Romania Seeks EU Cash For Danube Delta Tourism

Romania aims to lure some 1 billion in European funds to develop infrastructure and tourism in the Danube Delta by 2020, Prime Minister Victor Ponta said on Thursday.

The cash - if it comes - will go on "infrastructure development, preserving biodiversity and on tourism development in the Danube Delta," Ponta said at the opening of Romania's Tourism Fair.

The measure is backed by tour operators and by many locals who say that far more foreign tourists want to come to the delta than do so today.

Experts welcome plans to develop the Danube Delta but are cautious about the impact of development on the environment.

"Any measure has to take in consideration the impact on Delta's birds and mammals. Local people also need to be helped to find new livelihoods, besides illegal hunting or fishing," Liviu Mihaiu, of Salvati Delta Dunarii [Save the Danuble Delta], a local green organization, said.

The Danube Delta spans more than 3,400 square kilometers and is the second largest river delta in Europe. Its waters, flowing down into the Black Sea, are host to over 300 species of birds as well as 45 freshwater types of fish in the numerous lakes and marshes.

The delta is especially well known as the home of colonies of rare pelicans.

However, although a paradise for bird watchers, the area is one of Romania's poorest regions. Many local communities lacking basic services, such as electricity and running water.

Most locals depend on fishing or subsistence agriculture. Illegal fishing is seen as a routine way to supplement income.

Wildlife tourism has been slow to take hold in Romania, although several hotels have now sprung up on lakesides and riverbanks, catering to bird-watchers and offering fishing trips.