New education and decision
support model for active behaviour
in sustainable development based
on innovative web services
and qualitative reasoning

The Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve

The most part (82%) of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (DDBR) is located in Romania, delimited by the north-western shoreline of the Black Sea, and has a surface of 5800 sq km. The other part belongs to Ukraine territory. DDBR represents one of the main elements within the Danube River – Danube Delta – Black Sea Geo-system. According to the WFD 2000-60 / EC, Annex II, the DDBR area belongs to the Mediterranean eco-region (symbol 12).

After a track of 2860 km, the Danube River has been building its own Delta before meeting the Black Sea. This delta is one of Europe's most extensive wetlands and is declared as World Heritage (UNESCO) site and RAMSAR wetland of international importance, since 1990. Its area, making it one of the greatest wetlands in the world, contains 30 types of ecosystems, both aquatic and terrestrial, out of which 23 are natural or artificially modified and 7 are man-made (including human settlements).

DDBR is an integrated system at every level: hydrological, ecological, economic, social, and cultural, that must be managed as such for a sustainable use of natural resources it provides. Despite of production pressures, compared to other wetland ecosystems in the region, DDBR remains largely in natural state. It forms a unique series of interrelated ecosystems of very large compact surfaces of reed beds within marshes, maze of tributaries, big canals /channels connecting lakes rich in aquatic plants and animals species (fish, birds, mammals), and fluvial-maritime sandy dunes with a mosaic of forests and semi-arid grasslands. Human population living inside the DDBR counts about 12,000 inhabitants. In towns and villages around its borders live over 145,000 people. The tourism adds annually about 70,000 tourists.

DDBR biodiversity consists of a valuable (for the world natural heritage) gene bank of flora and fauna species (5364 species, Otel et all, 1991-1995, Red List of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve plants and animal species). Within the last decades, there is recorded a biodiversity decline, reflected by missing a significant number of species. The main cause of this decline was identified in water pollution, especially due to increase in concentration of nutrients and heavy metals. It has as effect the biodiversity modification, as well as endanger rare, endemic or species of special concern (e.g., protected by international conventions).

Conservation and protection of DDBR (including the western coastal zone of Black Sea) biodiversity (both as natural resource and as conservative concern) is one of the main objectives in accomplishing the Sustainable Development Strategy for this area.

Aquatic ecosystems represent the most important and extended environment for natural resources developed in this area. They cover 3,500 km of canals (natural or artificial) which connects more than 500 lakes (200,000 hectares). Therefore, for this area, from the Strategy of Sustainable Development (SSD) point of view, a great concern is focussed on water quality, as “responsible” for DDBR biodiversity and human health.

Part of NaturNet-Redime project involves developing Qualitative Reasoning (QR) models of five case studies that explore different SSD issues and scenarios, in order to support this strategy’s objectives. One of these case studies is the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve system and the SSD is mainly based on its biodiversity conservation and protection measures. To construct this strategy, there is necessary to know how water pollution (relatively high in this area and identified as one of the main causes of biological disequilibrium) participates in the DDBR biodiversity decline recorded here within the last decades. To model qualitatively the causality dependency relationship between water pollution and aquatic population behaviour, the QR concept is implemented as one of the two tools developed within the NaturNet-Redime project, in order to assist the SSD of DDBR system. This answers the one of the main goals of NaturNet-Redime project: implementation of new education and decision support model for active behaviour in SSD based on Qualitative Reasoning.