Concerns Build About Danube Delta Canal Plans - BBC

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A Ukrainian project to build a maritime canal in the Danube Delta - an ecologically rich wetland area - has aroused international concern among environmental officials and activists. The Bystroye canal project could have serious and irreversible effects on the Danube Delta ecosystem, says a draft report by Council of Europe rapporteur Leo Platvoet, a Dutch MP who visited the area.

The delta is under Unesco protection as a biosphere reserve - designated a Natural World Heritage Site in 1991. It is recognised as one of the world's largest wetlands under the international Ramsar classification, providing a habitat for 312 bird species and about 90 fish species. Ukraine says the canal is designed to offer an alternative navigational route. The only existing way for ships to sail from the Danube to the Black Sea is the Sulina canal, built on Romanian territory more than 100 years ago.

Ukraine claims that shipping taxes on the Sulina canal are high and that the creation of an alternative route would open up access to the Danube harbours, providing an important economic boost for Ukraine. It also argues that the construction project itself would create more than 4,000 new jobs.

But environmental bodies have repeatedly warned of the likely impact of the canal on the Danube Delta. Romanian experts say that dredging the Bystroye canal could result in an acceleration of water flow in the area. The new canal will draw some of the water flowing now via other branches of the Danube. That will disturb the natural balance of the delta, says Romulus Stiuca of the Romanian Danube Delta Institute. Some of the unique attractions of the delta might also be harmed. One such place is the Letea tropical forest, which is hundreds of years old and the only place in Europe where one can find lianas - climbing plants that hang from trees."

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4025663.stm