On 19 November 2014 in Seoul (Korea), GWP CACENA Regional Coordinator Vadim Sokolov took part in the 16th Governing Council meeting of Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF) and the 2nd meeting for preparing the 7th World Water Forum.
The Roundtable "Role of Mass media and Public in Water Saving Promotion" under initiative by SIC ICWC was held by the Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan jointly with the Embassy of Israel in the Republic of Uzbekistan on 13 November 2013 in the La Grande Plaza Hotel in Tashkent.
The annual Workshop was held on November 24 and 25, 2014, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province with 80 participants from different provinces and the institutions under the MWR and the NGOs. Ms MA Yilin, the Communications Officer, GWP China, participated in this activity.
The Upper Mur River is considered as one of the most ecologically valuable rivers of Austria due to the natural reproduction for the Danube salmon. The systematic regulation of the river began at the end of the 19th century, distributaries were cut off and large areas were drained in order to intensify agricultural land use. Restoration measures started in 1997 in the area of the Upper Mur and the “Grenzmur”. Various projects facilitated the renaturation of more than 22 km both in the upper course and the Slovenian border section of the river. A policy issue highlighted by the project is the importance to reconcile key needs for nature conservation with demands for renewable energy generation from small hydro power plants.
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.
On November 19, 2014, Dr. Zhong Lijing from the WRI China visited GWP China Secretariat to discuss the possibility of developing salon series under theme of water dialogue in coming years.