Local plan for sustainable development for tulcea county

Of the wild animal species in the county, fish is an important resource; of the 133 fish species observed in the Danube, Danube Delta, and coastal waters of the Black sea, around 30 species are capitalised in the economy.

1. 
   Danube Delta Biosphere Conservation Area (580,000 ha);
   
2. 
   Măcinului Mountain National Park (11,321 ha);
   
3. 
   “Valea Fagilor” Forest(154 ha), included in the Măcinului Mountain National Park;
   
4. 
   “Dealul Bujorului” Natural Conservation Area (50.8 ha);
   
5. 
   “Valea Oilor” Lilac Conservation Area (0.35 ha);
   
6. 
   “Fântâna Mare” Lilac Conservation Area (0.3 ha);
   
7. 
   “Korum Tarla” Botanical Conservation Area (2.4 ha);
   
8. 
   “Vârful Secaru” Paleontological Conservation Area (34.5 ha);
   
9. 
   “Dealul Bujoarele” Fossil Site (8 ha);
   
10. 
    “Agighiol” Geological Conservation Area (9.7 ha);
    
11. 
    Niculiţel Wood (11 ha).
    

The distribution of areas in Danube Delta Biosphere Conservation Area is illustrated below:

Land surface: 439,508 ha

Water surface 140,492 ha
2. Total surface area: 580,000 ha, of which:

In Tulcea County, total: 508,851 ha, (87.73%) of which:

Land surface (continental): 410,359 ha

Water surface: 98,492 ha

In Constanţa County, total: 70,313 ha, (12.13%) of which

Land surface: 28,313 ha

Water surface: 42,000 ha

In Galaţi County, total: 836 ha, (0.14%) of which

Land surface, including

Ostrovul Prut (62 ha): 836 ha.
In keeping with delta characteristics, the area of DDBCA is a flat area (alluvial meadow in formation), with a slight incline from west to east (0.006%), from which the Chiliei field springs up as a witness of the erosion in Bugeacului field (in southern Basarabia), on the Stipoc continental plan and the marine Letea and Caraorman banks. 20.5% of the Danube Delta area is below the level of the Black Sea, and 79.5% is above sea level. The areas between 0 and 1m altitude cover the largest surface areas. The tallest heights are located on the marine planes (Letea, 12.4 m, Caraorman, 7 m), and the lowest depths are on the Danube’s arms (-39 m on the Chilia arm, -34 m on the Tulcea arm, -26 m on the Sf. Gheorghe arm, 18 m on the Sf. Gheorghe arm). In the lake depressions, the depth is no lower than 3m, with the exception of Lake Belciug, which has a depth of 7m. The average altitude of the delta is of +0.52 m.
The main morphohydrographic categories are:

- marine areas (approximately 8% of the delta’s surface), which include Letea, Caraorman, Sărăturile, Crasnicol and others, and are found in the eastern part of the delta, at a nearly perpendicular orientation to the Danube’s arms;

- river areas (approximately 6%) join the Danube’s arms, and the main streams are strongest at the top of the delta – where the alluvial meadows are 2-5 m tall, looking to the sea;

- continental meadows (approximately 6%) are witnesses to the erosion in the Bugeacului meadow, and are made up of loess deposits. They are located throughout the Chiliei meadow and the central portion of the Stipoc area;

- swamps, covered by water depending on the level of the Danube and with palustre vegetation, are located between -0.5 – 1.0 m, and under natural conditions take up roughly 67.2%;

- lakes occupy the depressions between 0m to the West (river delta) and under 0.5m to the east (sea delta), where they are clustered in lake complexes; in 1964, these used to occupy 31,260 ha (9.3%). After some of the lakes were trained due to agricultural and forestry practices, in 1990 lakes occupied a surface area of only 25,800 ha (8%);

- arms, streams, and principal canals cover a surface area of 9,959 (2.5%);

- the Danube and its arms (Chilia, Sulina and Sf. Gheorghe); the Danube drains a hydrographical basin of over 805,000 km2, with 120 tributaries and with an average flow of 6,453 m³/sec; the Chilia arm, with many branches and islands, is the youngest and the longest arm (120km), and the strongest as it transports the largest quantity of water and deposits (58%); the Sulina arm was favoured by the Danube European Commission (1856) for sea navigation, and was shortened (from 92km to 63.7km) through the correction of some meanders and through increasing its depth during 1862-1902, which led to an increased flow from 7-8% to 18-20%; the Sf. Gheorghe arm, the southern-most and the oldest, with a length of 108.2km, has suffered in recent years from modifications which included the correction of six meanders, being thus shortened to 69.7km, which also led to an increase in its flow to 23-24%; before flowing into the sea, the Sf. Gheorghe arm forms another delta of its own, similar to the delta formed by the Chilia arm on Ukrainian territory.

The Danube Delta National Research and Development Institute – Tulcea carried out an analysis program of the biodiversity which is specific to the area of the DDBCA, necessary to provide information regarding the ecological management of the DDBCA regarding:

• 
  Systematic classification (from kingdom to sub-species);
  
• 
  To obtain a view of the geographical spread (chronology, size, and value of the biodiversity, and by types of habitats, lists of species, etc.);
  
• 
  Comparison with previous data, as well as data collection regarding new and specific species, data on endangered species, protected species, and general geographic spread.