The World Bank approved a Bulgarian project for restoration of wetlands and reducing pollution, the Bank's office for Eastern and Central Europe announced. The project is funded by a grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Trust Fund (7.5 million dollars) with a matching contribution of 3.05 million dollars from the Bulgarian government and local communities, and 2.73 million dollars from donors. The project development objective is that local communities and local authorities in the Persina Nature Park and Kalimok/Brushlen Protected Site areas adopt sustainable natural resources management practices. The project will help demonstrate how environmentally friendly rural development activities can improve livelihoods. The global environmental objective is to demonstrate and provide for replication of reduction of transboundary nutrient loads and other agricultural pollution flowing into the Danube River and the Black Sea while at the same time conserving key target threatened species in the project areas. This is the first project for restoring wetlands within the Strategic Partnership for reducing pollution of the River Danube and the Black Sea with biogenic elements. It will hep the involved countries invest in securing control and reducing the inflow of biogenic elements into the Black Sea.