English Version - United Nations Development Programme Romania

Encouragement, stimulation and support for those who wish to become involved in the management
and sustainable use of the soil;
Supporting sustainable use of farmland by special programmes aimed at small agricultural activities,
which represent a major source of food for the rural population and serve as product supply for urban
markets.
All these aspects must be integrated in a national programme of sustainable management and use
of land, with well-established objectives and terms and be materialised in national and regional projects
such as:
Improving the national research system in the areas of soil science and agricultural chemistry, to
gain detailed knowledge of the country’s farm and woodland resources and of the manner in which
they can be best protected, improved, and used in a sustainable manner;
Implementation of a national geographic infrastructure to improve the knowledge and management of
farm- and woodland resources;
Updating the national monitoring system, in order to survey, assess, predict, warn and intervene
operationally, with the purpose of preserving the quality of farm- and woodland;
Updating the national database on farmland quality, reforming the national information system in this
field;
Introduction of expert systems to maximise the use of the productive capacity of certain types of soil,
without permanently damaging their quality or the environment.
Collecting knowledge of natural potentials and establishing the best ways of using land, including
those from areas and regions with special soil problems (eroded, arid, halomorphic and chemically
polluted soils, soils damaged by strip mining, with water in excess located in meadows or flood plains
and the Danube Delta, etc). All such solutions must satisfy economic and environment protection
requirements.
Ecological rehabilitation of farmland.
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4.5 Biological diversity
Having its legal basis established since 1930, when the first law to protect the natural monuments
was passed, the study and the protection of the natural capital in Romania saw a steady development until
The Romanian Black Sea Coastline
The Romanian Black Sea coastline, with a length of about 243 km, is currently affected by an
intensive and continuous degradation caused by marine erosion. The shoreline is shrinking at an annual rate
varying from a few meters to 15-20 meters for the coastline of the delta (between Sulina and Cap Midia)
and around 0.2-0.5m for the coastline with sea cliffs (Constanta-Vama Veche).
Erosion along the coastline is both natural and man-made. From among the human activities of great
impact on the situation of the coastline one may mention the hydro-technical works on the Danube and its
main tributaries, the ports, and coastal engineering works. The hydro-technical changes performed on the
Danube and its main tributary have caused a fall in the inwash of sediments in the coastal area by over 50%, as
compared to the values registered before the building of the dykes. Thus, a great sedimentary imbalance has
been created in the coastal zone, which has in turn initiated the erosion process. The port facilities and other
technical coastal engineering works such as the protection dykes for the Sulina navigation channel, the
breakwater piers of the Midia, South Constanta and Mangalia ports, the coastline protection works on the
tourist beaches, which also cause large environmental imbalance along the littoral.
Tendencies. Considering the global climatic changes and the general rise in the sea level, as well as
the regional geo-ecological conditions that characterise the Danube - Danube Delta - Black Sea geo-system,
one can estimate that the medium-term erosion process will be at least as active as in the past two decades. The
long-term predictions reveal an extension of beach erosion, especially because of the continuous decrease of
sand material in the coastal area, because of the permanent rise in the sea level and an ever-higher energy level
of the hydro-meteorological factors.
Prevention of littoral erosion. Many countries consider the problem of losing land by erosion of
their coastline to be of national importance. Beach erosion leads to territory loss, but it especially compromises
the tourist industry, causing significant losses to national economies. The process of erosion also disturbs at
times the ecological state of the coastal area almost irreversibly.
the 1960s, thereafter falling into neglect and being completely abandoned in the 1980s. A few years after
1990, the conservation activity experienced a revival. The Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve was
established, several international conventions regarding the conservation of the biological diversity were