Contribution short abstract:

My research examines, through anthropological fieldwork and narrative interviews, women's traditional livelihoods and their resilience in the Danube Delta, their lives and works in the context of increasing tourism and a volatile socio-economic environment.

Contribution long abstract:

Having lived for generations in the unique landscape of the Danube Delta (Romania), since 1991 the locals found themselves, overnight, living in a Biosphere Reserve. The subsequent regulations and restrictions related to nature conservation, as well as other long-term transformations of the area (the dissolution of the communist centralized economy and its extractive approach towards natural resources, new economic opportunities, increasing tourism) made their already harsh lives even harsher. Most of the new regulations were perceived by locals as obstructive of their traditional way of life, in which nature has always been an inexhaustible resource. Particularly, women’s lives were impacted by unemployment, migration, more responsibilities in housing and feeding tourists, increased visibility as performers of traditional cultural practices. While fishing has been the traditional livelihood in the area, tourism became more and more important as a seasonal source of income, but it also increased the pressure on an already fragile environment, both ecologically and socially (fishing was re-oriented from livelihood to satisfying incoming tourists, social relations were impacted by economical competition).

I examine these issues through long-term fieldwork (2006-2024), participative observation, and narrative interviews, in Sulina and surrounding villages in the Danube Delta. Using the Ecosystem Services approach, I am interested in how local women have traditionally used environmental resources for family livelihood (feeding people and animals) and creative purposes, how they incorporated nature and environment in their work and life, how these were affected by the protectionist restrictions and, finally, aim to explore women’s vital contribution to nature conservation.