USD 4.4 million for restoration of wetlands alongside the Danube River

(Photo: Ruben Smit)

The USD 4.4 million project covering Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Romania and Serbia aims to increase the river's capacity by at least 53 cubic meters of wetland habitat (the size of 7,422 football pitches) and 12 million cubic meters of water (4,800 Olympic swimming pools) by 2020.

In Serbia, the project will focus on restoration works on the Strbac ponds and the Bestrement oxbow, situated in the Special Nature Reserve "Gornje Podunavlje".

The project, dubbed The Partnership for a Living Danube, aims to promote a regional movement for wetland conservation and restoration, and will kick off a Living Danube Tour just before Danube Day 2014 in Serbia to help raise awareness of the effort.

The special mobile exhibit will visit more than 25 sites in Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Romania and Serbia by the end of the summer of 2015, ANSAmed has reported.