Documents:

• The Fifth Working Meeting, Chernigiv
• Resolutions
  Annex 1. Regulations on Basin Working Group (.doc)
  Annex 2. Agreement about partnership in frame of basin working group of Ukrainian Rivers Network (.doc)
  Annex 3. Guidelines on “Order or Actions to Protect Watercourse” (.doc)
  Annex 4. Proposals on URN publication “Small rivers of Ukraine: Past, Present, Future” (.doc)
  Annex 5. Draft structure of the document “Public Assessment of Water Resources, their Management and Water Management Policy in Ukraine” (.doc)
  Annex 6. Propositions to the URN Strategic Action Programme 2008-2015 (.doc)
• Photo archive

The Fifth Working Meeting of the Ukrainian Rivers Network

Chernigiv, 2007

On 29 June – 1 July 2007, the Fifth Working Meeting of the Ukrainian Rivers Networks was held. It was organised by the Wetlands International Black Sea Programme with the support of the Chernihivskyi Centre for the Development of Green Village Tourism, National Ecological Centre of Ukraine and Environmental Club “Kray” (Berezhany, Ternopilska oblast). The meeting was held in the Educational Centre of the Federation of Trade Unions in Chernihivska oblast.

The participants included 48 representatives of NGOs – members of URN from 17 oblasts of Ukraine, Kyiv, Sevastopol and Minsk cities as well as a representative of the Desna Basin Department of Water Resources.

The following issued were discussed:

• Activity of URN Thematic Working Groups, especially on information exchange, environmental education and fund-raising;

• Experience of activities of Basin Working Groups, especially Dnister and Dnipro ones;

• Experience of activities of URN members;

• Experience of organization and conduction of public campaigns against contraction of the Dnister Hydro Accumulating Power Station and All-Ukrainian public campaign “Gardu – YES!”;

• Institutional development of URN and activity planning for 2007-2015;

• Making amendments and annexes to the “Strategic Environmental Action Plan of Ukrainian NGO Network on Rivers Conservation and Restoration";

• Legal status of URN and re-registration of URN members.

Two working meetings were also held:

1. Enlarged meeting of the Dnister Basin Working Group as well as the 3rd closed strategic meeting of NGOs on the issues of completion of construction of Dnister Hydro Accumulating Power Station: strategic planning of activities, discussion of other environmental problems of Dnister River basin and further activity of the Working Group.
2. Meeting of the Dnipro Basin Working Group. Implementation of the project “Kaniv Water Reservoir: prehistory of the region, idea and implementation, present state, problems, perspectives”; state of water reservoirs of Dnipro cascade.

The following decisions were made:

• To develop the Strategic Action Plan for URN for 2008-2015, taking into account proposals of URN members, expressed during the meeting;

• Taking into account that the majority of small rivers in Ukraine flows via settlements, to develop and publish methodical guidebook for URN members “Nature Protection in City»;

• To establish the Western-Bug Working Group of URN;

• To widen international co-operation of URN, first of all information exchange with river networks of other countries (DEF, Russian and Belorussian Rivers Networks, etc.);

• To start conduction of All-Ukrainian action of URN on river conservation and restoration;

• To prepare URN appeal concerning the need of expert study on possibility of destruction of hydroelectric power stations of Dnipro cascade, which can have catastrophic consequences;

• To prepare the Strategic Action Plan of Co-operation of the Dnister Basin Working Group with the State Water Committee, Dnister-Prut Basin Department of Water Resources and Public Councils under the aegis of oblasts’ State Departments of Environmental Protection in the basin;

• To prepare and conduct a public awareness tour in the place of construction of the Kaniv Hydro Accumulating Power Station.

It was decided to conduct the 6th Working Meeting of URN in Kamyanets-Podilsky city, Khmelnytska Oblast (responsible organization – Association of Nature Researchers and Naturalists in Kamyanets-Podilsky).

© 2007 Ukrainian Rivers Network