The Danube Delta:Between Scila and Caribda

(European Youth Parliament,Greece)

Todays economic background is mainly characterised by growth,innovation and flexibility.These aspects are a mirror for the economic connections,result of the globalisation,which grow at an amazing rate due to the technologys progress.But what does this all mean for the current and for the future situation of our economy?And how does the tecnology progress and the globalisation influence a company? In Romania,people started to see and to realise the major discrepancies between a development strategy and the capacity to sustain the natural capital in 1970s and in 1980s.However,this development strategy was limited and very few intelectual and academic groups were aware of it.Beginning with the political changes that took place in 1989 and new information that wasnt initially available to the public in the communist era helped people develop in any workfield they wanted. The Danubes current social and economic sitution is a result of various factors such as the demographical factors,the education level,the professional stability and the most important one: the level of unemployment and the level of salaries.The demographic context of the Danube is the result of a few tendencies that escalated quickly in the past decades likewise the migration from rural to urban area. However,the Danube is very wealthy not only when it comes to the rare species of flora and fauna but also because of its cultural diversity.For many centuries the Danube represented a place to live,to trade goods or even just a place used for protection for many peoples.Although it is not very populated(approximately 15,000 inhabitants),there are people from Russia,Ukraine and Romania but there can be found turkey,italian or even greek people.A specific peculiarity is registered when it comes to the nature and the aqvatic envinroment since many people make a living out of Danubes natural resources(like fishing).More than that,tourism is another important issue that this place confronts with,both from an economic point of view but also from the perspective of conserving the envinroment.There have been developed new projects over the past years which take into consideration this aspect. Another point that needs to be taken into account is the poverty of the people that live in the Danube area.This phenomenon began to develop in the past two decades because of the continuous growth of the prices and also because of the fact that the incomes had considerably lowered. In 2005,the European Commity came to the conclusion that many projects concerning the Danube are having negative effects upon the envinroment of the area,being registered many threats when it comes to the situation of the natural resources and also of the biodiversity.This idea opens up a new perspective for the issue but it defenitely has its limitations when communication and cooperation are not at their best.In the Danube Delta the political changes that took place in Romania had many negative effects mostly regarding the industrial situation of the area.However the industry developed based on the exploatation of the natural resources in particular for the Danube area.The

two most essencial resources are the reed and the fish.These two resources are not only important on a local level(for the inhabitants of the area) but they have a leading role at a more national level as well.The Danube Delta is the area with the highest hummidity in Europe with a 5,050 (square kilometres) and it was acknowledged for its role worldwide.The water resources from Romania are mostly provided from the Danube Delta being registered a percentage of 97,8% with a length of 1,075 km. From an analyse concerning the Danube Deltas current situation we can see that it meets a series of vulnerable points that could become serious threats in the near future.The major consequences that could influence the quality of the natural capital are the fragmentation of the natural habitats of various species of birds fish or even plants or flowers.This striking decline of the bio-productivity of the natural capital reflects the changes in all the other fields of the capital too.In this moment,the capacity of the bio-productivity is lower than in 2004 and 2006 registering only 2,45 g ha/ind respectively 2,7 g ha/ind. More than that,the Danube Delta has the greatest area of reed in the world,and this resource has a pivotal role in todays economy.Unfourtunetly,only superior quality reed is accepted for trading and big areas of inferior quality areas are left without any purposes.Because of this aspect,these areas are treated with nocive chemicals that have a negative effect upon the Danube Delta.Reed processing which is not good for export might have a great ecological potential that could sooner or later improve the economic situation of this area.The reed from the Danube Delta is exported in France,Belgium,Germany,Denmark and it is mainly used for the rooftops of the luxurious houses.Reed is bought for 50-60 euros but the workers from the Danube Delta claim that the selling for this item has slowly followed a downward trend because of the economic crisis we are in today. After 1965 and especially after 1970s the most popular issue of the Danube Delta was the depopulation which results from the lack of capacity when it comes to using the resources available so people had a tendency of migrating to more urbanised areas and also because of the slow evolution of labour.A percentage of 0,39(in C.A.Rosetti) is registered when analysing the productivity of the Danube Delta area and another one of 21,65%(in Crisan).The fact that the aspect of unemployment is so uncertain,many young people have hard times finding jobs.The agricultural opportunities are limited in most of the small cities from the Danube Delta and they find it hard to find working places outside their towns since commuting is rather expensive. One of the most important activities in the Danube Delta is fishing because it offers the best conditions for it.Approximately 85% of the total area of the Delta is characterised by places with a risk of flooding and it is very difficult for people to go fishing there.Moreover,the tradition and the abilities of the population from Delta are pivotal aspects when we think about fishing since from early times,fishing was the main occupation for the population in this area.Although this occupation followed a downward trend in the past few decades it is still very important in regions such as Crisana,Gorgova and Sfantul Gheorghe.Moreoer,people from these areas are having abilities in growing animals as well.Nevertheless the majority of the national goods of Romania are mainly based on fish.In 2004,fishing represented only 0.0067% of the total PIB whereas in 2008 it was registered a percentage of 0,0086% .However,because of the advance of the economic crisis,in 2011 products related to fish decreased with a percentage of 33% if compared to 2010.

To round things up it should be highlighted that because of the economic crisis we are dealing with nowadays,the main Delta activities that provided people with an income are in danger of dissapearing and with them so will happen with the cultural diversity of the area and with the wide variety of animal species and flora.Fishing and reed are the most two important features of a healthy economic situation in Delta but in conformity with the data provided in this study it can be easily seen that the percentages are decreasing with an unimaginable rate.We shoud try to improve the situation before our national economic situation gets worse.

Written by:Raluca Mocanu