3 NGOs:
• DAPHNE - Institute of Applied Ecology
• Ecological Centre of Pomurje (PEC)
• Centre for Environmental Information and Education (CEIE)

3 Rivers: Morava • Mura • Ogosta

3 Countries: Slovakia • Slovenia • Bulgaria

3 NGOs in Slovakia, Slovenia and Bulgaria are dedicating the period from September 2004 to June 2006 to 3 of their environmentally threatened rivers, the Morava, the Mura and the Ogosta respectively. They are focusing on water quality in relation to the health and survival of not only surrounding flora and fauna, but also of the local people.

They will first of all collect expert data about the sources of water pollution, they will inform and educate the people living in the respective river regions, involve the local communities into direct activities helping to reduce the pollution, and finally meet and discuss with the stakeholders who affect the state of the water and its life the most. By approaching both the scientific and public perspectives of nature, this project aims to create a mutually positive and advantageous relationship for all interested parties while improving the natural state of their rivers.

Official aims of the project

The identification of similar river floodplains and suitable project partners is based on an intensive search and information exchange between NGOs in the Danube region. The combination of skills applied at present in each of the three target basins will form a unique approach with effective involvement of various groups of stakeholders into the water pollution reduction.

Experience confirms that to develop an effective approach to water protection it is necessary to enable the exchange of experiences not only within but also among individual river basins. This project serves as a model example of co-operation among NGOs, when knowledge is being transferred mutually, in that each partner has both capacity building input into a project, but also benefits from it.

This project is a part of DRP's NGO Support Programme, which is managed by the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe on behalf of the UNDP/GEF Danube Regional Project (www.drp.org).