Black Sea Documentary

The project comprises Ukraine, Turkey, Russia, Georgia, Bulgaria and Romania. Low public awareness remains one of the major barriers in protecting the Black Sea from the impacts of pollution. Today, the vast majority of people living around the Black Sea are largely unaware of how their activities are damaging this unique ecosystem and its valuable marine resources.

The Black Sea has the largest specific drainage basin in the world, covering almost a third of Europe. One of the main threats facing the Black Sea ecosystem comes from the nitrogen and phosphorous originating from agricultural fertilizers, livestock manure and untreated sewage. These “nutrients” are over-fertilizing the natural ecosystem and are leading to the over-production of tiny phytoplankton. This blocks light from reaching bottom-living sea grasses and seaweeds fundamental to the health of the ecosystem, creating “dead zones” where other marine life is starved of oxygen.

What is the objective?
The objective of this project is to produce a 25-minute documentary explaining the impacts of “eutrophication” on the Black Sea and highlighting which actions are necessary to protect this vital marine system. The documentary will be produced by TVE in collaboration with the UNDP/GEF Black Sea Ecosystem Recovery Project and the Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution.

This new documentary will provide an excellent opportunity to highlight the success of regional efforts to protect this globally significant marine system, and to express what has to be done to avoid repeating the near environmental catastrophe witnessed in the Black Sea during the early 1990′s.

The documentary will also clearly explain to the general public the causes of the problem regarding agricultural fertilizers, livestock manure, and untreated sewage and the dangers of doing nothing to solve this problem. The documentary will address an international audience but it will be specifically designed for broadcast in the six coastal countries of Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey.

Watch the documentary film on the Outcome of this project.