EnviMin Fechet: The war in Ukraine has produced a real ecocide

Minister of the Environment, Water and Forestry Mircea Fechet on Thursday said that the war unleashed by Russia is "a real ecocide" and that its effects do not stop at the border with Romania.Fechet on Thursday attended a debate in Tulcea on the management plan of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (RBDD), a document in the decision-making transparency procedure, where some participants recalled the effects of the ongoing war in Ukraine on the population of the Delta."I have been to Ukraine twice since the war started and I have seen with my own eyes the environmental damage caused by the war. There, they talk about a real ecocide, and I agree with them completely. However, the environment destroyed by the war in Ukraine does not improve once it crosses the Romanian border. My hope is that Russia's aggression will stop as soon as possible, because the sooner it happens, the more we will be able to not have the same problems, whether we are talking about the environment, about grains, the drones that sometimes arrive in Romania or about any other things that affect us directly," Fechet said.The debate on the RBDD management plan and the reserve regulation brought together local public administrations, private investors in tourism, fishermen's and fish producers' associations, representatives of organisations that protect animal rights, animal breeders."To us, it is very important that the management plan brings little light on what the development of the Delta means in the next ten years. (...) To us, the fishermen, it is important that the water is clean, because the entire life of the Delta is linked to it. What we have seen in the last 50 years has been a slow degradation of the Delta. If we don't do something, in 10 years, in the next management plan, we will discuss the development of agricultural crops on the lakes of the Delta. The clogging does not take into account the management plans, nothing," according to Chairman of the Federation of Danube Delta Fish Producers Organisations (FOPPDD) Dan Verbina, who requested the unclogging of the lakes and canals in the reserve.Some participants recalled the huge costs entailed by keeping up tourism investment in an area surrounded by waters, given that it has to comply with all the obligations imposed by the legislation in force, while others complained about excessive red tape, legislative incoherence or lack of infrastructure."The Danube Delta needs a separate attention in terms of financing certain projects, in terms of certain types of investment suitable or necessary for this area, which is why I will propose to my Environment Fund Administration colleagues that in the future we have dedicated programmes for funding investment, whether we are talking about manure platforms, they will reduce the impact on the environment, whether we are talking about investment in supplying drinking water or in connection with sewerage, or we are talking about how we manage agricultural land in the Danube Delta," Environment Minister Fechet told a news conference that followed the debate.The debate in Tulcea, organised by the Ministry of Environment and the RBDD Administration, is followed by other similar events that will take place in the villages of Sfantu Gheorghe and Mila 23, in the Delta.The Danube Delta, declared a Biosphere Reserve in 1990, has a total area of 4,178 square kilometres, 82% of which is in Romania, and the rest in Ukraine. A wetland of international importance, the Danube Delta is included in the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage List, numbering about 10,000 species, being famous for its ornithological fauna. The local communities in the Danube Delta are characterised by ethnic diversity, and the main trades of the people in the areas surrounded by waters are fishing, tourism and animal husbandry.