Minutes of Workshop Improving Water Quality in the Neman Catchment area through rewetting, wise wetland and river basin management, Kaliningrad, 12-14 December 2016
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Introduction
The international workshop “Improving water quality in the Neman
catchment area through rewetting, wise wetland and river basin management”
was held on 12-14 December 2016 in Kaliningrad, Russia. It was organised by
Michael Succow Foundation, Coalition Clean Baltic, the Ministry of Natural
Resources and Ecology of the Kaliningrad region (Russia) with the financial
support of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation in Germany (BfN),
Nordic Council of Ministers and the EU LIFE Programme.
The workshop was dedicated to the problem of eutrophication of the
waters in the Neman River, its tributaries and, as a result, of the Baltic Sea
through the Curonian Lagoon. The catchment of the Neman is shared among
Belarus, Lithuania, Poland and Russia. The area is covered with many
peatlands. Many of them were drained and used in agriculture (as grasslands,
arable lands) or forestry. Now, many thousands of hectares of degraded
peatlands are abandoned and emit pollutants into the waters and GHGs in the
atmosphere. However, the pollution of waters does not stop at the national
borders. During the three-day event, 63 participants from 9 countries took part
in the workshop to discuss the possibilities and constraints of water quality
improvement in the downstream Neman catchment through wise wetlands and
river basin management. Besides the participants from the countries in the
catchment, there were experts from Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands,
Denmark and Finland. They shared experience and knowledge applied in this
field in other countries.
The workshop consisted of the common part with the presentations on
selected topics and further detailed discussions in the thematic workshop
groups. The groups’ work was facilitated by the experts and final reports were
composed. Overall, 15 presentations were given with time for questions and
discussion.
This brief report should give you a quick and easy-accessible overview on
the topics discussed and outcomes of the workshop. For further details, please
consult the accompanying files with presentations and background papers.
Day 1: Monday, 12th December 2016
The first workshop day began with opening speech of the Minister of
Natural Resources and Ecology of the Kaliningrad Oblast, who welcomed the
participants, underlined the importance of the problem of water quality and
integrated river basin management, and appreciated very much the
engagement of people from different countries.
Further the experts from the Neman catchment countries gave an
overview of the status of the area in each country. Aliaksandr Pakhomau from
the Central Research Institute for Complex Use of Water Resources in Minsk,
Belarus, gave an overview of land used in the catchment area in Belarus,
presented the results of the monitoring of the water quality and named point
sources of contamination, as well as diffuse agricultural sources. He also
described the water-protection zones applied in Belarus along all kind of water
bodies. Ricardas Paskauskas from Nature Research Centre in Vilnius,
Lithuania, presented the status of catchment in the country, 75% of which were
within the Neman catchmnet. Further, the measures proposed in a new Neman
river basin district (RBD) managemnet plan were disscused. Marina
Abramchuk from the University of Warsaw, Poland, presented the status of the
Polish part of the Neman catchment with western tributaries to the river.
Although most of the headwater parts of the rivers had been dredged and water
retention had been limited, indicator species of clean water can be found there.
This can be explained by high forest cover and extensive agriculture in the
catchment. Dmitriy Domnin from P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the
Russian Academy of Sciences in Kaliningrad described the sub-catchments of
the Neman in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russian Federation and presented the results
of some scientific research on the changes of the amount of total nitrogen and
phosphorus in the „incoming“ and „outgoing“ waters in Kaliningrad region.
All presentations about the current satus of the Neman catchmnet can be
found in the folder with the following names of the files:
Belarus [presentation: Status_BY_Pakhomau]
Lithuania [presentation: Status_LT_Paskauskas; Status_LT_Zableckis]
Poland [presentation: Status_PL_Abramchuk]
Kaliningrad [presentation: Status_RUS_Domnin]
Curonian lagoon in Russian Federation [KurshskayaLaguna_Alexeev].
During the second part of the workshop various European experiences in
the field of river basin management were presented. John Stand, from Wetland
Research Centre at Halmstad University, described the theoretical and practical
background of constructed wetlands for nutrients retention. After more than
Minutes of Workshop Improving Water Quality in the Neman Catchment area through rewetting, wise wetland and river basin management, Kaliningrad, 12-14 December 2016
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100 years of draining of the landscape in Sweden, new wetlands were
constructed to prevent diffuse leakage of nutrients from arable lands to streams,
lakes and sea. Practical information on how and where to build a wetland was
provided. More information can be found in the attached folder [Key_notes:
Constructed Wetlands_EN].
Alexander Kozulin, from Scientific-practical Centre for Bioresources of
the Belarusian Academy of Science, presented the problems with drained
peatlands in Belarus, as well as rewetting activities after peat extraction.
Comprehensive experiences in peatland rewetting and management have been
made in Belarus in different projects. Knowledge can be used in other countries
of the catchment. .
Since drained peatlands used in agriculture released a lot of nutrients to
the waters and CO2 to the atmosphere, a new concept of paludiculture was
developed. Wendelin Wichtmann, DUENE / Greifswald Mire Centre, presented
ways to establish sustainable and climate-friendly agriculture on wet and
rewetted peatlands with many environmental benefits. In particular, managed
wetlands buffer zones (WBZ) could retain nutrients and provide valuable
biomass from harvesting. More about WBZ and paludiculture can be found in
the attached folder [Key_notes: Wetland Buffer Zones_EN].
In order to maximise the economic and social benefits for many
stakeholders from the river and enhance participation, an integrated river
basin management should be applied. Best practice, tools and key elements of
a success were presented by Mikhail Durkin from Coalition Clean Baltic. More
about integrated river basin management can be found in the attached folder
[Key_notes: IRBM_EN]
The presentations about European experience in river basin area
management can be found in the attached folder with the following names of
files:
1. [presentation: Constructed wetlands_Strand]
2. [presentation: Peatlands rewetting_Kozulin]
3. [presentation: Paludiculture_Wichtmann]
4. [presentation: BestPractice_IRBM_Durkin].
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Fig. 1. Listening of the keynotes presentations
The third part of the workshop was focused on the activities undertaken by
governmental and non-governmental actors in every of the four countries to
improve the environmental situation in the Neman catchment. Barbara
Piekutowska from National Water Management Authority in Poland (KZGW)
gave an overview of measures planned to fulfil the objectives of the Water
Framework Directive in the Polish part of the Neman basin. According to the
Region Drought Plan in the Neman basin area, the restoration of wetlands,
watercourses beds, natural meanders and retention function of watercourses
was recommended. KZGW was responsible for coordination of policy area PA
NUTRI under the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region.
Vasily Shlyk from Grodno Regional Committee of Nature Resources and
Environment Protection, Belarus, presented the utilisation of water resources in
the area and problematic waste water treatment plants in the region. The
international projects addressing the water quality in Grodno Oblast were
mentioned.
Vytautas Kalpokas from the Water Policy Unit in the Ministry of
Environment of Lithuania presented the River Basin Management Plan for the
Neman, which defined the pressure of diffuse and point sources of water
pollution, as well as hydro morphological changes. Some measures to improve
the situation were already undertaken, e.g. removing of obstacles for fish
migration, naturalisation of the straightened rivers beds, construction of
sedimentation ponds.
Jana Kazimirskaya from the Department of Water Resources in
Kaliningrad Oblast presented statistical data about water use and its
contamination in the Neman catchment on the territory of Russia.
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The presentations about activities within the Neman catchment can be
found in the attached folder with the following names of files:
Poland [presentation: Activities_PL_Piekutowska].
Belarus [presentation: Activities_BY_Shlyk]
Lithuania [presentation: Activities_LT_Kalpokas]
Kaliningrad region [presentation: Activities_RUS_Kazimirskaya]
After the discussion following those presentations the participants selected one of thematic groups and continued work under the following topics:
Group 1: “Wetland restoration and paludiculture” was hosted by Wendelin
Wichtmann and Alexander Kozulin.
General issues:
Rewetting of peatlands is a well introduced method for GHG emissions
reduction.
Using fen peatlands for water purification is not well known, the following
effects for water quality must be further investigated:
o Resolving of organic compounds?
o Phosphorus solution under changing redox conditions?
Effect of harvesting biomass from rewetted peatlands for nutrient
removal differs with date of harvesting:
the earlier in the vegetation period harvesting takes place, the more
nutrients can be exported from sites
The later harvesting takes place, the larger the harvested area must be
to get same amount of nutrients exported
Ownership of land and drainage systems is very differently in the four
countries of the Neman basin.
Problems
Is a full inventory of peatlands in place, what is the current status quo?
Lithuania:
peatlands inventoried,
o Many are in an ameliorated status, deeply drained for agriculture
and peat extraction, many of them abandoned (less favorable land
for farming or exploited peatlands for peat extraction)
o Currently some survey activities are going on within an Aquatic
warbler (AW) Life project in BY and LT, but only in fen mires
Experiences in reed harvesting against eutrophication are in place
Curonian lagoon: in vicinity large areas with reeds are harvested for
Aquatic warbler habitat maintenance and production of pellets partly for
local boiler house or for substrate for horses (bedding material)
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Restoration activities in Augstumal are in conflict with excavation
activities in other parts of the bog complex
Restoration of degraded bogs seems to be a common activity, fens are
rather neglected
Belarus:
Inventory for peatlands is in place, there seems to be a great potential for
rewetting and paludiculture: (to specify what kind of inventory has been
done? The database of peatlands contains info only about existing mires.
The inventory of drained peatlands (especially under agricultural use)
may be required – in the context of nutrients flows and retention bodies
construction)
o 165.000 ha destroyed peatlands (Neman river catchment),
o 30.000 extraction sites, 17.000 ha of these are not efficiently used
in Neman river catchment.
o Another 1.000.000 ha peatlands are degraded by drainage (whole
BY) for agriculture
o Abandoned from agricultural use: 250.000 ha
an inventory on amelioration system is necessary to be done
assessment for natural peatlands already done
After assessing potential for agriculturally used peatlands land use must
be defined
Agricultural use of most excavated (bogs) peatlands did not make sense
because of low nutrient status
o A general regulatory document was elaborated for the transfer of
land to rewetting
o Excavated areas nowadays must be rewetted by peat companies
after use
o There still is a problem with excavated areas which have been
abandoned earlier
Significance of wetland restoration for water purification (depends very
much on Fe and Ca!) must be more considered (risk of phosphorus
release)
Kaliningrad
Coastal part in semi natural conditions-no measures are necessary here
Drainage system rather complicated – problem for rewetting and
reconstruction
Many abandoned peatlands can be found in the catchment of Neman
river
o Often these formerly agriculturally used areas rewetted by
themselves as drainage system has not been maintained
Especially raised bogs need rewetting
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Poland
Purification of waters from agriculture by rewetted peatlands seems
promising (We should focus rather on nitrogen, as the phosphorous
mobilisation might occur under certain conditions)
Most peatlands are drained and under agricultural use as grasslands
The Polish catchment of Neman river is a hilly region, fen peatlands are
common, bogs are also in place. River courses have been straightened
at their higher watercourses in the Neman catchment, many natural
rivers and lakes are in place
Possible solutions:
Lithuania:
Mechanisms of new farming concepts must be shown (best practice
examples)
First pilot rewetting measures in Gruda river catchment area (Neman
catchment tributary, fen peatland ~ 500 ha)
o Pilot for realisation of an integrated water basin management plan
o Constructed wetlands is a part of the water basin management
plan under EU Water framework directive (WFD)
Summary of status quo of peatlands (inventory) must be worked out
(maybe data available, question is where and how to obtain them)
o Many different registers in place…needs to be gathered
o In respect AW – there will be strategic proposal elaborated for the
network of ‘stepping stone’ habitats in 2017
Belarus:
Sustainable development strategy has been elaborated recently which is
the basis for further activities
Projects for rewetting and paludiculture can be implemented
Scientific investigations of efficiency for water purification necessary,
same as for GHG emissions reduction
Inventory of peatland melioration system used for agriculture and forestry
should be done soon
Special scheme has been decided: all natural wetlands are given to
nature conservation
All drained peatlands can be continued to extract peat until 2030
Kaliningrad:
Inventory necessary to be done soon
Focus should be given to areas which are abandoned and cannot be
used in any other way or which expose risks to surroundings
To fight fire risks potential rewetting activities on abandoned peatlands
needed
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Poland:
Restoration of Wetlands will be most promising measure here
River restoration would be an effective measure (re-meandering) which
benefit fens as well as most straightened watercourses are in areas of
organic soils (peatlands)
Further activity should take into account possible nutrients release after
rewetting
Methods for identification of river water bodies which are under hydro-
morphological pressure should be elaborated
system for preventing of flooding should be elaborated
Development of road map
First steps:
o Revision and formulation of goals for the whole system
PL, LT: Neman river management plan under WFD, in LT recently
elaborated, in PL adopted
PL/LT commission meetings once per year on base of agreement
8th of December last meeting with BY and PL resulted in preparation
of agreement to be signed in near future on common development of
transboundary waters -outcomes promising
Coordination meeting between ministries of PL/LT/BY would be
helpful. In this respect, role of KG region is not clear
NGOs and international organisations can play a role in this process
Local environmental authorities can show how problems can be
solved
o Elaborate a strategy, who is in charge for this?
Analyse the conditions of peatlands under the water basin
management plans in different countries
Face the problem that people who are dealing with water are not
aware on problems of peatlands and other way round
integrated management plan is necessary that considers all
relevant issues
To be realized by:
Responsible administration; BY: Ministry of Natural Resources;
LT: Environmental protection agency; PL: Min. of Environment
(strategy), regional water management authority (RZGW) in
Warsaw / National Water Management Authority (KZGW) is
responsible for implementation; KG: Neva Ladoga Basin Water
Authority in St. Petersburg, Ministry of Natural Resources of
KG Oblast is only responsible for some functions related to
peatlands
o Key pilot areas for rewetting must be identified, who is responsible?
BY: Academy of Sciences, NGO´s can contribute, international
organisations
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LT: academic institutes, NGO’s
PL: academic institutes, NGO’s
KG: federal authority would be in charge, organisation dealing with
drainage (public organisation: Regionalmeliovodkhoz), for forested
sites the forestry department of Ministry for Natural Resources and
environmental protection of KG Oblast
o How institutions can be convinced to deal with these activities
Best practice examples
Fire is a good incentive – maybe show examples on damages caused
by fires and costs for fire control
KG: Make awareness on GHG emissions – fulfill requirements of
Paris convention - uniform measures in whole Russia
o for concrete areas measures must be planned
PL: The Small Retention Plans driven by the Direction of National Forest:
construction of small reservoirs and ponds
PL: The Neman Water Region Drought Plan made by the Regional
Water Management Authority in Warsaw contains retention measures
related to restoration of rivers and wetland
Kaliningrad
After concrete planning decision for rewetting of selected sites can be
done
o Can be realized in different ways in KG:
Waste water treatment plants for 80 % reduction of N and P
by two pond system (sedimentation pond and vegetated
pond) for household sewage is in planning stage
Can be added by peatland rewetted system to retain
remaining nutrients
o Use Russian/German days in each autumn (October) to make
excursion to such sites. Participants are invited as speaker or
participant, limited access
o Include waste water treatment plants into water basin management plans
o In KG new treatment plants are planned, mainly in bigger cities. In smaller
villages wetland type treatment could be more attractive
Belarus
By chance one example for wastewater treatment (discharge waters of a
big pig farm) already exists nearby Saligorsk (outside Neman catchment
area)
o Monitoring not in place
o Filter function obvious
Poland
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Monitoring on transboundary waters is in place (commission between
PL and LT)
Plans are prepared for transboundary water management
Flood risk management plans are planned
Construction of small reservoirs for provision of agriculture in Poland
Lithuania
Identification of data relevant for peatland rewetting
Coordination and updating information about the river basin management
plan under WFD
Funding schemes: find actors for implementation
Analyse funding options if they can be used also for peatland rewetting
and paludiculture (Interreg LT/PL, Life, other EU funds)
Incentives to apply paludiculture by farmers
Priority action framework under the Life program in PL in place, in LT
under revision
Fig. 2. The group on rewetting and paludiculture
Group 2: “Waste water treatment in constructed wetlands and reed beds”
was hosted by John Stand and Yury Serikov.
Initial discussions on problem identification identified 2 different areas:
1) Waste water treatment solutions for small-scale point-source pollution
(households/waste corresponding to 1 – 1000 persons).
2) Constructed wetlands for diffuse pollution from agriculture
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Discussions were focused on waste water treatment (point source) solutions.
Both in Kaliningrad and Belarus it has been tested with small scale waste water
treatment solutions (in terms of reed beds, sand filters, wetlands) and major
advantages have been identified:
- Simple to construct
- Only small investment needed for construction and maintenance
- Clear positive environmental effects.
In Kaliningrad as well as in Belarus it is important to be able to show that the
solutions comply to the very strict rules of pollution limits. Only with reliable data
on different pollution parameters it will be possible to get the facilities accepted
and included in the federal list of Best available technologies (basis for state
expertise).. In Kaliningrad suitable locations for further construction of waste
water treatment solutions have already been identified. Also in Lithuania it is
important to be able to show, by for example in pilot projects, that the solutions
give good environmental effects.
Several examples from Poland were presented on different small-scale waste
water treatment solutions.
Possible solutions
It was stated in the group that an important solution to the problem was
knowledge exchange (both theoretical and practical) between colleagues and
countries, particularly between Poland and Kaliningrad but also including
Belarus, Lithuania and Germany. A joint application for knowledge exchange
and construction and monitoring of pilot projects was suggested. This would
also help to identify knowledge gaps.
Road map
1) Kaliningrad Technical University took responsibility to contact the experts
of the list of Best available technology to find what concrete information
is needed from the facilities/solutions in order to be able to join the list.
This will be done by February 2017.
2) From this gathered knowledge the next stage is to disseminate within the
group what data and knowledge already exists.
3) This procedure will give information of how to succeed with adding the
technology to the official list of best available technologies.
4) Finally, the identified knowledge and knowledge gaps will be the base for
a joint application (Poland suggested as lead partner?) for site-specific
pilot project in Kaliningrad which might also include Belarus and
Lithuania.
The time-frame was suggested to submit an application already in June 2017,
perhaps then a smaller project from some local, regional or EU funding and to
have this as a base for a larger application to Interreg later. Interreg applications
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are time consuming but the purpose of Interreg fits very well with the groups
intentions.
Diffuse pollution from agricultural land
Parallel to these discussions it was also discussed on the possibility of a joint
project between Sweden, Poland, Belarus and maybe also Lithuania regarding
constructed wetlands for nutrient leakage from farmland. The colleagues from
the different countries will continue contact and knowledge exchange after the
Kaliningrad meeting, with the aim of applying for funding for a concrete, joint
project.
Group 3: “Integrated River Basin Management” was hosted by Mikhail
Durkin.
The Neman/Nemunas River is the 14th largest in Europe and the fourth largest
in the Baltic Sea basin. The river drains the territories of Belarus, Lithuania,
Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast), and Poland; originating in Belarus and flowing
through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the
Baltic Sea. The quality of the water is influenced by a number of factors,
primarily linked to industrial and agricultural production and inadequate
household wastewater treatment. The implementation of the EU Water
Framework Directive has revealed that most streams within the Neman river
basin did not qualify for “good ecological status” and that a reduction of both
nitrate and phosphorus pollution is required. Transboundary pollution
management is absolutely critical in this basin as half of the total pollution load
reaching the Baltic Sea through the Neman River originates in Belarus. Similar
issues affect the smaller, adjacent Pregola River basin which drains the
territories of Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast) and Poland. The river originates in
Poland and flows through the city of Kaliningrad before discharging to the
Vistula Lagoon and the Baltic Sea.
Public participation in water management, that can deliver optimal decisions
that are more acceptable and better implemented on the ground, is one of the
key elements introduced by the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). Taking
into account that catchments of major rivers flowing into the Baltic are
transboundary and in many cases originating from upstream non-EU states
(Russia, Belarus and Ukraine), this issue becomes even more important. In
2010 the transboundary waterborne nutrient inputs originating from non-
HELCOM countries constituted 3% of total nitrogen and 5% of total phosphorus
inputs to the Baltic Sea.
For the time-being, attempts to arrange joint water management at inter-
governmental level in all major transboundary river basins within BSR have
been stalled due to differences in EU/non-EU governance and legislative
approaches, lack of agreement on common methodology, lack of commitment
etc. Currently, merely exchange of monitoring data occurs. At the same time,
Russia and Belarus have adopted national River Basin Management Plans
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(RBMPs) that are largely equivalent to those under EU WFD, also encouraging
public consultations on draft RBMPs/Programmes of Measures and possibilities
for performing public water monitoring.
On the basis of the above, the breakout Group 3 discussed the way forward for
integrated river basin management in Neman catchment.
One of the challenges is how civil society could be engaged in integrated river
basin management as a key element in reaching Good Ecological Status of
rivers and hence contributing to achievement of the Good Environmental Status
of the Baltic Sea as stipulated by the HELCOM BSAP and the EU MSFD. CCB
will run in 2017 a Project funded by NCM and EU LIFE to focus on development
and testing of tools for public participation, namely Public Advisory River Teams
(PARTs). Such informal bodies will be formed by civil society organizations
operating within the same river catchment, with involvement of other
stakeholders, and will address issues that are not yet resolved through
intergovernmental cooperation. The role of PART in Nemunas would be to
- act as an informal platform to boost transboundary cooperation within
shared river basins and expand cooperation and exchange of experiences
among several river basins
- comprise of civil society representatives (NGOs, individuals) working within
specific catchment area with water/river basin management related issues
- regularly meet to discuss actual water management agenda,
- establish thematic working groups to address relevant issues e.g. flood
protection/emergencies, nature conservation, water pollution, etc.
- invite for its meetings representatives of national water management
authorities,
- cooperate actively with relevant research institutions,
- provide broad dissemination of information on its activities,
- facilitate public awareness and capacity building for local residents on the
state of river basins.
The Group also discussed and outlined several outstanding ideas for the way
forward with PARTs establishment, as follows:
Strategic objectives and goals
• Drafting group to be established
• Vision “Neman 2030”
Who does what? • Decide upon responsibilities of actors to be involved
Timeline ideas / milestones • Short- and long-term planning
• 2021 HELCOM/MSFD GES (Also WFD goals)
• 2030 SDGs
Stakeholders (authorities, academia, NGOs, business, sectors, youth)
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Coordination / Platform
• Coalition Clean Baltic / Eco-Chronos? / [Public Advisory River
Teams]
• Relevant stakeholders (e.g. EU)
Pilots • Smaller-scale projects (e.g. polder management, small WWTPs)
• Joint events, e.g. Neman Day / Festival
• Joint Neman/Nemunas/Niemen product branding (e.g. meadows
grazing beef, bees/honey)
Fig. 3. The group on Integrated River Basin Management
Day 2: Tuesday, 13th December 2016
On the second workshop day the work in groups continued and results
were presented and discussed on the common session with all workshop
participants.
In the second part of the day the presentations were focused on the
biosphere reserves (BR) as a framework for coordinated thematic work. Valery
Neronov, from the Committee for MAB Program in Russia, presented the
concept of UNESCO Biosphere Reserves. He showed the experience of BR
establishment in Russia and prospects for Kaliningrad region. More in the
attached paper [Key_notes: Biosphere Reserves_EN]. Anna Lukonina
presented the situation and activities conducted on the Volga floodplain BR in
Russia, whereas Anke Hollerbach presented German experience on the
Middle Elbe River BR with a focus on river basin management.
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The presentations about biosphere reserves can be found in the attached
folder:
[presentation: BR and Ramsarsites_Neronov]
[presentation: BR Volga_Lukonina]
[presentation: BR Elbe_Hollerbach]
Afterwards, the funding opportunities for coordinated work in the Neman
river basin were summarised and presented by Liana Maximova with a focus
on involvement of Russian partners in EU funded activities like Interreg. The
presentation was attached [presentation: Funding_Maximova].
Two working groups were formed to discuss the issue of Biosphere Reserve
and potential for the lower Neman River and of funding opportunities in detail:
Group 1: The BR possibilities on the Neman catchment area:
Lower Neman:
1) Several initiatives have already taken place with respect to a potential
lower Neman Biosphere Reserve, and a technical documentation in
preparation of this Biosphere Reserves is readily available. There needs
to be an initiative from the region now to push this further. The NGO
Green Front agreed to take this role and prepare next steps.
2) Mr. Akinin suggested the staff of the new department of OOPT could also
help to do the trick.
3) A local OOPT is currently prepared.
4) The Delta Neman is best suited for the establishment of a Biosphere
Reserve – it is an anthropo-natural complex.
Vishtnesky Nature Park (Rominter Heide)
5) We need some documents here. (MSS has done a lot and prepared
good documentation)
6) There is a new addition to the regional law on protected areas on
important wetlands. However, there are no steps towards international
status.
7) So the Lithuanian delegation could send a letter on the Vishtnesky Park
(Rominter Heide) to the Russian authorities.
8) Question about transboundary status: Suggestion to start a working BR
in one country, and only than think about transboundary contacts.
Wetlands
There is a list of potential future Wetlands in Russia.
Group 2: Funding. Options for proposals
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Different ways of funding were discussed; main focus was how to involve Russian and Belarusian partners into EU funded projects. Experiences from running transboundary Life Nature projects were shared. Peter Torkler from baltcf explained funding sources from private sources and how they can be used as co-funding to get larger public funded projects.
Fig. 4. Discussing of the funding possibilities
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Day 3: Wednesday, 14th December 2016
On the third workshop day, a field trip to the Gromovsky nature reserve in
delta of the Neman River was organised. The workshop participants could visit
the largest mire in Kaliningrad Oblast – Bolshoye Mokhovoye bog.
Fig. 5. Map of the Kaliningrad Oblast and site of the field trip
Walking on the nature trail, the experts noticed the degradation of some
parts of the mire due to human activities and discussed the possible measures
to restore the sites. They also visited a polder pumping station which was
functioning and discussed with local people the wetlands management issues.
Fig. 6. View on Bolshoye Mokhovoye bog
Minutes of Workshop Improving Water Quality in the Neman Catchment area through rewetting, wise wetland and river basin management, Kaliningrad, 12-14 December 2016
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Fig. 7. Water pumping station in the polders of Neman delta
More about the field trip can be found on the web-page of the NGO
“Prirodnoye nasledie” that organised the excursion (in Russsian):
https://pnak.ru/news/eksperty-po-vosstanovleniyu-bolot-posetili-gromovskiy-
zakaznik
Workshop participants: Country Name Organisation Contact
BY Boris Adamovich Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Belarussian State University
BY Alena Bahadziazh Center of Hydrometeorology and Control of Radioactive Contamination and Environmental Monitoring of the Republic of Belarus
BY Dima Belush NGO "Bahna" [email protected]
BY Mikhail Kalinin Eco-Chrones - Association of River-Keepers, IPO Ecoproject
BY Olga Kaskevich NGO "Bahna" [email protected]
Minutes of Workshop Improving Water Quality in the Neman Catchment area through rewetting, wise wetland and river basin management, Kaliningrad, 12-14 December 2016
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BY Alexander Kozulin Scientific-practical center for bioresources of the National Academy of Science
BY Aliaksandr Pakhomau Central Scientific Research Institute of Water Management
BY Natallia Parechyna Center for Environmental Solutions
BY Vasili Shlyk Grodno commettee for environment
BY Natallia Tupitsyna Mogilev State University
BY Dmitry Vintcheuski APB-Birdlife Belarus [email protected]
DE Uli Gräbener Michael Succow Foundation
DE Anke Hollerbach Middle Elbe Biosphere Reserve
[email protected]; [email protected]
DE Jan Peters Michael Succow Foundation
DE Heinrich Schmauder Federal Agency for Nature Conservation
DE Peter Torkler International Baltic Sea Foundation for Nature Conservation
DE Wendelin Wichtmann Michael Succow Foundation
DK Arne Grove expert [email protected]
FI Marjukka Porvari John Nurminen Foundation
LT Edmundas Greimas Lithuanian Fund for Nature
LT Vytautas Kalpokas Ministry of Environment
LT Zymantas Morkvenas Baltic Environmental Forum
LT Ricardas Paskauskas Nature Research Center
LT Nerijus Zableckis Lithuanian Fund for [email protected]
Minutes of Workshop Improving Water Quality in the Neman Catchment area through rewetting, wise wetland and river basin management, Kaliningrad, 12-14 December 2016
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Nature
NL Weitse Hermanns Hermanns Consultancy
NL Ernst Oosterveld Ecological consultant [email protected]
PL Marina Abramchuk Michael Succow Foundation
PL Barbara Piekutowska National Water Management Authority
PL Maria Staniszewska Polish Ecological Club Gdansk
PL Maria Weber Polish Ecological Club Gdansk
RU Aleksandr Akinin
RU Felix Alexeev Shirshov Institute of Oceanology
RU Boris Chubarenko Shirshov Institute of Oceanology
RU Oleg Divakov Kaliningradmeliovodhoz
RU Dmitry Domnin Shirshov Institute of Oceanology
RU Elena Ezhova HydroBios [email protected]
RU Gennadiy Grishanov Kant Baltic Federal University
RU Inna Hadan Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources
RU Oleg Ivanov NGO "Greenfront" [email protected]
RU Jana Kazimirskaya Department of Water Resources in Kaliningrad Oblast
RU Anna Kazina Friends of the Baltic [email protected]
RU Vyacheslav Kent
RU Ivan Kesoretskih [email protected]
RU Ekaterina Klimova NGO "Greenfront" [email protected]
RU Boris Komovnikov ECAT-Kaliningrad [email protected]
RU Tatiana Komovnikova ECAT-Kaliningrad [email protected]
RU Sergey Kondratenko
RU Olga Krylova Green Planet
RU Natalie Kurcheva
Minutes of Workshop Improving Water Quality in the Neman Catchment area through rewetting, wise wetland and river basin management, Kaliningrad, 12-14 December 2016
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RU Anna Lukonina Committee of Nature Resources and Ecology, Volgograd Oblast
RU Maxim Napreenko NGO "National Heritage"
RU Valery Neronov Deputy Chairperson of Russian MAB Committee
RU Victor Oleinik NGO "Greenfront" [email protected]
RU Irina Poterukhina
RU Dmitry Filippenko Green Planet [email protected]
RU Julia Ruigite
RU Vitaly Sadkov
RU Olga Senova Friends of the Baltic [email protected]
RU Juriy Serlaev
RU Natalia Shcagina Shirshov Institute of Oceanology
RU Olga Sheshukova ECAT-Kaliningrad [email protected]
RU Juriy Shitikov Ministry of Ecology in Kaliningrad Oblast
RU Andrey Sulenko [email protected]
RU Tatiana Taleckaya [email protected]
RU Ruslan Teuvazhukov
RU Alla Veselova
RU Roman Voropaev
SE Maria Basova Coalition Clean Baltic [email protected]
SE Mikhail Durkin Coalition Clean Baltic [email protected]
SE John Strand Halmstad University [email protected]
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