Local plan for sustainable development for tulcea county
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Foreword by theUnited Nations Development Programme Resident Representative in RomaniaI’m very pleased to present the overview of the Local Agenda 21 (LA21) implementation in Romania during the 2006 – 2007 phase. This document grew out of the needs and ideas of local stakeholders in three new cities and two counties, and sought to strengthen local contributions in setting developing priorities according to European Union accession requirements. So, we would like to thank these people, citizens, businesses, academics, NGOs and local authorities, not only for their technical assistance, but also for their efforts, energy and enthusiasm which contributed to the creation of this high-quality sustainable development plan. Local Agenda 21 (LA21) is a UN initiative first adopted at the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 as a vehicle for promoting sustainable development at local levels. Ten years later, in Johannesburg in 2002, the second global summit promoted LA21 as the principal instrument to use in achieving the well-being of the world’s population. Aimed at local administration, LA21 promotes, through public participation, a real balance between economic growth, social equity, and environmental protection. The concept of sustainable development calls for a constant re-evaluation of the relationship between man and nature, and solidarity between generations, as the only viable option for long-term development. In Romania, UNDP has been actively promoting sustainable development since 2001 by conducting the project “Building Local Capacity to Implement the Local Agenda 21”. So far, the project was implemented in 30 cities and two counties. It first started with nine pilot cities during 2000 – 2002, an additional thirteen cities during 2003 – 2004, and three more cities and one county during 2004 – 2005. During the period 2005 – 2006 the project expanded to three cities and a county. Each year, the project implements LA 21 in a new set of cities, under the coordination of the National Centre for Sustainable Development, UNDP’s implementing agency for LA21. The 2006 – 2007 implementation phase was placed within the national framework of Romania’s following specific requirements to secure EU accession. To this end, UNDP Romania signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Housing, which set a new approach of the Local Agenda 21 implementation process in Alba Iulia, Alba County, Tulcea, Tulcea County and Falciu. The result, presented in this document, is a coherent strategy with a concrete action and implementation plan. Both offer a concrete certification that the project can meet the needs of the community and represent an important contribution to sustainable development in Romania. These good quality local sustainable development plans will improve the future of these communities, which, in turn, will enhance people’s lives in the long run. They will also help the Regional and National authorities to pursue coherent policies at all levels which will contribute to the sustainable development of the entire country. Jan Sorensen 
UNDP Resident Representative UN Resident Coordinator Foreword by the President of the County Council The involvement of Tulcea County in the Local Agenda 21 Programme is an important and necessary step in order to access structural funds. The Local Action Plan, developed through a thorough consultation with the local community, is an instrument which outlines the directions of medium term development, in the main areas of activity, based on a realistic evaluation of the existing situation, and taking into account potential resources which are available. Throughout the implementation of the Programme, the established partnership between the public administration, relevant institutions in the area, non-governmental organisation, and thought leaders has created a document with a strong institutional and community backing, which can create the basis for a balanced sustainable development for the county. This is important as we live in an area which includes an extremely sensitive entity – the Danube Delta – which is an important protected wetland in Europe, as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with a fragile equilibrium, which can easily be put in danger. For this reason, any projected economic activity has been evaluated by its immediate and potential effects on the environment. We wish that Tulcea County becomes a model for environmental preservation, a place where tourism, organic agriculture, and clear industries will offer prosperity to the inhabitants of this area. And if this perception is already so familiar to us, this is due to the team who has contributed to the implementation of this programme, as well as to the United Nations Programme and Ministry for the Environment and Public Works representatives, who have acted as a catalyst to this important realisation. Many thanks to all, and now on to work! Gheorghe BUNDUC 
President of Tulcea County Council I. EVALUATION OF THE CURRENT SITUATION AND THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY I.1. EVALUATION OF THE ANTHROPIC CAPITAL I.1.1. GENERAL OVERVIEW At the end of 2006, there were 11,283 economic entities registered in Tulcea County, of which: 280 joint-stock companies, 4 with autonomous management, 6,250 limited companies, 537 general partnership companies, 42 simple dormant partner companies, 45 cooperative organisations, 814 family businesses, 3,311 authorised physical persons. After the initial shock of the transition to a centralised market economy, the economy of Tulcea County is affected by the necessary structural changes after Romania’s entry into the European Union. The main industrial arms are composed of large entities, with high energy consumption, causing pollution and with low productivity, are now being replaced by flexible SMEs. These smaller companies are involved in production or services, and are efficient in their use of reusable energy and of the local workforce; they are especially active in the processing of fish and agricultural products, in tourism, construction, banking, and transportation. The county’s economy was hit hard by the collapse of the lohn production system in the textile industry, an industry which represents at least 4,000 jobs in Tulcea. Also the introduction to the market place of cheap products from China, combined with the justified and normal increase of Romanian labour on the European market, forces foreign investors to look at states from the ex-Soviet Republic, where labour is still cheap. Traditional economic activities in the county are agriculture, fishing, and stone extraction. Agriculture is affected by basic changes in cult structures, with an evolution from cereal farming to plants needed for technical processes – with a high increase in the growth of rape plants for green fuel. Animal farming, especially of sheep, is also specific to the county, as Tulcea comes 9th in the country for number of sheep (nearly 250,000), and 1st for wool production. Tulcea County ranks 2nd for the production of processed meat, and represents 10% of all national meat production, ranking 13th-14th. Fishing is also under threat, due to a significant decrease in fishing resources in the natural environment, and also to minimum requirements put in place by the European Union for environmental preservation, especially regarding the association of authorised fishermen. Fishing is an increasingly popular activity, which will experience a significant increase once access to future structural funds is in place. The extraction of stone is experiencing an unprecedented potential for growth, due to major infrastructure investments in Romania, but is also under threat because of the location of important quarries near or around natural conservation areas in the county. The danger exists that many of the economic activities carried out until now will be reduced, due to the intention and near materialisation of the transformation of nearly 80% of the county’s territory to be placed under the jurisdiction of the NATURA 2000 community programme. The branch of the economy with the strongest potential for growth is tourism and all the connected services, which is not surprising if we consider that the Danube Delta is the most important protected wetland in Europe, both from a point of view of size and of biodiversity (over 1,600 species of plants, 3,600 species of animals, of which 315 bird species, 28 mammal species, and 28 fish species). Newcomers in the economic sphere are found in the green energy production sector, especially wind energy, and in the IT and consultancy sectors. The gross internal product (GIP) is around 650 million Euro, at approximately 2.450 Euro / inhabitant. I.1.2. INDUSTRY The number of employees in the industry in Tulcea County was increasing – reaching 20,700 at the end of 2004, according to official statistics. Due to the reconstructions which have been implemented in this type of activity, this number decreased to around 18,500 employees at the end of 2006. Not in harmonisation with the specifics of the area, during the Communist regime a series of polluting entities were established in Tulcea County, whose only advantage was that the water transportation of prime materials was much cheaper, even from Brazil or South Africa, which made the price of the products cheaper. This was how the Metallurgic Complex was created, which was split after 1989 into S.C. FEROM S.A. and S.C. TREMAG S.A., the former being a producer of iron alloys, and the latter a producer of various types of brick. After privatisation, the former of the entities closed down in 2006, as it was owned by firms with Ukrainian capital and due to the monopoly over the production and transport of electrical energy. The brick producer, with American capital, still faces market competition due to investments into the improvement of the technical quality of the entity. S.C. ALUM S.A, the alumina producer with Russian capital, also closed down for at least 2 years in order to meet European Union requirements for environmental protection. One of the success stories in the Tulcea heavy industry was S.C. AKER BRAATVAAG S.A. Tulcea – the ship yard, with Norwegian capital, which produces a wide range of ships, almost exclusively for export. The owners of the ship yard provide good working conditions and salaries, introducing an atmosphere of discipline and responsibility, which is without precedent in the Tulcea industry. The strongest local industrial arm is the food industry, mostly active in the meat products sector. The two companies in the county, S.C. TABCO CAMPOFRIO S.A, with mostly Spanish capital, and S.C. CARNIPROD S.A., with mostly Austrian capital, currently produce around 20,000 tonnes of food products per year, placing the county among the top producers in the sector. The two aforementioned firms, as well as S.C. PISCICOLA TOUR S.A. Jurilovca, a producer of fish preserves, benefitted from important SAPARD funding for the implementation of new production lines. Unfortunately, due to legislative changes in the domain of concessions on fish resources from the Danube Delta, as well as marketing gaps, the preserves factory at Jurilovca is currently in the process of changing technology, which will reduce the types of products from 22 to 3-4, for which there is a strong demand. The light industry sector is represented by textiles, which, in 2004, included 15 enterprises with over 4,000 employees, mostly women, of which S.C. CONFECȚIA S.A. Tulcea alone has over 2,000 employees. The lohn production system is about to collapse, which implies an ongoing re-orientation towards the establishment of own registered products and of a sector-specific internal marketplace, invaded by cheap products, but also of poor quality, by some Asian producers. The extractive industry is primarily formed of the extraction of stone for constructions, with some of the best quarries in Romania found in Tulcea County. As a large part of the county will become a NATURA 2000 site, it is possible that some of these quarries will close down or will have a decreased activity, especially at a time when big infrastructure investments were coming in, especially with regards to roads and highways, with European funding. I.1.3. AGRICULTURE The agricultural area of Tulcea County is of 364,015 ha, of which 314,507 ha is owned by small producers. Of the total arable surface of 292,222 ha, 60,043 ha are covered by meadows, 10,032 ha by vineyards, and 1,657 ha by orchards. In Tulcea County, agriculture is still primarily based on the farming of cereals and of plants for technical use, the main ones being: wheat – 43,023 ha, barley – 9,188 ha, corn – 90,487 ha, sunflower – 49,151 ha, other oleaginous plants – 57,707 ha. The agricultural productivity of the county is limited by reduced rainfall in the region, as this is one of the most arid areas of Romania, which forces farming to take place on irrigated fields. After the implementation of the law regarding fundamental funding, there has been an excessive compartmentalisation, which implies the practice of supported agriculture. For a better utilisation of the land and for efficient agriculture, owners’ associations need to be created in order to create appropriate dimensions for the optimal application of modern technology. Tulcea County is well known as an important wine producer, and the Sarica Niculiţel and Babadag vineyards are well known brand names among connoisseurs. Of the 10,032 ha with vineyards, 7,129 ha have noble grape types, 2,247 ha with hybrid vineyards 656 ha of vineyard nurseries. From the production of the noble grape types in 2004, the following were produced: 19,350 hl white table wine, 5,407 hl red table wine, 23,744 hl superior white wine, 46,281 hl rose wine, 20,056 hl white D.O.C. and 12.357 hl red D.O.C.. Animal farming is weak in the county, with only two pig farms currently operating in the county, and no cattle, sheep, or poultry farms. Still, the county has a total of 250,000 sheep, owned by sheep-herding families, mostly Aromanians, but also a few families from the Sibiu area who have established their sheep-runs in the Tulcea area. This way, the county ranks as one of the top for the number of sheep, and for wool production. Due to large water surfaces, fishing is a strong point for the Tulcea economy. The quantities of fish in the industrial system are significant, with statistics from 2004 showing approximately 3,470 tonnes, with the following quantities of fish by species: muskrat – 1,790,029 kg, carp – 102,493 kg, salmon – 163,636 kg, zander fish – 153,526 kg, pike – 164,592 kg, herring – 47,660 kg, rudd – 268,837 kg, phytophagus – 59,264 kg, flounder – 720,506 kg. I.1.4. TOURISM Tourism has an outstanding potential, even though it only represents 7% of the local gross internal product, currently not fully exploited. Due to the local nature, where most relief structures and ecosystems exist on a relatively small area – unequalled at a regional level, correlated with the existence of Greek, Roman, and Ottoman ruins, tourism can become in the near future the only viable alternative for the unemployed work force from the industry and from agriculture. The centre for tourism would be, of course, the Danube Delta, which is a Biosphere Conservation Area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as an important wetland, and a habitat for aquatic birds, according to the RAMSAR Convention. In the county, there is are a number of different types of tourism: scenic, bird watching, hunting and fishing, water sports and beaches, scientific tourism, cultural and religious tourism, cruises, and most notably rural tourism and ecotourism, with over 4,200 accommodation spaces in homologous locations from a tourism point of view. We also consider the tourism interest towards the remains of Greek and Roman civilisations throughout Dobrogea – the Enisala, Halmyris, Dinogeţia citadels etc., - the “triangle of Orthodox monasteries” in Tulcea - Celic-Dere, Saon and Cocoş, the Paleo-Christian basilica at Niculiţel, one of the oldest of its kind in Europe. Also to consider are the sunny and wild beaches, with extremely fine sand, at Sulina, Sfântu Gheorghe and Portiţa, and the “Munţii Măcinului” National Park, with plant and animal elements which are specific to steppes and to the ecosystems of the oldest mountains of Europe – the Dobrogea Mountains. There is the possibility to organise complex cruise circuits on the Danube and the Black Sea, which can include the most important tourist points as part of the route. For all these, there is an outstanding local gastronomy, which includes fish products, as well as wines from the Sarica Niculiţel and Babadag vineyards, which turn every meal into a celebration. TOURIST ENTITIES IN TULCEA COUNTY AND THEIR CAPACITY IN 2006
NUMBER OF TOURISTS FROM TULCEA COUNTY – 52,995 NUMBER OF TOURISTS - ROMANIANS – 41,599 - FOREIGNERS – 11,396 Unfortunately, the statistics do not realistically reflect the number of who have passed through Tulcea County, due to the fact that a lot of tourists stay un un-classified lodgings during the tourist season. Specialist estimation indicate a nearly triple number of tourists. The reasons why tourism in the area has not yet experienced an appropriate growth is due to the peripheral character of the area, poor transportation infrastructure, and especially, to the lack of internally and internationally regulated flights to the “Delta Dunării” Airport. In recent years, there has been a substantial increase in the number of tourist locations built in the rural areas, many of them having appeared also due to the implementation of European funded projects, within the PHARE and SAPARD programmes. Tourism services are still of a poor quality, primarily due to poor professional training of the staff employed in this sector. Also, there currently is no unified and professional promotional campaign for local tourism, nor is there a recognised brand at European level. The lack of major tour operators in the area leads to the local tourist market to be something that individual tourists happen to stumble across, and also to be insignificant for organised tours. I.1.5. WASTE MANAGEMENT The waste management issue is not yet resolved at the county level in Tulcea, with direct repercussions on the quality of the environment, on the landscape, and on the quality of tourism. There is a weak involvement of local authorities in this field, and the education level regarding the importance of establishing an appropriate waste management system is diminished by the level of culture of the population in certain areas. Tulcea County Council has established in 2004 a county plan for waste management, which was not implemented following a study carried out by specialists. Under these conditions, in 2006 a similar study was commissioned regarding waste management in the county, which was carried out by S.C. IMPULS 2000 SRL Constanţa. This study exposes the problems and issues of the current collection system, and outlines three key points regarding the waste management system, namely: the establishment of locations for transfer stations, the implementation of a system for the collection / transport from the Danube Delta, and the positioning of a compost station. Three types of transfer station have been established, as follows: 5 stations of medium capacity (in Babadag, Isaccea, Măcin, Mahmudia, Topolog), one station of small capacity (in Sulina), and several stations / rural centres for composting of household waste. Selective waste collection will be implemented in two ways, by type of waste: door to door collections, or gate to gate, and the collection through voluntary deliveries. In the urban environment, the collection points in markets and in residential areas will have euro-cans / euro-containers, depending on the case, with dimensions in line with the number of citizens. In rural areas, there will be two types of collection points: central and peripheral. The “Study regarding waste management in Tulcea County” was approved through the Local Council Decision No 20/28.02.2007, with the review of the county plan for waste management following this study. I.1.6. BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE The public road network in Tulcea Municipality aimed for road traffic consists of 325,657 km of national roads, 480,561 km county roads 511,225 km township roads. Of the total 325,657 km of national roads, 152,744 km are on the European road E87-DN 22 Km 86+356-239+100 (Smârdan-Măcin-Isaccea, Tulcea-Babadag – county limit), with the consisting of primary and secondary roads. All national roads are paved with asphalt, and are generally in good condition. The section of road DN 22D km 40+000-52+862 (Horia-Atmagea+Int. DN 22A) was restored during 2007, and the section of the European road E 87-DN 22 km 86+356-172+000 (Smârdan-Măcin-Isaccea-Tulcea) is in a medium/ poor condition, in need of emergency road works. National road DN 22A km 0+000-64+700 was restored in 2001, with a very safe level of road traffic conditions. Of the 480,561 km of county roads, 12,000 km (2%) are modern roads, 416,132 km (87 %) are roads with light asphalt paving, 36,329 km (8 %) are roads with cobble stones, and 16,100 km (3 %) are not paved. Only 16.3 % of all county roads are in good condition, with, 39.2 % in medium condition, and 44.5 % in very poor condition. Township roads, by type of pavement, are as follows: 32,711 km (6 %) roads paved with light asphalt, 213,564 km ( 42 %) roads with cobble stones, and 264,950 km (52 %) are not paved. Nearly 80 % of these are of a poor or very poor quality. In 1996, only around half of all townships in Tulcea County had a drinking water distribution network, and many of these were in poor conditions. Through governmental, World Bank, and EU financial contributions, the number of townships with water distribution networks has increased considerably. The case is not the same for sewage and purification networks, where there has been no significant increase. The table below illustrates the water distribution and sewage networks in the county, and the name of the legislation or the programme which implemented them, or which will implement them. |