Danube

-->	*About the BIG FLOOD Aug.2002 > see lower on this page*

Second largest stream in Europe, the Danube river had formed some of the greatest wetland areas on the way down to the East towards the Black Sea.

Even here the floodplain wilderness has not an end at all, creating the natural paradise of the Danube Delta.

Sadly vast parts of the landscape are already destroyed by monstrous power plant dam walls, cutting off the floodplains from the necessary regular flooding.

Several parts are converted to crop fields, "tree factory"-like forests, construction sites or "recreation supermarkets" with a lot of concrete and the "benefits" of a greedy leisure time industry.

All this has an impact on the remaining nature areas too - dams inhibit the necessary flooding far downstream as well. Conservationists struggle to save those sparse left-overs by otherwise never necessary interventions into the fragile ecosystems.

Hainburg 1984 became history - it was for the second time only (after a similar Tasmanian event) that peaceful demonstrators succeeded to stop a major damage on a nature area by a dam project.

Any of the Danube floodplains are major bird places, supplying shelter and food supply for the annual North-South migrators and for a large number of permanent residents.

Hainburg 1984


CAM 3001 is still most active here in artistic documentary. A wide range of dealing with the subject led to and will lead to various forms of expression. Among them there are photographical exhibitions, printed publications, documentary and conservational film work, but also meditative and experimental approaches....

CAM 3001 is still most active here in artistic documentary. A wide range of dealing with the subject led to and will lead to various forms of expression.

Among them there are photographical exhibitions, printed publications, documentary and conservational film work, but also meditative and experimental approaches....

##THE BIG FLOOD - August 2002

Cruel desaster for the local inhabitants, - but a necessary and normal cycle of an intact wetland system, as this requires regular flooding to maintain the fascinating character caused by a permanent change between washing off and drifting on. Once more nature had showed her power - and clearly set her limits to increasing abuse.
Equally to 1991 and 1954 these catastrophes were estimated as an "event of the century", - due to the 'young' third millenium now even as a "millenial event".
The reason for the accelerating cycles of these innudations has to be evaluated, but there are strong signals in direction to global warming, 'over'-damming of the rivers into straight concrete canals, eradicating of the natural floodplain areas, and a number of other negative effects caused by humans on the environment.
Harm and damage on one side created an unique wetland paradise on the other side, just as if nature wanted somehow to compensate the humans' suffering with her beauty.

Several canoe expeditions allowed a gentle access to a completely altered world. The wonders to cross a forest on the water's surface, to observe f.i. the permanent conflict between agression and relief among spiders and insects like beetles densely packed together clinging to the last sheltering branches standing out from the endless deluge. The conquering of new arosen waters by usually never here existing amphibian, reptiles and even fish, gives a strong sign of the power of nature. Most of the plants are well adapted too, as long as the floods are not shifting to a permanent situation - human monster dam projects nevertheless mean nature's desaster.
The pendulation of this self-regulating system subsequently caused a shift to one of the extremer aspects - the large increase of water areas multiplied the breeding sites for the mosquitos. The returning late summer heath together with an epidemic virus desease among various singing bird species had added ideal conditions for a true mosquito plague. The rapidly shrinking water areas together with the first drop of temperatures had terminated this anyway rather soon.

CAM 3001's video documentation of the extraordinary flood event is now history, as the waters had been fallen rather rapidly. A recent scientific study speaks from an increase of species after such an innudation event, - nature may come out of this spate in even better shape. It is to be wished that this counts as well for all the people afflicted with their personal disasters.