In the context of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) and the EU Mission: A Soil Deal for Europe, last week (September 24th and 25th), the 31st Conference of the Working Group Sustainability - Soil Protection of the Working Community of the Danube Regions was organized in Tulln an der Donau.
The Conference provided a forum for participants from different stakeholder groups such as farmers, Land users, scientists and representatives of authorizes and communities across the Danube region to exchange information on current approaches of soil management. During this conference, the 22nd Steering Group meeting of EUSDR Priority Area 6, Biodiversity and Landscapes, Quality of Air and Soils took place.
DANUBEPARKS participated in the EUSDR PA6 Steering Group Meeting where we presented our activities and initiatives. The new Chair of the Task Force DANUBEPARKS - Mr. Matej Marušić was presented, together with the relevant project and new Flagship Initiative of the EUSDR: Danube WILDisland Regional Ramsar Initiative.
The Danube WILDisland Ramsar Regional Initiative is established under the patronage of ICPDR and coordinated by DANUBEPARKS. The initiative is creating possibilities for Danube-wide and cross-sector cooperation, joint restoration projects and coordinated efforts to preserve, develop and restore the Danube River, its natural islands and adjacent floodplains. Initiative will ensure adaptive management and wise-use of wetlands, based on transfer of knowledge and expertise of all participating countries. Furthermore, the whole establishment process guarantees bottom-up approach which will consider the individual needs and conditions of each of the member countries, while using the experience and know-how of the others.
Great expectations are placed on this new initiative and especially its harmonization with the Nature Restoration Law (NRL) is expected. Nature Restoration Law is the first continent-wide, comprehensive law of its kind and it will set in motion a process for continuous and sustained recovery of nature across the EU. The NRL itself aims to restore ecosystems, habitats and species across the EU’s land and sea areas in order to enable the long-term and sustained recovery of biodiverse and resilient nature, to contribute to achieving the EU’s climate mitigation and climate adaptation objective and to meet international commitments.
DANUBEPARKS organization is looking forward to further cooperation with EUSDR PA6 SG.