The beauty and wilderness of Danube floodplains was continuously deteriorated by human impacts. Construction of the Gabcikovo water dam caused direct clearance of minimum 2,500 ha of floodplain forests and influence of water regime of other areas. A regional NGO BROZ located in Slovakia, has developed a project for EU funding scheme LIFE. The project aims to preserve last remaining natural floodplain forests in Slovak part of the Danube floodplain and to introduce sound, sustainable forest management in the area. As a result, a Sustainable Forest Management Strategy has been elaborated to give a base for new forest management plans.
On the occasion of National Consultation Dialogues in Romania and Lithuania, today Global Water Partnership Central and Eastern Europe releases a video about the Integrated Drought Management Programme in Central and Eastern Europe.
The 20th session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 20) is held from 1 to 12 December in Lima, Peru. Representatives from GWP are present.
GWP China has launched a new bilingual website, offering the latest GWP news from the region. Now all 13 GWP Regional Water Partnership websites share the same platform and branding.
GWP Armenia organised a workshop to identify alternative technologies for urban wastewater treatment in Armenia. The workshop, held in Aghveran on 16-17 October 2014, also looked at the legal, institutional and financial obstacles.
Preceded by a series of regional workshops in Africa, Latin America, South-East Asia and Central Asia organized by IUCN and IWA since 2012, the Symposium on Infrastructure Solutions in the Water-Energy-Food Nexus was taken place at the Beijing Friendship Hotel, starting on Thursday 13 November and ending on Saturday 15 November, 2014, in Beijing. GWP China was formally invited to be the co-sponsor of the symposium jointly with IUCN and IWA .
The farmers in the Volta river basin generally rely on rain-fed agriculture. However, insufficient or irregular rainfall frequently puts farmers at risk of losing their crops. Farmers must have access to a reliable water supply to sustain their livelihoods. In line with the problems highlighted, the Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) set out to find ways to strengthen the capacity of the famers, communities and other stake holders in the basin. As a lesson learnt, it is reasonable to expect stakeholders to adopt improved agricultural practices if such new practices are of their own benefit. Experiences show that stakeholders will only participate in innovation platform meetings when they see the value of doing so.
Coinciding with the 12th European Conference EUROPE INBO 2014, on 12 November 2014 GWP Central and Eastern Europe is releasing a new video on Small Water retention measures.