Danube Delta LAG

Established as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and Ramsar site in 1990, the Danube Delta is one of the continent’s most valuable habitats for specific delta wildlife and biodiversity. 

Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (DDBR) represents a labyrinth of water and land shared between Romania and Ukraine. It is made up of countless lakes, channels and islands at the end of a 2,860 km-long Danube river. It is the largest European wetland and reed bed, and also constitutes Europe’s largest water purification system.

Danube Delta hosts extraordinary biodiversity and provides important environmental services. The area is particularly known for its abundance of birdlife, with the presence of 365 important bird species – among which most of the European population of common pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) and curly pelican (Pelecanus crispus)  – many of which use the Delta as an important stopover and breeding area. About 135 fish species are present on this area, including populations of sturgeon (Acipenser). Romanian Delta is also one of the last refuges of the European mink (Mustela lutreola), the wildcat (Felis silvestris), the freshwater otter (Lutra lutra) and the globally threatened monk seal (Monachus monachus).

The main types of economic activities identified in the area are those related to tourism (rural tourism, tourism for agreement, birdwatching, boat trips on channels, gastronomic tourism, all activities under the concept of slow-tourism), fishing and pisciculture, commerce and subsistence agriculture, while the service sectors, craft activities and non-agricultural production are still underdeveloped.

Tourism in Danube Delta can be experienced via a diverse range of activities such as: 

  • recreation trips (offered by the tourism companies, with accommodation in one of the hotels on the territory or on floating boats);
  • individual trips (individually or through organized trips);
  • specialized trips – scientific tourism (for ornithologists, specialists, researchers, students);
  • special youth programs (for nature knowledge, understanding and appreciation);
  • rural tourism (when the tourists are hosted and guided by the local people);
  • aquatic sports;
  • angling.

Sustainable tourism is defined primarily by activities that involve protecting the natural resource, the environment but also the economic and socio-cultural development of the area, yet maintaining a balance that guarantees long-term development. Tourism is, by its nature, linked to almost any other socio-economic sector in society. This is particularly the case in the Danube Delta. In this case, where the delta forms a vulnerable natural eco-equilibrium, the impact of (future) tourism is felt throughout economy, human and animal settlements, ecological balances of all kinds, transportation systems … in short through all society. 

 

Agighiol’ s treasure – discovered on Tulcea County territory

Concerning cultural and historic touristic sightseeings, there are different opportunities mainly in the area around Danube Delta Bioshere Reserve, due to the fact that Tulcea County, as a destination, comprises some very important archaeological sites on the Danubian and maritime Black Sea coast and those of the Razim – Sinoe Lagoon Complex.

Danube Delta LAG territory consists in a mainly rural area, known for its environmental heritage and cultural traditions, a fascinating mix of cultures and ethnical groups. 

All communities in the Danube Delta LAG territory are partially included within the DDBR, out of which there are 2 communities bordering also the Black Sea – approximately 65% of the Romania coastline is located in DDBR and subject to tourism regulations.

Halmyris – one of the important ancient settlements and naval port –  a Late Roman and Byzantine fort, is located 2.5 km west of the village of Murighiol, on LAG DD territory.

Sulina, the small town situated also on LAG DD territory, at the Black Sea, represents the most Eastern point of Europe – it hosted the headquarters of The European Commission of the Danube (CED, 1856 – 1938), a well-known cosmopolite town created after Paris’s Treaty of 1856, called also ,,The First European Commission,, administrated by 7 great powerful states of those times, to maintain the peace and to develop the international trading partnerships

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The Lighthouse of CED – Sulina