Commission Secretary is an optimist for the Danube
"I am an optimist and am very excited about the possibilities that the Danube Strategy of the European Union offers to further create political attention and support for measures needed to restore and protect the Danube."
Fisherman friend of the Danube
Dr. Gábor Guti is one of the leading research workers of the Hungarian Danube Research Station of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and he is the member of several Hungarian and international scientific societies as well. During his childhood he used to fish regularly in the river Danube downstream from Budapest, near Százhalombatta.
Mimi Hughes swims the Danube
In the summer of 2006, American Mimi Hughes spent 89 days swimming down the entire length of the Danube River from the Black Forest to the Black Sea, travelling an average 33 km per day. The 51-year old high school teacher and mother of four is the first person to swim the Danube without fins and only the second to attempt the feat at all.
Plenty to celebrate but more to do as 19 nations mark Danube Day
The waltz might have celebrated a Blue Danube, but for those who lived on its banks it was the polluted and often smelly Danube. But now, as the 83 million people in the basin of the world’s most international river prepare to celebrate Danube Day, there is plenty to celebrate - the Blue Danube is on the way back, thanks to an impressive display of multilateral cooperation by the 19 Danube basin nations.
Keeping the river alive
"Historically the river has had many uses and it has provided benefits for many people, but it has also sustained its impressive natural values and ecosystem services. But today much of this is being lost due to human activities".
Landmark project rewards care for the Danube
"I really felt that while working to increase company profits, these companies missed something really important, something that we depend on and are a part of - nature. As an economist, I soon realized that it is very important for businesses to understand all this. They are using a great deal of resources coming from the Danube. These resources are not a given and they must be preserved".
Learning to work with the river
"The only stable aspect of a living river is its permanent change. Today more and more key players - including sectors like navigation and water management - have learned to accept river dynamic as part of the game in the work on a river.'"
Real results on maternal and child health will need a broader focus
By Yolanda Kakabadse, President WWF International
I have to caution that delivering on maternal and child health is going to involve much more than more maternal clinics, medicines and medical practitioners. Getting results is also going to be about ready access to clean water and sanitation, continued access to adequate food supplies, safe access to education and social services and security and a say for women.
Sales of timber, rubber latex and Brazil nuts help Amazon and people
Valciclei’s distant dream of owning a motor cycle came true. Not because he was blessed by a fairy but because of the income earned from forest management. ‘People are now buying motor vehicles, electronic appliances, clothing and household items, he said, proudly showing off his newest acquisition.
Ecological Footprint takes center stage at WWF’s Shanghai Expo pavilion
Visitors of the Shanghai World Expo have the opportunity to evaluate their ecological impacts on the planet with the Ecological Footprint calculator available at the WWF pavilion. Ecological Footprint (a measure of human demand on the planet’s ecosystems) and sustainable ways of living are the theme of the first of six monthly campaigns run at the WWF pavilion during the Expo.
