533
rehabilitation/re-vegetation of this area were initiated immediately after the Danube
Delta was declared a Biosphere Reserve in1990.
Within the reserve, there are ecological reconstruction zones, that is, areas in
which the ARBDD has initiated ecological balance restoration projects using adequate technical means. This ecological reconstruction policy concerns all the previously dammed areas (97,408 ha, i.e., 27.6% of the current area of the delta) that are
devoted to agricultural and fish farming developments or to reed exploitation.
Considering that the Danube Delta includes 30 types of ecosystems that are highly
dependent on the oscillation of river levels, the main objective of this ecological
recovery is to restore the natural hydrological circuit of the economically developed
areas. A solution to these efforts of reconnection to the hydrological regime of the
delta was suggested in 1994; it consisted of digging holes in the dykes, thereby
allowing the water to flow freely in these dammed areas. Other types of ecological
restoration development include the calibration and closing of canals if the water
flows directly towards the lakes without being filtered by the reeds.
So far, 328 km of canals have undergone ecological reconstruction development
as well as drainage and unclogging, whereas 15,712 ha have been reconstructed to
be environmentally friendly. The ecological reconstruction developments were conducted in Popina (southern part), Babina, Cernovca, Fortuna and Holbina-Dunavat
(Fig. 17.12). Other types of developments (on the canals) may be found in MatiţaMerhei, Magearu-Cardon, Gorgova-Uzlina, Şontea-Fortuna, Dunavăţ-Dranov,
Roşu-Puiu and Somova-Parcheş. The ecological progress made after these redevelopments includes the establishment of new bird and animal habitats, widening of
the fish and waterfowl reproduction areas, increased hydrological flow and storage
capacity of water, and increased sediment retention.
After the political changes in Romania in the early 1990s, the first proposed
project in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve was Babina. The goal of this project
was to switch from an intensively used, unspecified area to a state close to that of
nature. Thus, in spring 1994, abandoned agricultural land in Babina in the northeastern Danube Delta has been reconnected to the natural regime of flooding of the
Danube (Fig. 17.12). A monitoring program has also been developed and implemented to answer major questions raised by the recovery process and to check the
ecological success of the reconstruction work.
After the commissioning of the Babina and Cernovca dykes (1994) and after the
recovery of the floodability index, these two polders saw the emergence of different
plant associations that depended on the Danube level fluctuations and on land morphometrics. The following habitats were restored in the Babina Polder: aquatic
habitats, low and midland levee habitats and land habitats (high levees). Aquatic
habitats are represented by hydrophilic species that are also found in other natural
areas of the delta. These include Hydrocharismorsus ranae, Lemna minor,
Lemnatriscula, Nymphea alba, Salvinia natans, etc. The low and midland levee
habitats are represented by floodable land during major floods. Various hydrophilic
species such as Carex riparia, Carex acutiformis, Menthe aquatica, and Lycopus
europaeus are left behind by the floods on the midland levees located in the middle
and in the eastern part of the polder. These species are subsequently replaced by the
17 Alteration and Remediation of Coastal Wetland Ecosystems in the Danube Delta…
rehabilitation/re-vegetation of this area were initiated immediately after the Danube
Delta was declared a Biosphere Reserve in1990.
Within the reserve, there are ecological reconstruction zones, that is, areas in
which the ARBDD has initiated ecological balance restoration projects using adequate technical means. This ecological reconstruction policy concerns all the previously dammed areas (97,408 ha, i.e., 27.6% of the current area of the delta) that are
devoted to agricultural and fish farming developments or to reed exploitation.
Considering that the Danube Delta includes 30 types of ecosystems that are highly
dependent on the oscillation of river levels, the main objective of this ecological
recovery is to restore the natural hydrological circuit of the economically developed
areas. A solution to these efforts of reconnection to the hydrological regime of the
delta was suggested in 1994; it consisted of digging holes in the dykes, thereby
allowing the water to flow freely in these dammed areas. Other types of ecological
restoration development include the calibration and closing of canals if the water
flows directly towards the lakes without being filtered by the reeds.
So far, 328 km of canals have undergone ecological reconstruction development
as well as drainage and unclogging, whereas 15,712 ha have been reconstructed to
be environmentally friendly. The ecological reconstruction developments were conducted in Popina (southern part), Babina, Cernovca, Fortuna and Holbina-Dunavat
(Fig. 17.12). Other types of developments (on the canals) may be found in MatiţaMerhei, Magearu-Cardon, Gorgova-Uzlina, Şontea-Fortuna, Dunavăţ-Dranov,
Roşu-Puiu and Somova-Parcheş. The ecological progress made after these redevelopments includes the establishment of new bird and animal habitats, widening of
the fish and waterfowl reproduction areas, increased hydrological flow and storage
capacity of water, and increased sediment retention.
After the political changes in Romania in the early 1990s, the first proposed
project in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve was Babina. The goal of this project
was to switch from an intensively used, unspecified area to a state close to that of
nature. Thus, in spring 1994, abandoned agricultural land in Babina in the northeastern Danube Delta has been reconnected to the natural regime of flooding of the
Danube (Fig. 17.12). A monitoring program has also been developed and implemented to answer major questions raised by the recovery process and to check the
ecological success of the reconstruction work.
After the commissioning of the Babina and Cernovca dykes (1994) and after the
recovery of the floodability index, these two polders saw the emergence of different
plant associations that depended on the Danube level fluctuations and on land morphometrics. The following habitats were restored in the Babina Polder: aquatic
habitats, low and midland levee habitats and land habitats (high levees). Aquatic
habitats are represented by hydrophilic species that are also found in other natural
areas of the delta. These include Hydrocharismorsus ranae, Lemna minor,
Lemnatriscula, Nymphea alba, Salvinia natans, etc. The low and midland levee
habitats are represented by floodable land during major floods. Various hydrophilic
species such as Carex riparia, Carex acutiformis, Menthe aquatica, and Lycopus
europaeus are left behind by the floods on the midland levees located in the middle
and in the eastern part of the polder. These species are subsequently replaced by the
17 Alteration and Remediation of Coastal Wetland Ecosystems in the Danube Delta…