The Delta’s biodiversity is amazing. Almost a third of the total number of plant species that grow in Romania can be found in the Reserve. You can also find most known medicinal herbs, the largest reed surface on the Globe, and two forests that are unique in Europe. They are called Letea and Caraorman, and are famous for their secular oaks and Mediterranean lianas.There is a remarkable number of fish including those that are sold commercially as well as rare and endangered species - carp, pike perch, codling, and the fresh water sturgeon.The Danube Delta is one of the biggest wetlands of the world. It is most famous as a water-fowl habitat, and holds the greatest area of reed-beds on the Planet. There are 30 types of ecosystems, more than 5,500 flora and fauna species, of which more than 325 species are birds: most of the European population of common pelican and Dalmatian Pelican, 60% of the world’s population of pygmy cormorant, and 50% of the world’s Red Breasted Goose.
People live in the Delta too. Its human population is estimated at between 12,000 and 16,000, depending on the area covered. People of the Delta live mainly along the three main waterways: Chilia, Sulina and Sfantu Gheorghe. The local population is seen as a part of the protected ecosystem, and lives from small-scale, low-intensity exploitation of the natural resources, supplementing its income by fishing (there are 10,000 boats registered in the Delta), cattle-breeding and bee-keeping.
