Background The Lower Prut Floodplain Natural Park is the entrance of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve. It lies on the flyway route of hundreds of migratory birds. It is the nesting site for more than a hundred bird species, and also a resting/wintering place for many of the passing migratory birds. More than 50 of these birds are listed in the EU Birds Directive and in the Bern Convention. The target area of the project furthermore comprises three priority habitats under the Habitats Directive. The ecological importance of the park is recognised nationally and internationally. For example, it is included in the Lower Danube Green Corridor programme, which was developed with the support of WWF and signed by representatives of Romania, Bulgaria, Moldavia and Ukraine in 2000. In 1999-2000 a PHARE scheme project to rehabilitate nature and manage international wetlands was implemented in the park. The natural park is home to a few small rural settlements whose populations are declining. Local economic is mostly related to fishing and agriculture. Objectives The project objective was to improve the conservation status of 13 priority and more than 50 non-priority bird species listed in the Birds Directive and present in the Lower Prut Floodplain Natural Park. A main aim was to resolve the environmental problems caused by human activities such as agriculture, pasturage, pisciculture and tourism in and around the park. To deal with the degradation of hydrological structures, the project also aimed to re-establish the ecological balance of the lakes, including improvement of the water level and its maintenance. The project planned a series of strategic interventions involving scientific inventory, monitoring activities, site restoration, awareness raising activities, implementation of a park management plan and the designation of four Special Protected Areas (SPAs). These SPAs would be part of the Romanian Natura 2000 sites when Romania entered the EU. The first phase of the project focused on the establishment of park administrative structures and the preparation of an integrated management plan to be approved by the local authorities. This plan would guide the conservation activities to be implemented and would consider the protection needs of target habitats and species of the project. A number of actions were also foreseen to address and engage the local community. These included information dissemination, consultation of every village in the area and their active participation in the production of educational materials. The project would take into account that there is a relatively high illiteracy in the area and will address stakeholders in a wide variety of ways, including picture books, nature trails, six annual environment days with expeditions into the area, children's exhibitions and birdwatching towers. Results The Lower Prut Floodplain project improved the conservation status of the aquatic species in the natural park by carrying out a series of strategic interventions: scientific inventory, monitoring activities, site restoration, awareness raising and the designation of Natura 2000 sites. The implementation of the park management plan was partly achieved. Despite experiencing unfavourable weather and governmental and legislative problems, the project carried out all the foreseen actions, though some were delayed or reduced in scale. The achievements of the project include: Seven bird watching facilities for monitoring of birds populations, education of different visitors, tourists and wardens of the natural park; A dynamic GIS system that fully integrates GIS analysis with a database management system for storing digital data; Inventory of the ecological potential of the natural park and socio-economic evaluation that provides detailed up-to-date information; Ecological restoration of channels at two sites – Prut River to Vlăscuţa Lake, and Prut River to Pochina – in order to ensure the water balance of the lake, re-establish habitats for aquatic birds and improve the trophic status and the water oxygenation of the lakes through the input of the water from the Prut River; Rebuilding of dykes in Mata lakes area; and Public awareness work, such as the wide distribution of dissemination products.At the end of the project, the establishment of a park administration was pending approval by the Romanian environment ministry. However, national legislation has declared the designated Natura 2000 sites as protected areas. Tourism and other such activities could bring economic and social benefits to local communities near the park. Long-term monitoring will continue to evaluate the biodiversity of the sites, especially changes in quantity and quality of species, habitats and the bioaccumulation of organochlorine pesticides in birds. Water quality and quantity will also be regularly monitored along with land use and public awareness through questionnaires.