IUCN

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.

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.

This report analyses the factors which motivate land use by rural populations and provides a context for any policy or strategy which addresses natural resource conservation in the Sahel. The author suggests that production systems in the Sahel have reached or even exceeded their capacity to respond to the needs of a growing population and further that development aid has only had a negligible impact on the trend to over exploit.