Sustainable Management of the Tur River: from chemicals to compost

 
The project in the Tur River Nature Reserve in Romania delivers tangible benefits to poor farmers while protecting nature. Before the project started, local villagers often dumped agricultural waste near the Tur River, causing significant damage to plant and wildlife in an area that boasts some of Romania's richest biodiversity.

To deal with this problem, the project created sites to collect the waste and turn it into compost, an environmentally friendly material that impoverished farmers use to fertilize their crops now. The project emphasized local participation since people were offered the compost and taught how to use it. So they became very motivated to take part in the project.
A study performed in 2001 on the micro flora, nitrogen and phosphorus content in the Tur River, revealed significant pollution, which the project has already succeeded in reducing.
 
Movie about the project: