Water Strategies and Strengthening of the Civil Society in Belarus 2014

CCB Support to river protection in Belarus in 2017

1. INTRODUCTION Water issues and environmental organisations in Belarus A number of water-related issues are currently relevant for Belarus touching upon water quality and water management. Those include intensive and large-scale agriculture as well as a growing number of industrial animal farms which represent major causes of water pollution in rural areas. Beyond that, it is a case for 30% of all wastewater from industries and households that are directly released into the environment without any treatment. These water problems result in excessive nutrient loads and high levels of pollutants in surface and ground waters that in their turn contribute to problems for human health, and cause eutrophication of water bodies. Poor water management practices and infrastructure developments aggravate negative effects on aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity. The Baltic Sea is exposed to increased environmental pressure caused by the waters flowing from the northern and western parts of Belarus and carrying pollutants and nutrients. Moreover, the upper parts of rivers represent important spawning areas for wild salmon and sea trout. Deterioration of spawning sites and barriers to fish migration threaten the salmonids populations. Thus, the Baltic Sea environment will benefit substantially from improving water quality and water management in Belarus. Greater awareness among general public, decision-makers and stakeholders about importance of good water quality, related human pressures on it and needed management measures to improve environmental conditions. Key activities in this area include the production of publications for the general public and for specific target groups (such as schoolchildren and teachers), providing information to/via the media and on the Internet, running public information centres, and organising seminars, festivals and other public events. The summary of results for outcome 1 in figures:  One more public info centre on water-related topics established in Mogilev district which attracted 191 visitors during 2017;  More than 390 wells and 50 pollution sources added by the users to watercontrol.by;  River Watch activities: 40 teachers representing 30 schools from 8 regions participated in the activities, 900 students involved in the activities, around 20 000 people reached via mass media;  Promotion of environmentally friendly agriculture technologies: 17 farmers graduated for Organic school, 18 are still completing the course, 8 graduates got certified according to EU organic standard;  73 articles published in national and regional newspapers on peatland protection topic, 941 new subscribers of the social networks (Facebook, Vkontakte, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Google+), 14 journalists and 10 translators have participated;  51 articles published in national and regional newspapers on water bodies protection;  Various printed materials produced for awareness raising (2 booklets, 5 posters, 2 reports on ecosanitation, 2 brochures).

Raising awareness The Programme works with various target groups to raise awareness about different aspects of water quality and public participation. Work with a number of target groups in many regions – including school teachers and pupils, local population in villages, local parishes, etc. – is going on using multiple channels. These are: info centres, direct public involvement, educational seminars, online sites, publications in media, social networks and printed materials.

Regional school competition “Baltic starts here”, February 2017 Work of info centres This channel was initiated in 2013 and ten public info centres on water-related topics were established in six regions. In 2017 one more info centre on testing of various plants in organic agriculture was established in Mogilev district on the base of the Mogilev State University, Ljubouge village. First visitors included teachers and students of the University. The work of info centres in regions concentrates on raising interest and activity of the local population in field of water resources conservation, arranging educational seminars and open-air events for the locals, giving consultations on water-related topics to the interested. On average each info centre gives 30 consultations annually, arranges one seminar on the monitoring of the drinking water quality (20-30 participants), organises public Water Day on March, 22 and River Day when the activists and interested locals are cleaning the river banks from waste. Direct public involvement An important part of Programme activities is aimed at direct public involvement into solving of local environmental water-related problems like nitrate pollution of drinking water wells in rural areas or water pollution by run-off from agricultural farmland and waste-water from animal farming and illegal landfilling of water protection zones. Local people are getting involved into solving of local environmental problems or protection of important water objects. This active public involvement contributes to strengthening of co-operation between local authorities and population. A web site – www.watercontrol.by –was launched in the first Programme period to support and visualize the results of public monitoring of water quality in wells and to detect hot spots of agricultural pollution. The results of the monitoring visualized the problem with drinking water pollution (around 70% of the wells are contaminated with nitrates and over 40 % of water samples exceed the permissible concentration of nitrates by 2-3 times). During the year 2017 more tests are added by the users from different regions of Belarus. The statistics on water status is now collected for more them 3000 wells and pollution sources.

Summer public nitrate monitoring

Winter public nitrate monitoring

Educational seminars Educational component is of high value for raising awareness of the population and specialists. The Programme initiates and supports River Watch activities at schools, giving the teachers a broad knowledge on water bodies protection and water quality assessment so that they educate the students and thereby multiply the knowledge. Publications in mass media The Programme is actively presented in media and the pool of journalists writing on water topics both in national and regional media is collected by the Programme partners and is regularly supplied with news and thematic events. Some examples of articles that were published in national and regional newspapers on key topics are listed below. Water bodies protection: http://brest.greenbelarus.info/articles/25-07-2017/opasno-li-pit-vodu-iz-kolodcev-brestchiny-i-kuda- tekut-belarusskie-reki http://news.21.by/society/2017/06/06/1339128.html http://www.ecoidea.by/ru/article/3112 http://germanovichi.sharkovschina.edu.by/main.aspx?guid=13813 http://kurjer.info/2017/08/14/cow-farm-2/ http://greenbelarus.info/articles/01-08-2017/kudy-havaecca-vada-belarus-perazhyvae-treci-peryyad- padzennya-gruntovyh-vod Printed materials The printed materials produced by the Programme for awareness raising include: periodical “In harmony with nature” – 1400 copies, brochure “Trulli a small water drop” – 1000 copies, “News from Trulli water drop” – 1000 copies, 5 posters – 80 copies each, 2 reports on ecosanitation and other printed materials. Improved water management practices, including efficient public monitoring of water quality leading to reduced eutrophication and water pollution and improved water biodiversity conservation. Key activities in this area include increasing involvement and action of different stakeholders for better results, education of tutors, different field activities and expeditions, implementation of pilot projects. The summary of results for outcome 3 in figures:  One international River Watch expedition focused on environmental monitoring held in Viliya river, with 24 participants including representatives of project partners;  One regional competition “Baltic starts here” involving students and teachers from 13 schools representing 10 regions of Belarus (14 teachers and 323 students in total);  One River Watch training seminar was held for the teachers (30 participants); 1 strategic 3

seminar on development of the Info Centres activities (20 participants) and a working meeting for the "Water Control" volunteers (10 participants);  A mobile expedition on major water topics is being prepared by the Programme;  A constructed wetland in Ivye region by the house for elderly people: engineering project prepared, full support and keen interest of the local administration;  A set of energy plants planted at the Experimental area of the state Mogilev University for monitoring the capacity to absorb nutrients and prevent their leakage into the ground waters. A case of using those for the animal complexes is under consideration. Trainings and education River Watch The River Watch educational programme includes constant in-school studies, outdoor activities and summer expeditions for students guided by the experts. In 2017 in partnership with the local authorities - Vileika District Executive Committee – the Programme organized an expedition on Viliya. Within the expedition water quality studies were carried out based on the following hydro chemical parameters: nitrates, ammonium, dissolved oxygen and phosphates; the transparency of water was measured throughout the entire path. In total there were 24 participants, the studies were carried out for 10 days (from June 2 to 11) in the Belarusian part of Viliya. The research group included the following project partners: CES, Endo, Nerush, Bagna.

Expedition on Viliya, June 2017 Festival “Water Alive”, February 2017 Another tool for involving more schools and drawing attention to the water topic was a regional competition “Baltic starts here”. It lasted for one month in spring and involved students and teachers from 13 schools representing 10 regions of Belarus with totally more than 300 participants. The competition was held in the form of a relay race, where teachers held classes at the school of the neighbouring district and shared their experience. The competition received full support from the local Departments of Education. It allowed the teachers to increase their professional level and to expand the participants' understanding of the connection with the Baltic Sea basin. In order to analyse the achievements of the Programme and make strategic planning for the coming year, several meetings and seminars were held in 2017 including River Watch training seminar for the teachers, strategic seminar on development of the Info Centres activities and working meeting for the "Water Control" volunteers. The activities of the "Water Control" volunteers in 2017 are focused on targeted surveys of livestock complexes. Participants of mini-expeditions prepared and submitted nine requests to the local authorities on the problems identified during the expeditions. Another tool that has proved its efficiency in education and communication with the community is the mobile exhibition. Thus, a mobile exhibition on major water topics is being prepared by the Programme. The topics covered by the exhibition are: eutrophication, sewage systems, micro plastic, water circulation, main water sources. It is planned to install the exhibition at the premises of the Regional Water Management Facilities.

Water quality control (nitrates pollution) In the area of water quality control, the project supports periodical public monitoring of water quality and environmental hot spots in water protection zones by the River Watch program, with special attention paid to nitrate testing of wells in rural areas. The results of the public monitoring are available online and are followed-up in co-operation with relevant authorities. The work instrument is a common online-database www.watercontrol.by accumulating sources of water pollution and water quality in wells, while the water in the wells is an indicator of the overall level of contamination of groundwater and surface water. A method for creating a simple device that allows an accurate analysis of nitrates content in water for public monitoring has been developed by a group of Mogilev University students under the project partner supervision. This device can be independently manufactured within the framework of the work of school research groups. The method of this device manufacturing was presented to school teachers at the Festival " Water Alive" (Vileika, 17.02.2017). Three devices have been created by school research teams in Mogilev region. As a result of using these devices, three studies involving awareness raising among the local residents were carried out. All the studies were presented at competitions of research works of different levels with one of them (Sharoykin Daniil, Mogilev school N18) winning the Republican contest of school research works on water issues. He will present the results further at the International Water Contest "Stockholm Junior Water Prize". Pilot project A constructed wetland is to be installed in Ivye region by the house for elderly people. The project is coordinated with the administration of the region that is highly interested to see the implementation and potentially introduce it for other locations. The engineering project is prepared to start construction in early 2018 in accordance with Belarus and EU norms. In process of the installation a training for all interested will be organised inviting all organisations that could potentially use the same technology. An example of wide Programme results The constructed wetland at a nursing home for the elderly To popularize sustainable management of water resources in Ivye region, the appropriate place for creation of a pilot constructed wetland site (local sewage system) was searched for a long time. The gender analysis helped to prioritize the location looking into the needs of the disadvantaged part of target group, specifically basing the pilot in a nursing home for the elderly people. Pilot construction in the village of Lukashino will create not only a demonstrative site, but also a point to inform and involve a vulnerable group of people, as the residents will be able to participate in the care of the site. During the construction (in early 2018) a workshop will be organized for rural residents as well as representatives of regional and national media, on the specifics of a local sewage treatment plant creation. Workshop participants will receive thematic information materials and free consultation. Summing up, the Programme Partners work closely with vulnerable groups of the population, informing them about the connection between water and health, striving to involve into thematic activities and distribute thematic information. The Programme is also actively cooperating with local authorities, public associations, and media in order to influence the quality of water and hence the quality of live for generally vulnerable groups. Nitrates pollution map www.watercontrol.by Here the situation is much more positive as the authorities are eager to cooperate and provide information for the map creation. Specifically good results have been achieved in Moglilev region where a mobile application for the nitrate mapping was created within the Programme.