Since 2004, the ten new Member States of the European Union found themselves in a new political and legal environment.
The most authoritative guide ever compiled to the principles and practice of park (or "protected area") management essential for all professionals and students in all countries and contexts. There are over 108,000 parks/protected areas on Earth, covering 13.5 million square kilometres - an area the size of China and India combined.
The Iron Curtain, running from the Barents Sea to the Black Sea, divided Europe for almost 40 years and no activity was allowed in this "forbidden" zone. When it fell in 1989, it left a strip of land that runs the entire length of Europe and that has remained comparatively undisturbed a green belt. The Green Belt initiative aims to integrate this entire strip of land with its key habitats and ecological areas as part of an international network of valuable ecosystems.
This report reviews the morphology, climate, geology; natural resources; coastal erosion; ornithological importance; fish and fisheries; institutional considerations; and ethnographic aspects of the Danube Delta. The volume also presents a summary of the socio-economic problems of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve.
There is today a growing awareness that many wetlands are more valuable in their natural, or only slightly modified state, than if drained, dyked or built upon. Past neglect of wetlands has meant that there is insufficient material available on policy guidance, planning techniques, or management methodologies for their conservation and sustainable use in different regions.
