Client: World Wide Fund for Nature International – Danube-Carpathian Program

Background:
The project aimed to turn the key threats of agricultural intensification, mass and unsustainable tourism, and destructive transportation infrastructure development into opportunities by increasing the capacity of local stakeholders to initiate actions that support the goals of sustainable development in the Lower Danube Green Corridor. The project fostered a platform and networks across countries (Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine) between local NGOs, communities and entrepreneurs and partnership with public bodies to promote and support governmental efforts to implement the Lower Danube Green Corridor Agreement.

Our team was hired (in the period of July – October 2006) to make an overview of the Sustainable Tourism Opportunities in two specific areas of the Bulgarian Danube River Basin:
Pleven district – municipalities of Levski, Dolna Mitropoliya and Gulyantzi;
Rousse district – municipalities of Ivanovo, Vetovo and Tzar Kaloyan.

We were responsible for an up-to-date description and analysis of the sustainable and eco-tourism situation in the Bulgarian Danube region as well as recommendations for WWF DCP activities in this field and more specifically for:
Stakeholders identification;
Study the potential for creating a regional Ecotourism Association or working group;
Identify the training needs of the local stakeholders in the two focus areas (Pleven and Rousse) in the field of ecotourism;
Present one or two success stories of ecotourism initiatives from the country to be shared at the People’s Summit and the project’s publicity materials.
Identify project idea(s) for a local ecotourism product(s) with WWF DCP and local stakeholders.

back