Celebrating Europe’s most beautiful river for the first time with a virtual exhibition about sturgeons
29 June 2020 – Given the COVID-19 global pandemic situation, many of the special days WWF normally celebrates in the calendar year such as Earth Hour, Earth Day, and now Danube Day have gone digital. This change has required a retooling of our strategies, tools and project actions of the ‘LIFE for Danube Sturgeons’. WWF-Adria has been especially proficient in making the adjustment and marked Danube Day with the launch of the first virtual sturgeon exhibition.
Entitled Sturgeons: A Migratory Treasure of the Danube, the unique exhibition was created by WWF-Adria and local community partners from Negotin and the fledgling NGO Sturgeon Center to provide people with an engaging, virtual tour to learn all about these iconic fish – from the fact that sturgeon swam with the dinosaurs to their lack of scales and gigantic size. Implementing socio-economic measures in support of sturgeon conservation is a crucial part of the ‘LIFE for Danube Sturgeons’ project activities. Critically, the virtual gallery outlines the important role that sturgeon have played in the lives of communities all the way along the Danube – and the critical role that communities can play in ensuring the survival of these extraordinary species. The exhibition also chronicles the main threats to sturgeon in the Danube as described above.
WWF-Adria and the whole project team invites you to celebrate Danube Day with them by visiting the exhibition and informing yourself about the importance of preserving the Danube River and the species that inhabit it. For a better experience, click on the “start guided tour” option, and then on each panel in front of you to hear the story of the virtual curator, or simply create a free account to see the visitors around you in real time. If you use a mobile device to access the exhibition, it recommends downloading the Artsteps application.
Professors and students of the College of Vocational Studies – Belgrade Polytechnic also contributed to presenting sturgeon as a cultural treasure by creating the logo of a new tourist brand, that has been developed as part of the “LIFE for Danube Sturgeons” project activities. WWF Adria – Serbia and the newly established “Sturgeon Center” would like to take this opportunity to thank all students for submitting their proposals, and to congratulate Luka Vlahović for his winning design that can be seen as part of the exhibition. The project “LIFE for Danube sturgeons” has been carrying out activities in the Lower Danube basin area aimed at protecting these valuable migratory fish species since 2016.
Danube Day
The annual event is organised by the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) and WWF on June 29. The 14 countries of the Danube River Basin jointly celebrate one of Europe’s greatest river systems, along with its people and the wildlife that rely on it. Due to the various restrictions on public gatherings throughout the Danube River Basin still in place as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Danube Day celebrations have shifted online. Here is an online Danube Day Adventure from ICPDR. #DiscoverDanube!
Ivana Grubisic (virtual exhibit)
Communications Officer
WWF-Adria
igrubisic@wwfadria.org
Tel: +381 11 30 33 753
