Posted on October, 17 2014

WWF and The Coca Cola Company7 (TCCC) have begun a new 7-year partnership to restore vital wetland and floodplains along the Danube and its tributaries. The work will increase the Danube’s capacity by 12 million m³ of water by 2020. This equals the size of 4,800 Olympic swimming pools.
 
The project will run in 6 countries: Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria. The total budget for the entire period is €4.2 million. 
 
In Serbia, the focus in 2015 and 2016 will be restoring 3 wetlands in the Special Nature Reserve ”Gornje Podunavlje” -- Semenjača, Štrbac and Bestrement.  
 
In the past, the Special Nature Reserve was very important as a reproduction and migration stop-over site for 700 pairs of herons and other rare and endangered birds. This changed after the area dried out -- it was disconnected from the Danube with dykes and became almost totally overgrown by reeds and willows. The restoration will improve the water regime of the area throughout the year. This will be done by reconstructing existing irrigation channels.
 
The partnership will also revitalize the mosaic of natural habitats (wet meadows and shallow ponds) and seek new opportunities for local sustainable ecotourism, particularly bird watching, hiking and nature photography.  This will help bring livelihood to local communities.
 
The Special Nature Reserve “Gornje Podunavlje” is part of the future UNESCO Biosphere Reserve "Mura-Drava-Danube." It is also known as the Amazon of Europe and stretches from Austria and Slovenia, Hungary and Croatia all the way to Serbia.