PROMORIVER
Site description
The lake of Agras-Vrytta-Nisi Lake is a designated Natura 2000 area (both SCI and SPA) and part of the of Edessaios river, which flows through Edessa, Central Macedonia, Greece. River Edessaios is ± 20 km long, while the surface of the lake itself where the river widens is more or less 6 hectares with an average depth of 1 m. The elements that form the general picture of the overall area surrounding area and lake watershed are roughly the following:
● 3 small settlements around the lake (in total ± 8k inhabitants)
● vast areas of agricultural use (cherry and apple trees)
● tens of animal farms
● some fishing activities as well as
● limited small-scale industrial activity
Existing problems
From the above site delineation, someone could assume that the
● Pollution from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) at the lake area of the river, was due to bad habits and lack of education
● Arson of the straws at the waterfront areas, putting people , properties and indigenous flora in danger, as well as fauna (mostly birds)
● Eutrophic conditions at the lake due to fertilizer abuse, disposal of untreated urban wastewater and finally declining water quantity, leading to anoxic conditions of the water body leading to a decline of fish stock, as well as to water quality, odours, over-vegetation and aesthetic pollution
● Deliberate land use changes for farming purposes, due to declining water levels which allowed farmers to extend their properties next to the lake
Objectives
Our main goal from this project was to promote ways to prevent pollution from MSW, as well as the arson which endanger humans as well as vegetation and birds. Other secondary objectives we identified were the following:
● Prevention of aesthetic pollution
● Restoration of the waterfront areas into a friendlier place with recreational value
● Promotion of the work of the local environmental information kiosk- Improvement of water quality
● Assistance and encouragement of alternative forms of tourism
● Protection of local indigenous as well as migratory species of flora and fauna
Restoration of the Agras-Vrytta-Nisi Lake area, Edessa, Greece
Case study description
The project we implemented was aiming in the restoration of the quality of environment at the lake of Agras-Vrytta-Nisi Lake, a designated Natura 2000 area (both SCI and SPA), and came out of the necessity of dealing with the environmental issues the overall area, given the absence of a state-body responsible for the wetland.
Project statistics
Start date: 2010
End date: 2012
Nº of people involved: 4 with backgrounds in environmental studies and education plus many more volunteers
Partners: Administration of Primary Education of Pella
Budget: 0 euros (mostly self-funded plus contributions in kind from involved citizens)
Location: Edessa, Greece
Implementation
● Clean up of the surrounding waterfront areas with participation of local schools
● Compilation of records and localization (where possible) regarding the indigenous and migrating species of flora and fauna
● Informational campaigns regarding the characteristics and importance of the Natura 2000 area, in schools of the overall area of Pella
● Nest construction for the indigenous and migrating birds
● Discussions with local fishermen regarding the rough assessment of the level of eutrophism (based on the available fish-stock, odours at the shallow waters etc.)
Outcomes and success
Whilst the project is not officially over yet, lately interest has been sparking up due to collaboration with another local NGO, we managed to partially succeed by achieving:
● Area clean up (watershed, trails)
● Public participation on environmental issues of local importance
● Stronger promise of success for future events facilitated by participation
However, as the project was developing, we faced several problems, such as the occurrence of various other environmental quality issues such as pollution e.g. the disposal of inert solid waste from a local quarry. The strongest challenge we had to overcome was the complete lack of budget, which put several limitations on the type of activities we could implement. Nonetheless, we have many people to thank for their in-kind contributions, as well as for their invaluable support and participation on our activities.
Future actions
As previously mentioned, lately, there have been some proposals to revive the project, as many of the aforementioned problems arose again. Our next steps in that direction would be the following:
● Water sample physico-chemical and biological analysis (BOD, COD, N, K, P, FCs)
● Continuous involvement of local pupils and students from the overall area
● Use of the local environmental information kiosk as center of our activities
● Rebranding/Labelling/Renaming of characteristic spots around the lake, facilitating in that way, the reference and acquaintance of locals with the surrounding area
● Upstream and downstream monitoring of water quality
● Addition of more elements giving additional recreational value to the waterfront area (tree planting, benches etc.)
● Participation of locals in EU projects, aiming in exchange of good practices and strengthening of motivation
● Stronger affiliation with press, regarding the dissemination of our work and higher involvement of people
Lessons learnt
From this project we took numerous lessons. The most important ones could be summarised into the following points:
● Public participation is the only way to tackle problems of such scale
● Collective processes can readily contribute into higher personal responsibility
● Better preliminary monitoring of the overall potential sources of pollution at the whole watershed
● Risk assessment, can assist in predicting possible future problems
● More intense fund-raising campaigns is needed in order to overcome budget limitations
● Research on whether more other actors participating in the chain which affects the overall lake/river area environment quality could somehow be involved (public administration, agro-consultants, sellers of fertilizers, farmers etc.), so more intense cooperation with related common-interest institutions.
Varosi ©
Varosi ©
Varosi ©
