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Background
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2. BACKGROUND
It has been recognized by the international community that the Dnieper River Basin, comprising large portions of Belarus and Ukraine and a significant area of southwestern Russia, is under severe ecological stress. As is evident from the long-term monitoring data, there has been a steady increase in serious environmental impacts to water quality contributing to the deterioration of the overall ecology of the Dnieper River basin.
The basin is densely developed with large population centres, heavy industry, mining and intensive agriculture. More than forty million inhabitants of the basin rely on the integrity of the water system for potable water supply, irrigation, transportation, industrial and recreational uses. However, historically, as development has occurred, few safeguards have been put in place to protect this water resource from pollution and discharges of industrial effluents and spills. These sources of pollution, known as pollution Hot Spots, include point sources, such as industrial and municipal effluents, and non-point sources, such as agricultural and urban run off. Typical contaminants include both inorganic and organic pollutants. Each contributes to human health risk and environmental degradation including significant impacts to environmentally sensitive areas whose biodiversity is threatened.
Dneiper River Basin Strategic Action Plan
In 1991, the World Bank, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Environmental Protection Program (UNEP) developed the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) to provide support to countries environmental protection actions that will benefit the nations concerned and the entire planet. In particular, GEF finances projects in countries with transitional economies, such as those in Eastern Europe, that do not have enough funds to undertake environment protection and resource conservation programs on their own. GEF’s focus is on combating global pollution of the atmosphere, water bodies and river systems and promoting biological diversity throughout the planet. GEF’s financial resources are provided by donor nations throughout the world. As noted in their mandate:
“(It is GEF’s) aim at achieving a comprehensive, ecosystem-based approach to the sustainable management of international waters and to incorporate both developmental and ecological needs. Action programs take remedial and preventive approaches to restore and maintain the proper functioning of critical shared waterbodies and foster sustainable resource use.”
In February 2000, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) launched the Dnieper River Basin project as part of the GEF Black Sea Basin Regional Waters project. The long-term goal of the GEF project for the Dnieper Basin is to "Remedy the serious environmental effects of pollution and habitat degradation in the basin, to ensure sustainable use of its resources and to protect biodiversity in the region". One of the goals is to facilitate the reduction of transboundary pollution in the Dnieper Basin (and thereby the Black Sea).
The UNDP, the world’s largest multilateral source of grant technical assistance for sustainable human development, provides coordination and management services to the project. The UNDP has been the lead agency in the basin from the outset and works closely with Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) who have established a strong presence in the area from previous projects, principally in Ukraine.
A number of programmes have been undertaken by the organizations describe above as part of the UNDP-GEF Dnieper Basin Environment Programme. These include the following:
- Establish a number Thematic Centres to share roles in coordinating training, information exchange and capacity building;
- Conduct the Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis to establish pollution sources, levels and effects in the basin;
- Develop a strategy for protecting key habitats and species;
- Develop a Strategic Action Program that will describe a series of legal, policy and institutional reforms, as well as investments and technical measures, necessary to protect and restore the basin;
- Prepare National Action Plans to meet the Strategic Action Program.
UNIDO, established to promote the industrialization of developing countries, has developed strategies to address sustainable development issues and environmental risk. Such strategies include capacity-building from environmental policy frameworks, pollution control and waste management as well as the promotion of “cleaner production”. UNIDO develops new partnerships between government, private sector and academia to implement these strategies. UNIDO’s involvement in the Dnieper River Basin Project focuses on the development of National Action Plans (NAP) to facilitate the reduction of transboundary pollution in the basin (and thereby the Black Sea). Subsequent projects have focused on agricultural practices, environmental impact assessments and a detailed examination of mitigation measures (the subject of this report).
