Alexandra Koroleva, Z Galina Raguzina, Z Ecodefense!

Role of non-governmental organizations in the protection of Baltic dunes z Alexandra Koroleva, z Galina Raguzina, z Ecodefense! z Coastal Protection and Development Policy in the Baltic Sea Region z 17-18 October 2008 The sea coast of Kaliningrad region corresponds to 148 kilometers of sandу beaches. The sea coast of Kaliningrad region is distinguished by instability. The reasons for that are deficiency of sand drifts and storm activity. 35% of cliff coasts are exposed to landslide and crumbling processes -10% of the coast suffer permanent washout - 25% are washed out periodically - 20% of the beaches are not wide enough for coastal stability. Over the last 40 years 70 ha of the valuable coastal areas have been lost, causing damage to Kaliningrad region and affecting its recreational and tourist potential. In the case of Curonian Spit, destruction of the coast puts its very existence in danger. One of the most vulnerable areas of the coast is the root part of the Curonian spit (from 1st to 12th km of the spit). At the root part of the Curonian Spit the contraction of the coast reaches 1-1.8 m per year (up to 4-6 m at extreme storms). Localized washed out areas occur along the coast up to the 32nd km. Losses of sand due to extreme storms are calculated as 1.5 – 3 mln m3 Insufficient width of the beach leads to the destruction of the dunes that protects the natural complexes of the Curonian Spit from burying with sand and recurrence of sand catastrophes of the past. Extreme storm activity caused breaks through the body of the Curonian Spit from the sea side in 1983, 1990, 1991, 1997 and later on. The condition of the dunes causes concerns; as Kaliningrad scientists estimate, over 70% of the dune is destroyed. Historically, the dunes were created with the help of manual work of local female residents Clearly, local girls and boys of nowadays are able to cope with this work – if they got trained. For more than 10 years Ecodefense! organizes ‘environmental landings’ in the Curonian Spit National Park. Schoolchildren, students, teachers, officials, parliamentarians, general public take part in those events… August 2007 and July 2008 the international youth environmental camp ‘I Save the Spit’ was organized at the Curonian Spit National park with schoolchildren from Poland, Lithuania and Zelenogradsk district of |Kaliningrad region participating. The youngsters got familiarized with the history and the nature of the Spit and have in details learnt all the specifics of restoration of the dunes Learning can also be theoretical, so the brief handbook on the dune restoration was also produced. But easy skills of the dune restoration are better learnt in practice During the visit to the Lithuanian part of the Curonian Spit the project participants learned some new methods of weaving the fascines. Today we have a trained and motivated brigade of 20-25 local youngsters able not perform and also organize the work on the dune restoration. Annual dune restoration is a required and urgent action, however, under intensification of processes affecting the dunes these efforts are not sufficient. It’s necessary to restore the sandy beaches washed out by storm activity. z To restore dynamically stable beaches of the Curonian Spit (up to 70 m wide and 2.5 m high) it is needed to supply 6-10 mln m3 of sand to the coast. Ecodefense has proposed this measure as a Helcom recommendation for the Kaliningrad authorities. This proposal was presented at the 2nd stakeholders working meeting on the Helcom Baltic Sea Action Plan, Kaliningrad, August 29, 2008. Thank you! Alexandra Koroleva [email protected] Galina [email protected] More information about Ecodefense at www.ecodefense.ru.

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