V.6 The Bureau noted that the State Party has yet to respond to the recommendations of the twenty-fourth session of the Committee (Cairns, 2000). The Bureau learnt that the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences prepared, with financial support from the Ramsar Small Grants Fund for Wetlands Conservation and Wise Use, a management plan for Srebarna. The Ramsar Bureau has recommended the establishment of an indicator system with several simple, specific and easily measurable parameters to systematically monitor and rapidly detect changes in the state of conservation of Srebarna. In addition, the Ramsar Bureau has suggested that the Bulgarian authorities:
- seek alternatives, some of which are identified in the plan, to the mechanical removal of bottom sediments from the Lake in order to reduce eutrophication, because they have less ecosystem impacts;
- monitor water quality in the Danube River and the Srebarna Lake in a comparable manner so as to regulate water transfers between the two ecosystems to minimize eutrophication and improve and restore natural ecological relationships between the two inter-connected ecosystems; and
- use the practice of reed cutting as a management tool in selected areas and regulate it to improve habitat diversity and generate income for the local community.
V.7 The Bureau commended the State Party and the Ramsar Secretariat for the preparation of the management plan and invited the State Party to consider the above-mentioned recommendations of Ramsar for further refining the plan. The Bureau urged the Centre and IUCN to consult with the State Party and determine an early date for a Centre/Ramsar/IUCN mission to the site in 2001 in order to submit a detailed report to the twenty-fifth session of the Committee in December 2001. The proposed mission should study issues such as: plans and processes for the preparation of a project to establish a bilateral Ramsar site with Romania to promote transboundary co-operation; long-term water management regimes; links and water-flows between the Danube and Srebarna; specific management needs in the short-to-medium term, including technical and financial support from external sources; and indicators for the systematic monitoring of the state of conservation of the site. In accordance with the wish of the last session of the Committee (Cairns, 2000), the Bureau also recommended that the mission review the sustainability of the rehabilitation efforts undertaken; and determine whether the twenty-fifth session of the Committee should consider removing Srebarna from the List of World Heritage in Danger.