“Only when the last tree has been cut down, the last fish been caught, and the last stream poisoned, will we realise we cannot eat money.”
Who we are?
The National Institute for Research and Development in Environmental Protection (INCDPM Bucharest) is a research institute coordinated by the Ministry of Research and Innovation that has a wide experience in environmental protection and holds a remarkable portfolio in scientific research and technological development. The research portfolio includes materializing and patenting new technologies, products, systems and services as well as optimizing existing ones.
The long term objectives of the Institute are: promoting scientific research, utilizing eco-friendly technologies and renewable energy sources and protecting biodiversity. In addition, the Institute initiates and supports a policy of educating young researchers, encouraging their participation to research activities and offering the necessary framework for professional development through mentorship activities.
The activities of the Institute, carried out by developing preventive win-win solutions, include the following: studies on air pollution, soil pollution and water pollution, management and recycling of waste, analyzing the impact of climate change and monitoring of environmental factors. These activities are undertaken using the most advanced techniques and equipment, and are in accordance with the current trends in the research fields. The Institute`s activities are in accordance with the objectives of the Strategies and Action Plans that are implemented at the national level and the international level (e.g. the National Strategy for Research and Development and Innovation 2014-2020, UN`s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development-adopted in the year 2015).
The Global Goals listed in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development include, among others, activities regarding limiting the effects of climate change, the conservation and sustainable use of aquatic resources, the protection, restoration and promotion of the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainable management of forests, combating desertification, stopping soil degradation, restoring soil quality and stopping biodiversity loss. In this context, INCDPM Bucharest`s priorities are, among others, the protection and sustainable use of the natural heritage. Therefore, by activities like monitoring the migrations and behavior of sturgeon fish species on the lower course of the Danube River (from the Iron Gates to the Black Sea), the Institute contributes to the protection of these endangered species that are of great scientific value by achieving a unique database at the national level as well as at the international level.