WECF ELA partners fight for a healthy environment for all.
Around 30 years ago the area around WECF project area Tatarbunary, Ukraine, was a health resort due to the curative qualities of the nearby bay Sasyk. This is now unbelievable for the children of today.
14.04.2008 |Anna Samwel
Around 30 years ago the area around WECF project area Tatarbunary, Ukraine, was a health resort due to the curative qualities of the nearby bay Sasyk. This is now unbelievable for the children of today. They know the lake Sasyk as a dangerous place where they are not allowed to come near and from which illnesses derive.
The environmental disaster Sasyk
In the late 70’s
the Soviets started a big agro-industrial project by cutting of the bay from the
Black Sea and infusing it with large amounts of fresh Danube water by an
artificial channel. The new lake was supposed to provide irrigation water for
the surrounding villages. A few years after the project was completed, the
negative effects became visible. The water was going to remain salty due to the
salty mud and highly mineralized springs at the bottom of the lake. Land was
irrigated despite of the high salinity and destroyed for the coming decennia,
because authorities wouldn’t commit their mistakes. The ground water in the
surrounding areas dropped dramatically, leaving villages without any water or
only salty ground water. The water level in lake Sasyk
rised, washing shores and even half a grave yard away. The probably worst
effect is the dramatic deterioration of the water quality due to the toppled ecosystem.
Toxic algae grow in the lake, heavy metals and pesticides accumulate in the
water and in the fish. This has direct effects on the air quality, all former
health resorts around the bay are now no more than ruins. The deterioration of
the bay not only has effects on health and biodiversity, but also socio-economic
effects for the population. The tourism in the region disappeared and the lake
can not be commercially exploited anymore.
Vozrozhdeniya
It was not before
two teenagers died from leukaemia in 1996, which was ascribed to the unhealthy
effects of the Sasyk, that citizens took action. They tried to get access to
environmental data, but discovered very soon, that such data is often for ‘official
use only’. They founded the non governmental organisation Vozrozhdeniya and
generated environmental data independently. They aim to reveal the effects of
the closure of the bay from the sea on the environment, in order to convince
authorities to re-connect the Sasyk to the sea. Several independent ecological
and social assessments were carried out and used for petitions to the
government to open the dam. An important constitute of the work is awareness
raising among the population. According to a survey carried out by
Vozroshdeniya, 97% of the population is in favour of the opening of the dam. Moreover,
they lobby for a safe supply of drinking water to communities that don’t have
access to fresh water. The authorities turned out to be insensitive to the
demands of the citizen as a result of corruption and different financial and
political interests. Only during elections a lot of promises are made.
As an environmental organisation, Vozroshdeniya started working on many other environmental problems which are affecting people’s health in the region. An alternative news bulletin is published every month. Several farmers switched to organic farming. The organisation provides environmental lessons in schools and is organising international ecological days in their communities. A river was re-naturalized and has become an important bird and fish reserve and is used for recreational purposes. The biggest constraints the organisation identified are a lack of political will and corruption, a rather fatalistic attitude of big parts of the population and a lack of financial resources.
New promising ELA projects
WECF partner
Vozrozhdeniya is planning in the frame of ELA to continue their activities on
lobbying the authorities for the improvement of environmental living conditions.
They hope to get more international attention for the environmental disaster
which has such immense effects on the health of their children and the
environment.
The ELA project
will enable the organisation to continue its work with support from the
international network, and address several drinking water and environmental
problems on different levels.
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