Conservation of endangered bird species populations in natural habitats of the Danube inland delta

In the past, the Danube inland delta represented one of the largest and most diverse natural wetland complexes in Central Europe. Large parts of it have been destroyed during last decades; presently habitat loss and destruction continues as a result of former river regulations and poor area management. The decreasing habitat quality and several other factors (e.g. unregulated disturbance by man) have lead to major decrease of populations of the typical floodplain bird species – black stork (Cicconia nigra), night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), little egret (Egretta garzetta), sand martin (Riparia riparia). Nowadays the pressure of the negative factors continues, therefore urgent actions are needed to recover and/or maintain the quality and quantity of the floodplain avifauna.