Roughly 7.6 tons of waste were collected from the Văcăreşti Natural Park in Bucharest this past weekend during a cleanup campaign joined by hundreds of volunteers, mayor Nicuşor Dan said. The green action, held on Saturday, April 13, was organized by the City Hall.

According to mayor Dan, the trash removed from the park was old waste, some covered by vegetation, left there before the Văcăreşti Delta became a protected area.

"I thank the hundreds of Bucharest residents of all ages who responded to the call to clean up this large area of land," Nicuşor Dan said in a post on social media.

"It's not trash thrown by park visitors because we have staff dedicated to cleaning the area, but old waste, some covered by vegetation, thrown here before the Văcărești Delta became a protected area," he explained.

The area surrounding the Văcărești Lake in Bucharest was declared a nature park with protected area status in 2016. Covering about 183 hectares, it is the first urban nature park in Romania.

The urban delta formed on the site of a former water infrastructure project of the communist regime, abandoned after the 1989 Revolution. The concrete dam surrounding the park still reminds visitors of the initial plans. Nature reclaimed this abandoned lake, transforming it into a green oasis for many species of birds, several mammals and reptiles, and many types of insects.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Facebook/Nicusor Dan)