DBSB: Agricultural Pollution Control Project - under WB-GEF Strategic Partnership for Nutrient Reduction in the Danube River and Black Sea

The key objective of this project is to address the main cause of transboundary pollution in the Danube River and Black Sea by reducing the discharge of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous) through integrated land and water management. The project would assist tha Government of Romania in its efforts to promote the adoption of environmentally friendly agricultural practices and to restore part of the former floodplain areas along the lower Danube, thus reducing discharge of nutrients and improve water quality in the Danube and Black Sea. The project would be part of a larger regional effort, facilitated by the GEF, to restore aquatic ecosystem health in the Black Sea Basin, which is threatened by excessive nutrient pollution. The project would demonstrate effective inter-sectoral mechanisms for combining good agricultural practices and wetland rehabilitation to reduce nutrient runoff to the Black Sea. It would assist the country to meet its obligations under the Bucharest Convention, the Odessa Declaration, the Danube Convention and the EU Directives. The project area will cover 60,000 ha of agricultural land located in Southern Romania; it borders the Danube and includes the Sticleanu Polder, a reclaimed floodplain area containing the Iezer Calarasi proposed nature reserve.