Authorities, researchers and representatives of the business community and civil society participated on Tuesday in a meeting organised under the Danubius-RI project, a pan-European research project, with the declared purpose of involving the local communities of the Delta in the protection of the environment for the creation of a tool for sustainable management of the area.

The event was organised by the Danube Delta National Institute for Research and Development (INCDDD) and the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Administration (DAHRA) as 36 years ago the Danube Delta and the other adjacent units were included in the international network of biosphere reserves, within the UNESCO program 'Man and the Biosphere', and September 1 was declared the day of the reserve, given that in 2008, on this day, a government decision by which the area is recognised as such came into force.

During the meeting dubbed 'Delta in data and community - Citizen Observatory', the researchers presented the status of the Danubius-RI project, as well as that of the fulfilment of the Romanian components under the initiative Danubius-RO, with the authorities underlying the importance of September 1 and the need to get local communities and business operators involved as information about the ecosystems of the reserve is fragmented, and the area is complex.

'Without communities we cannot achieve this approach. We believe that the transformation of field observations into scientific information is the central pillar under the Danubius Ro-2 project and a process is needed that the entire community must understand in order to integrate the environmental monitoring components and this is the approach we are doing today, to create a Danubius citizen observatory,' said the scientific director of INCDDD, Iulian Nichersu, during the meeting.

Danubius Citizen Observatory thus aims to be an instrument for the sustainable management of the Delta, by developing a participatory monitoring model, useful for both science and management and public policies.

Also, representatives of civil society expressed their openness to participate in the initiative.

'Everything that means the involvement of stakeholders from rural communities can also be a contribution in the projects we are talking about and that is why we are interested,' said the representative of the Danube Delta Local Action Group, Roxana Iacob.

In fact, some local action groups in Tulcea County have carried out projects on European funds dedicated to the study of climate change, implicitly to the protection of the environment and the communities in the reserve.

The events dedicated to the reserve will continue on Tuesday, at the Jean Bart Theatre House with the free screening of the film 'Wild Delta', directed by Dan Dinu, which will be preceded by the opening of a photography exhibition dedicated to the area.

'We have been working for five years on this project [the film 'Wild Delta'] which started out of love for this place, which is the space in Romania with the greatest biodiversity. Because it started out of love for the delta, to us it was important that before the presence of the film in cinemas it was seen for free by those who call the Danube Delta home,' the film's producer, Matei Truta, told AGERPRES.

The screening will be offered free of charge in the next few days at Mahmudia, Jurilovca and Sarichioi, coming to Romanian cinemas in the last ten days of October. AGERPRES (RO - editing by: Luisiana Bigea; EN - writing by: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu)