WWF has a long history of organizing and supporting NGO coalitions in the region, including – in the past - the Danube Environmental Forum (DEF), the Carpathian Ecoregion Initiative, and later the Romanian NGO Coalition on Natura 2000, the For the Nature coalition in Bulgaria as well as coalitions focused on Danube navigation and, most recently, hydropower.

We have cultivated close ties to local communities in most of the priority conservation areas in which we work. We also connect with professional associations, including of fishermen, hunters and private forest owners.

We connect with universities, academies of Science and research institutions and scientific networks, particularly the International Association for Danube Research (IAD) and Science for the Carpathians (S4C), for providing the basis for WWF’s science-based approach.