Sea-buckthorn is a prolific producer of yellow berries

Sfântu Gheorghe (Saint George) is a community at the mouth of the Danube that can be reached only by water. The main industry of fishing with gill-nets and multi-hook lines was severely affected by a 2006 ban on catching sturgeon. Biologists from the Danube Delta National Institute helped the local people to find possible alternative wild resources. One possibility is a coastal bush, the sea buckthorn, which produces copious yellow berries used in foods, beverages and traditional medicine.

Harvesting reeds is already a practical local industry, and it was felt that sea-buckthorn berries might have value at least be used to enhance the experience of visitors in a developing tourism industry. The local children therefore undertook a mapping project to estimate the area of buckthorn and hence the potential harvest value, using the mapping and GPS facilities available from Naturalliance.

School children enjoyed mapping the extent of the resource

Many projects across Europe bring benefits to local communities that help preserve wild plant species. Some are registered as sustainable uses of wild plants in a FairWild certification scheme established by some major international conservation organisations (click right for Production Ideas). The project at Sfântu Gheorghe may or may not become a new success. However, whatever the economic outcome with sea buckthorn, all the local children will now look at this thorny bush with new respect and appreciation.