Three days with about fifteen different Protected Areas in one place: What could be a better location than the Danube Delta? The steering committee including excursion and team-building, as well as the International Danube Festival, were a full success.
The Steering Committee Meeting is the highest decision making body in the project, accordingly the topics of the agenda: Possible ways to secure a long-term coordination between the Protected Areas, and the question about the enlargement of the network with new members - which partners are needed and how do we go about this.
As a concrete step forward, four Protected Areas were invited to present themselves at the meeting. Braila Natural Park and Iron Gates Natural Park, located in Romania, presented their area and stated their interest to become network partners. Their Directors will be in close contact with the Lead Partner to define joint areas of interest and activities in the next few months, in order to prepare their integration into the network. Lower Prut Natural Park in Romania and Lower Prut Nature Reserve in Moldova have a history of cooperation with the Network already, which included definition of joint activities and even implementation of several. Therefore they now became new members of the Network, and will shortly be presented also on this website. Welcome to the team!
After such intensive discussions, movement was needed: The RowMania Fest was just going on in Tulcea, and two teams from the DANUBEPARKS group were formed to participate in the canoeing competition. Keeping the same coordinated paddling rhythm and all steering in one direction was a perfect symbol of our cooperation, and the focus on paddle, water and movement liberated our minds and prepared us for the festival the next day!
On Sunday, September 1 is Danube Delta Day. Our Romanian partners used this occasion to celebrate their day together with partners from the whole Danube River in the International Danube Festival, on the Danube promenade in Tulcea. People from the region could inform themselves about nature in the other Danube countries at the Fair, and a program of dance and music put the cultural minorities into the centre of attention. Additionally, the program was coordinated with the still on-going RowMania Fest, which held the national final of the canoeing competition on that day, along with some other sporting events, concerts, and exhibitions.
A lasting memory from this fruitful event will be created by two photographers from the Croatian Photographers Society, who have a close cooperation with Lonsjko Polje Nature Park. They participated in all events and will produce a small photo exhibition that can be shared among partners as well.
