Estonian-Russian joint water management program facilitates the protection of the Lake Peipsi environment

The Lake Peipsi basin management program was developed in cooperation with the Estonian Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, the entity responsible for the project management was the NGO Peipsi Center for Transboundary Cooperation.

The program, completed with the support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the UN Development Program (UNDP), entails practical recommendations for the reduction and prevention of the nutrient load in Lake Peipsi, for the sustainable preservation of habitats and ecosystems in the transboundary region during the period 2006-2015.

The fact that Estonian and Russian national institutions and different organisations united their efforts for the better management of the jointly utilised Lake Peipsi/Chudskoe was the most important issue in the compilation of the program. Sille Talvet, development director of the Peipsi CTC, underlined that within three years there has been significant improvement in the collaboration between the Estonian and Russian ministries and other organisations.

Preparatory work for Estonian-Russian environmental cooperation in the future was also one of the tasks during yesterday’s meeting of the steering committee. Sille Talvet elaborated: “The water management program, covering both shores of the lake, has by now been devised and it is about time to take steps for its implementation. A large share of costs for the implementation of the program have to be borne by the states of Estonia and Russia, however, the Global Environment Facility clearly indicated, during the steering committee meeting yesterday, that it is possible to apply for additional resources from them, in order to implement the program. The steering committee of the UNDP/GEF project, comprising representatives from both Estonia and Russia, principally approved the decision to apply for supplementary resources from GEF,” said Talvet. The Estonian-Russian Intergovernmental Transboundary Water Commission is going to have the leading role in securing the implementation of the program.

The last steering committee’s meeting of the UNDP/GEF project was participated in by the leading officials of the Estonian Ministry of the Environment and those of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, representatives of local governments and non-profit organisations from the regions related to the project, and the experts from both Estonia as well as Russia. During the meeting, an overview of the project outcomes was presented by Natalia Alexeeva, the project manager, and Elena Armand, head of the UNDP environmental department. Sille Talvet, Peipsi CTC development director and Lisa Supeno, independent external assessor, introduced the results of the final evaluation of the project.

Above is excerpt from original source material - click here to view