional Ramsar Initiative" project co-financed by BMUV and Ramsar Secretariat.