Report from a working meeting of project teams as part of creating the LIFE+ projects’ network

Złocieniec, 27-28.06.2019 r.

Participants:

1. RDOŚ Szczecin:
   LIFE13 NAT/PL/000009 – “Active protection water-crowfoots  habitats and restoration of wildlife corridor in the River Drawa basin in Poland”.
2. SŁOWIŃSKI NATIONAL PARK:
   LIFE13 NAT/PL/000018 “Conservation of selected habitats and species in Ostoja Słowiska PLH220023 and Pobrzeże Słowińskie PLB220003 Stage I”.
3. The Warta Mouth National Park
   LIFE09 NAT/PL/000257, “Active conservation of waterfowl and waders in the area of the Northern Polder in the Warta Mouth National Park”.
4. Representatives of the Steering Group: Józef Jeleński, prof. Piotr Dębowski.
5. Representatives of Association of the Parsęta Basin Communes: Iwona Czerwiec, the Director, Kamil Piecuch – Head of the Department for Water Management

On 27^th-28^th June 2019, at the initiative of the LIFEDrawaPL Project team, a working meeting of LIFE+ project teams was organized, the aim of which was to exchange experiences between the participants.

The two-day meeting was divided into two parts. The formal and substantive part (at the headquarters of the WST in Złocieniec), during which each team had the opportunity to present their project and with the field part, during which the LIFEDrawaPL team presented the results of the activities implemented on the River Drawa and Korytnica. Guest representatives of the Steering Group were invited to participate in the meeting: Mr Józef Jeleński and Prof. Piotr Dębowski and the representatives of the Association of the Parsęta Basin Communes.

The Association of the Parsęta Basin Communes consisting of 19 cities and communes from the area of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, was invited to participate in the meeting due to the convergence (complementarity) of the activities carried out with the activities of the LIFEDrawaPL Project. The association, with which the LIFEDrawaPl team is conducting current cooperation, works for the purpose of undertaking ventures, including those from the scope of water protection, and above all to protect biodiversity, including the Parsęta’s ichthyofauna and its tributaries, by supporting measures to prevent poaching and rational management of water resources, including undertaking actions to maintain, restore or restore the proper state of these resources and natural relations between their various elements, in accordance with the principles of sustainable development.

The meeting on 27/06/2019 was opened and hosted by Beata Gąsiorowska – the LIFEDrawaPL project coordinator. The teams were greeted by the host Ms Aleksandra Stodulna – acting as the Regional Director for Environmental Protection in Szczecin.

During the meeting, the coordinator of the project together with the field coordinator Mr Artur Furdyna discussed the assumptions of the LIFE13 NAT/PL/000009 project in terms of the implemented protective actions, paying particular attention to the need for certain deviations from the original project assumptions, which led to the improvement of the efficiency of operations. The presentations were supplemented by the statements of Mr Józef Jeleński – the expert of the Steering Group, who during the presentation of selected objects explained among others the essence of hydrodynamic balance and its impact on the condition of rivers. The presentation was combined with a discussion.

In the second place Ms Paulina Sopek – the coordinator of the LIFE13 NAT/PL/000018 project “Conservation of selected habitats and species in Ostoja Słowiska PLH220023 and Pobrzeże Słowińskie PLB220003 Stage I” discussed the project’s assumptions and outlined the progress of its implementation. In her presentation the Coordinator highlighted several important problems that led to the need to extend the project, including those below:

• a significant change in the hydrological conditions of the areas covered by the project in relation to the state before its beginning,
• problems with agreeing on the completion of the Łupawa River restoration on the water dam in Smołdzin fragmenting the habitats of migratory species of fish and lampreys in the Łupawa River basin,
• problems with enforcing the project documentation for an unreliable contractor,
• significant cost overruns of works after designing in relation to the assumptions adopted at the stage of application for co-financing of the project, resulting in the need to obtain additional funds from other sources.

Next, Mr Tomasz Bocian – the conservation officer of the Polder Północ protection circuit – Witnica presented the results of the completed project LIFE09 NAT/PL/000257, “Active conservation of waterfowl and waders in the area of the Northern Polder in the Warta Mouth National Park”.

The conclusion of this part of the meeting was an additional speech by Ms Iwona Czerniec – the Director of the Office of the Association of the Parsęta Basin Communes and Cities, who discussed the activities undertaken by the Association for the protection of biodiversity.

In the second part of the day the participants were presented with the threshold rebuilt as part of the project on the Drawa river under the bridge, at Staszica Street in Złocieniec, and a natural-like circulation channel in Głęboczek. The first day of the meeting ended with accommodation in Zatom near Drawno.

The second day of the meeting covered the field part. The participants were presented, among others Nowa Korytnica camping site as an element of action aimed at relieving the Drawa river, in the section running through the territory of the National Park, from the excessive pressure of kayaking tourism.

Then everybody went to the Korytnica River where the fish passes were presented in Jaźwiny and Sówka together with a spawning ground (as leveling the threshold) between the fish passes. Next, with the consent of Enea Wytwarzanie Sp. z o.o. in Kozienice, the largest object constructed as part of the project was visited – a fish pass at Elektrownia Wodna Kamienna on the Drawa River.

The meeting ended with an invitation to participate in an educational kayaking trip planned for the second half of August this year and encouraged to follow the project on the website and via the social networking site Facebook.