Babina
Babina
Key features of the case study
Site description
During the last decades of the 20th century, the Danube Delta has suffered from human interventions that led to dramatic changes in some areas. These interventions consisted in the dyking of large areas for the purpose of agricultural use, intensive fish-farming and forestry, which resulted in dramatic alterations or disturbances of the water balance. This had effects on the alteration of natural processes, the ecological balance as well as the characteristic functions of wetlands and led to a deterioration, or worse the loss of area-specific habitats. When the transformation measures were stopped in early 1990, the dyked area covered 97.408 ha (22 %) of the total 482.592 ha, including Babina polder(2100 ha), designed to be a rice polder but abandoned before to be fully built. Studies for rehabilitation/restoration measures were started in the Danube Delta immediately following its declaration as Biosphere Reserve in 1990.
Measures selection
The objective of ecological reconstruction/restoration was to restore the natural, site-specific hydrological, biogeochemical and ecological functions, to ensure the redevelopment of the ecosystem and its functions and thus to promote the development of site-specific habitats and their biodiversity. Moreover, the redevelopment of the natural resources should enable the local populations to proceed to their sustainable, traditional use. Given that the ecosystems of the Danube Delta depend on the dynamics of the Danube River, the re-establishment of the hydrological regime reveals to be the most important factor to be considered in restoration. In the case of dyked and drained polders that are no longer useful for agricultural purposes, the reconnection to the flood regime of the Danube is the measure to be taken and the prerequisite for a successful restoration. Such measures do not restore the original conditions of the time before the dyking, given that this would require a complete removal of the dams, which again reveals impossible in view of extremely high costs so, the opening of the dams in specific hydrological and ecologically effective spots and the reconnection to the river dynamics could restore a better performance of the ecosystem.
Success criteria
Ecological response
Hydromorphological response
Monitoring before and after implementation of the project
Socio-economic aspects
Contact person within the organization
Marian Tudor
mtudor@indd.tim.ro
Extra background information
References
