Reed Burning in Danube Delta

I recently found this short movie with some reed burning on Saele sand barrier, near the road going to Histria citadel. While the images are not very spectacular, neither amusing at all, I posted this short video to remind about the problem of burning reed in the Danube Delta.

Blazing the reed on small areas helps regenerating it, due to the rich ash acting as a natural fertilizer, but when the areas are bigger it affects the wildlife habitat. Istria area is on one of the big European migration corridors, so many birds , mainly smaller ones might be affected if they don't find the reed.

Apparently lifeless in winter the reed area are used as a shelter by number of birds like the long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus), the Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus), the smew (Mergellus albellus) or the the great tit. So burning it means destroying a natural habitat for this species of birds and other small animals.



Also, intentionally burning the reed near the strictly protected areas (like Istria - Sinoe) can cause a blaze inside the protected area, where the man's intervention is strictly forbidden.