Regional Conference on "Agricultural Sources Pollution

Control in Danube, Baltic and Black Sea Riparian Countries"

Bucharest, RomaniaSeptember 30 - October 3, 2003

Agricultural Pollution Control Project

WBTF 050327-RO

ROMANIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTS, WATERS

AND ENVIRONMENT

Europe - River Basins

Area Basin 103 km2 • Volga 1,360• Danube 817• Dniepro 503• Don 423• Northen Dvina 357• Pecora 322• Ural 231• Rhin 225• Wisla 194• Elbe 144• Odra 125• Loira 115• Western Dvina 88• Ebro 86• Tajo 81• Dniester 62

Black Sea – as seen by the Russian painter I.K. Aivazovsky (1817-1900)

Black Sea Basin

Black SeaRiparian Countries:

-ROMANIA-UKRAINE-RUSSIA-GEORGIA-TURKEY-BULGARIA

Albrecht Altdorfer (1480-1538)

View of the Danube Valleynear Regensburg

Danube Basin

Catchment Area: 817,000 km2

Danube’s average annual discharge:6,430 m3/sec.

1. Germany2. Austria3. Slovakia4. Hungary5. FYR Countries6. Bulgaria7. Romania8. Moldova9. Ukraine

Countries in the Basin:

Transboundary Cooperation

ROMANIA – GENERAL INFORMATION

Area: 238,392 km2

Population: 22.7 mil. inh.

Capital: Bucharest

No. of Counties: 42

Large Cities: 7

Communes: 2,686

Agricultural Land: 14.9 mil. ha

Forests: 6.4 mil. ha

International Waters(Danube River): 1.075 km

National Waters: 9,301 km

AGRICULTURAL POLLUTION CONTROL - PROJECT AREA

Project FundingTotal Project value: US$ 10.8 mil., out of which:

• US$ 5.15 mil. World Bank from GEF funds;• US$ 1.86 mil. Government of Romania;• US$ 0.29 mil. Calarasi County Council;• US$ 1.0 mil. From the Governmental “Agricultural

Support Services” Project;• US$ 2.50 mil. In kind contribution of the direct

beneficiaries.

Project ComponentsComponent 1: Activities in the Calarasi County (US$ 9.22 mil.)

– Manure Management Practices (US$ 5.20 mil.)– Promotion of Environment-Friendly Agricultural Practices (US$ 2.47 mil.)– Integrated Management of Boianu-Sticleanu Polder and Ecological Restoration

of part of the Calarasi-Raul Polder (US$ 1.09 mil.)– Strengthening Capacity in Calarasi County (Service for Water Management,

Soil and Agro-chemistry Office and Public Health Directorate) to Monitor Soil and Water Quality and Environmental Impacts (US$ 0.46 mil.)

Component 2: Strengthening National Policy and Regulatory Capacity (US$ 0.27 mil.)

Component 3: Public Awareness and Replication Strategy (US$ 0.45 mil.)

Component 4: Project Management Unit (US$ 0.86 mil.)

Main Actions Supported by the Project

At the Local level• Provision of Sub-grants for Beneficiaries to support:

(i) Adopting organic farming; Funds from the ASSP-Competitive Grant Scheme are leveraged to support organic farming projects in Calarasi County;

(ii) Purchasing and installation of household level manure storage facilities;

• Promotion of Good Agricultural Practices through Testing and Demonstrating Programs;

• Training Beneficiaries in the field of Good Agricultural Waste Management Practices;

• Construction of 14 Commune Level Manure Management Facilities and procurement of related Equipment;

• Demonstration of a number of improved agricultural practices, including integrated crop and nutrient management;

• Tree planting in erosion-prone locations in the terrace area and windbreaks or shelterbelts on privately-owned agricultural land;

• Agro-forestry on degraded lands and implementation of Code of Good Agricultural Practices on the arable land in Boianu-Sticleanu Polder;

• Design and implementation of a conservation management plan for the proposed Iezer Calarasi nature reserve;

• Studies for the ecological restoration of part (about 3,000 ha) of the Calarasi-Raul Polder;

• Specific laboratory and field equipment for the local agencies in charge with soil and water quality monitoring;

• Preparing a Code of Good Agricultural Practices for water and soil protection;

• Support for adoption of the EU Nitrates Directive and estimating the costs at the national level for voluntary and non-voluntary application of the CGAP in accordance with the provision of the EU Nitrates Directive.

• Support a number of public awareness activities to familiarize the population and help induce the behavioral changes necessary to the success of the Project in the seven selected communes and replication in the County area.

• Promote the Project as a possible model for replication in the Danube and Black Sea riparian countries.

ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

Financial information

Actual Implementation – Financial Aspects

• Effectiveness date: April 29th, 2002

• Financial Requirements accomplished – starting of disbursement: July 1st, 2002- GEF and GOR funds available;- Local support (Calarasi County Council) provided;- Communes and Local beneficiaries ready to involve in Project activities;

=> 1 year and a half of Project implementation

Actual Implementation – Financial Aspects

DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS

GEF funds: US$ 836,500

GOR funds: US$ 670,000

Local contribution: US$ 62,500Calarasi County Council

Beneficiaries contribution: US$ 73,500(communas, individual beneficiaries)

TOTAL: US$ 1,642,500

Actual Implementation – Financial AspectsEXPENDITURES ON DISBURSEMENT CATEGORIES

-US$-

Actual Implementation – Financial Aspects

Expenditures by Category

640.805

127.060

191.564

0189.384

WorksGoodsTA and TrainingSub-GrantsOC

Actual Implementation – Financial Aspects

0

2.000.000

4.000.000

6.000.000

8.000.000

10.000.000

12.000.000

Works Goods TA andTraining

Sub-Grants

OC Total

Ceiling/Expenditures by Categories

Ceilings

Spent by Category

Actual Implementation – Financial AspectsEXPENDITURES ON PROJECT COMPONENTS

-US$-

Achievements and looking ahead

General aspects regarding the inappropriate manure management in the Project area

At Commune level:

The waste (livestockwaste mixed with otherhousehold materialssuch as plastic, glassand metal) is transportedby carts to the so calledManure platforms.

So called “Manure Platform”

So called “Manure Platform”

Manure stored on the bank of a lake

So called “Manure Platform”

Component 1: General aspects regarding the manure management in the Project area

• At the household level, the usual behaviour is to mix household waste materials such as plastic, glass and metal with the livestock waste.

• Waste is improperly stored within or outside the household yards before being evacuated.

• Direct leach into the soil, of the urine, from the livestock shelters.

• Groundwater contamination increase due to the dirty yard and roof waters, which leaches into the soil, near by the unprotected well heads.

Achievements

• Construction of two commune level Manure Storage Platforms in Ciocanesti and Vlad Tepes communes;

• 7 commune level Manure Storage Platforms under different construction stages;

Construction of commune level manure storage facilities

Vlad Tepes commune

Effluents Storage tank – Vlad Tepes Manure Platform

Hydroinsulation – Ciocanesti Manure Platform

Finalized Manure Storage Platform - Vlad Tepes commune

Achievements

• About 900 individual household manure storage facilities constructed

Operated Individual Manure Storage Facilities

General aspects regarding the degraded lands in Calarasi County

• Sloped terrain, exposed to erosion and with low agricultural potential;

• Unprotected water courses;

• Swamping tendency;• Shore erosion.

Alexandru Odobescu Commune

Awareness and Training on Agro-forestry Practices

Tree planting in Ciocanesti commune

Accacia trees planted on slopped lands in Vlad Tepes

Testing and Demonstration Program for Environment-friendly Agricultural Practices

Demonstration plot – Independenta commune

Training farmers for preparing project proposals under the ASSP –CGS Project

Training sessions in Calarasi Lectures jointly presented by ASSP andAPCP teams.

Soil and Water Monitoring

• Construction of a 76 piezometers’ network

The monitoring program is implemented by the National Administration “Romanian Waters” - Waters Management Service, Calarasi

Strengthening the National Policy and Regulatory Capacity

• Preparing and printing the Code of Good Agricultural Practices for soil and water protection

• Cost estimates of the implementation of the EU Nitrates Directive in Romania

The Recipe of a Smooth and Successful Implementation

Optimal mixture of:• Strong support of the central coordinating authority (Ministry

of Agriculture, Forests, Waters and Environment / Ministry of Public Finance) and the World Bank counterparts;

• Permanent contacts and substantial involvement of the local authorities (Calarasi Prefecture and County Council);

• Total commitment of the Project beneficiaries (Mayoralties and farmers);

• Timely and appropriate guidance from the National and Local Coordination Committees;

• GEF, GOR and Local funds available on timely basis;• A knowledgeable and dedicated Project Implementation Team.

Looking ahead