Low public awareness about the Danube inland delta is one of the reasons why this ecosystem has been withering due to unsuitable water management and intensive forestry practices. Today, this wetland ecosystem is lacking on the most vital component –
water.
As a result of the construction of the Gabcikovo water dam system, most of the water is now being channelled into the hydropower plant and only a fraction of the Danube´s volume is let into the old riverbed and its sidearms. As a result, the whole system is drying out, invasive species take over and biodiversity is dropping rapidly.
Increasing public pressure on authorities is crucial to improving the management of the floodplain system by water managers and journalism is one of the best ways to gain public interest and understanding of the issues. That is BROZ (Bratislavské regionálne ochranárske združenie) co-organised an excursion for students of journalism where they talked about this complex system with professionals from the Water Research Institute and see the issues in the field guided by The Nature Conservancy who administer this area and BROZ who implement restoration projects in the Danube floodplains.