On 31 October 1996, the six Black Sea countries signed the Black Sea Strategic Action Plan. The Action Plan contains the most comprehensive set of measures ever undertaken to restore one of the world's most polluted seas. It offers hope. But it is only a beginning. The measures need to be properly implemented.
Financial resources have to be generated.
Most important of all, the Action Plan needs public support for it is only with the active participation of the 160 million people living in the Black Sea basin that the goals of the Action Plan can be realized and the sea's unique environment restored and protected. A large natural river supply of phosphorus and nitrogen has always made the Black Sea very fertile. For millennia the surface waters of the Black Sea supported a rich and diverse marine life and its coastal inhabitants prospered from the abundant fisheries. Millions of tourists have flocked from all over eastern and central Europe to bathe in the sea's warm waters and enjoy the beauty of its shorelines, plains and mountains. During the last 30 years the Black Sea environment has suffered a catastrophic transformation.