Black Sea and Danube Basin Partnership

Nowhere on Earth have such demonstrable water quality and ecosystem improvements been observed in a large river and adjacent sea as in the Danube River/Black Sea system over the last decade. As a result of Basin countries efforts, including GEF–funded investments, nitrogen emissions have decreased about 20% and phosphorus almost 50 % in the Danube Basin/Black Sea in the last 15 years.

Ten Successful Environmental Projects

Ten World Bank projects supported by the Investment Fund for Nutrient Reduction financed by Global Environmental Facility (GEF) since 2002 have been very successful in piloting measures to reduce nutrient loads entering the Black Sea and Danube Basin. The projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Turkey supported, among others:

		Project overview
		Project summary
		Conferences
		Contact us

introduction of innovative low-cost wastewater treatment methods (BiH, Moldova)
promoting wetlands as environmentally and economically investments benefiting populations (e.g. Bulgaria
restoring degraded land and reducing soil erosion (e.g. Moldova),introducing waste segregation and water quality monitoring (Romania);
constructing manure management facilities and promoting organic farming (e.g. Turkey).

GEF Strategic Partnership on Black Sea and Danube Basin

The projects were part of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Strategic Partnership on Black Sea and Danube Basin. The partnership is a multilateral structure established with the cooperation of the World Bank (WB), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and other financiers, as well as basin countries to address the degradation of the Black Sea and Danube Basin region. The Strategic Partnership launched in 2001 with an initial funding of $95 million in GEF grants, is an initiative coordinated among UN agencies and the World Bank in support of a country-driven program that addresses the key concern of this basin: pollution from nutrients and subsequent eutrophication that is the cause of many environmental and water use problems.

The GEF Investment Fund for Nutrient Reductions managed by the World Bank, was established to catalyze investments and accelerate action by other stakeholders interested in the recovery of the Black Sea. It aimed to leverage US$210 million to complement US$70 million GEF grant funds for nutrient reduction investments in the agriculture, and municipal and industrial wastewater treatment sectors and for wetland restoration. More on Strategic Partnership and Investment Fund.
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Environmental Degradation

Important Sources for Practitioners Available

Lessons learned from all projects, and materials in English and local languages developed for the projects and conferences. Conferences and Materials

IW Learn: Important depository of materials on nutrient reduction

Partner Organizations and Initiatives

Global Environment Facility (GEF)	UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
UN Development Programme (UNDP)	European Environment Agency/Black Sea
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)	International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River
Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea	DABLAS Task Force