Black Sea documentary

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 damage 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 nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural fertilizers, manure and untreated sewage. These nutrients cause over-fertilization of the natural ecosystem (eutrophication) and lead to the over-production of phytoplankton. This prevents 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 was to produce a 25-minute documentary explaining the impacts of eutrophication on the Black Sea and highlighting the actions necessary to protect this vital marine system. The documentary was produced by TVE in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme-Global Environment Facility (UNDP-GEF) Black Sea Ecosystem Recovery Project (BSERP) and the Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution.

This new documentary provided an excellent opportunity to highlight the success of regional efforts to protect this globally significant marine system. It also outlined what has to be done to avoid repeating the near environmental catastrophe witnessed in the Black Sea during the early 1990s.

The documentary also clearly explained to the general public the problems caused by agricultural fertilizers, manure and untreated sewage, and the dangers of doing nothing to solve this problem. The documentary addressed an international audience but was specifically designed for broadcast in the six coastal countries of Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.

Watch the documentary film on the Outcome of this project.