R7: Help the Odra river revive and be free-flowing again

The Odra river is one of the last free-flowing rivers in Europe. As a river it is left relatively untouched by major human interventions, the Odra river maintains extensive flood plains and wetlands that are home to numerous endangered species of animals and plants.

This disaster was clearly caused by human activities, as the report of the German Expert Commission on the Odra catastrophe demonstrates. The sources of contamination are currently under further investigation. What is certain however, is that highly saline waters were discharged in the upper river in large quantities. This allowed the Prymnesium parvum algae to multiply rapidly, since it flourishes in brackish waters. The algae produced massive amounts of blossoms which coveredproduced toxins that affected the breathing organs of fish and mollusks, causing their slow and painful death through suffocation. Heat, stagnant water in retention basins, and low water levels have further aggravated the consequences of this environmental crime.

Full responsibility should be taken by the Polish authorities who disregarded the alarm protocol established by the International Commission for the Protection of the Odra River against Pollution (ICPO) in case of environmental calamities. Action should have been taken upon alarm signals of upcoming disaster. There were many. A repetition of these types of accidents should be avoided at all costs by assuring that responsible authorities do act on existing and -if necessary - improved disaster preparedness/reduction protocols at basin level.

We call on Poland and Germany to intensify the bilateral cooperation with regards to clarifying the causes of this disaster. We demand the reasons to be fully explained and the results of investigations to be made fully transparent and public by German and Polish authorities. We call on the Polish local and national authorities to bring all those responsible to justice.

It will probably take years for the river to recover. We must do everything we can to support its recovery and protect the river from any further damage.

Full responsibility should be taken by the Polish authorities who disregarded the alarm protocol established by the International Commission for the Protection of the Odra River against Pollution (ICPO) in case of environmental calamities. Action should have been taken upon alarm signals of upcoming disaster. There were many.

We call on Poland and Germany to intensify the bilateral cooperation with regards to clarifying the causes of this disaster. We demand the reasons to be fully explained and the results of investigations to be made fully transparent and public by German and Polish authorities to their people but also to people in Europe as lessons are to be learned from this event which may be used as preventive models or other similar disasters across Europe or globally. We call on the Polish local and national authorities to bring all those responsible (if the investigations reveal human intervention) to justice.

We call on Poland and Germany to intensify the bilateral cooperation with regards to clarifying the causes of this disaster. We demand the reasons to be fully explained and the results of investigations to be made fully transparent and public by German and Polish authorities. We call on the Polish local and national authorities to bring all those responsible to justice.

It will probably take years for the river to recover. We must do everything we can to support its recovery and, protect the river from any further damage and prevent such disasters of happening in Odra and other rivers across Europe.

It will probably take years for the river to recover. We must do everything we can to support its recovery and protect the river from any further damage.

Thus, we demand that all works on the river should be stopped and the plan for the regulation of the river agreed by Germany and Poland in 2015 be urgently reviewed. The deepening of the Odra as planned by the Polish ‘Odra Vistula Flood Management Project’ threatens the unique river landscape, the “Lower Odra Valley” national park in Germany and the “Lower Odra Valley Landscape ConversationConservation Park” on the Polish river side. The ongoing works aimed at “modernizing” the river are in fact another ecological disaster. According to a legal expertise commissioned by the "Greens/EFA" group in the European Parliament, the works are inconsistent with the FFH Directive, the European Habitats Directive and the European Water Framework Directive, and violate the rules of the European Environmental Impact Assessment Directive.

Thus, we demand that all works on the river should be stopped and the plan for the regulation of the river agreed by Germany and Poland in 2015 be urgently reviewed. The deepening of the Odra as planned by the Polish ‘Odra Vistula Flood Management Project’ threatens the unique river landscape, the “Lower Odra Valley” national park in Germany and the “Lower Odra Valley Landscape Conversation Park” on the Polish river side. The ongoing works aimed at “modernizing” the river are in fact another ecological disaster. According to a legal expertise commissioned by the "Greens/EFA" group in the European Parliament, the works are inconsistent with the FFH Directive, the European Habitats Directive and the European Water Framework Directive, and violate the rules of the European Environmental Impact Assessment Directive.

Thus, we demand that all works (?industrial ?agricultural? what works are taking place that should be stopped?) on the river should be stopped and the plan for the regulation of the river agreed by Germany and Poland in 2015 be urgently reviewed. The deepening of the Odra as planned by the Polish ‘Odra Vistula Flood Management Project’ threatens the unique river landscape, the “Lower Odra Valley” national park in Germany and the “Lower Odra Valley Landscape Conversation Park” on the Polish river side. The ongoing works aimed at “modernizing” the river are in fact another ecological disaster. According to a legal expertise commissioned by the "Greens/EFA" group in the European Parliament, the works are inconsistent with the FFH Directive, the European Habitats Directive and the European Water Framework Directive, and violate the rules of the European Environmental Impact Assessment Directive.

Our goal should be the protection of our river ecosystems as stated in European Law, not their destruction. Therefore, we call upon the European Commission, the World Bank and the Council of Europe Development Bank not to allocate any funds for works on the Odra that are deteriorating its ecological status. European money intended for flood protection is currently being misused to transform the entire river into a waterway, which will permanently damage the river’s ecosystem.

Our goal should be the protection of our river ecosystems as stated in European Law, not their destruction. Therefore, we call upon the European Commission, the World Bank and the Council of Europe Development Bank not to allocate any funds for works on the Odra to be allocated without prior checking and approval from "green sensitive" bodies with the aim to preserve river biodiversity and prevent distruction of the river's ecosystem . European money intended for flood protection is currently being misused to transform the entire river into a waterway, which will permanently damage the river’s ecosystem.

Our goal should be the protection of our river ecosystems as stated in European Law, not their destruction. Therefore, we call upon the European Commission, the World Bank and the Council of Europe Development Bank not to allocate any funds for works on the Odra. European money intended for flood protection is currently being misused to transform the entire river into a waterway, which will permanently damage the river’s ecosystem. River basin management needs to take on a holistic view of the entire basin and its peoples and build on existing local knowledge. It needs to take into account and counteract on current and future challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and the need to assure that food is produced in a sustainable way.

Our goal should be the protection of our river ecosystems as stated in European Law, not their destruction. Therefore, we call upon the European Commission, the World Bank and the Council of Europe Development Bank not to allocate any funds for works on the Odra. European money intended for flood protection is currently being misused to transform the entire river into a waterway, which will permanently damage the river’s ecosystem.

In addition to the careful analysis of risks to nature and people of the current planned activities, we call on the authorities to plan restoration of the basin. The restoration process should be inclusive of all those living and working in the area. It should minimally take into account adaptation to climate change, potential to restore and where possible increase biodiversity. If relevant, the restoration process should build on existing experiences with sustainable food production.

Our goal should be the protection of our river ecosystems as stated in European Law, not their destruction. Therefore, we call upon the European Commission, the World Bank and the Council of Europe Development Bank not to allocate any funds for works on the Odra. European money intended for flood protection is currently being misused to transform the entire river into a waterway, which will permanently damage the river’s ecosystem. The Odra river should be excluded as a potential waterway within the current revision of the TEN-T guidelines regulation and no funding should be granted under the Connecting Europe Facility for any works therein.

We call on the relevant authorities as well asand the European Commission to establish a European threshold for chemical pollution and salt concentration of freshwater rivers and to change the current system of wastewater discharges based on static quotas towards one that takes into account the pollution levels in the river.

We call on relevant authorities as well as the European Commission to change the current system of wastewater discharges based on static quotas towards one that takes into account the pollution levels in the river.

We call on the German and Polish authorities to take extensive measures to stabilize and enhance the natural resilience of Oder's ecosystem that allows adaptation to climate change. Therefore its remaining near-natural habitat with natural processes for flood protection and water retention in the landscape should be restored.

Finally, we call on the Polish national authorities to establish a new national park covering the entire area of the Lower Odra Valley and to allow the establishment of a cross-border national park encompassing this unique natural environment.
The river Odra disaster upon identifying its causes, the consequences and the ways to revive the river's ecosystems can be used as a model in Europe to tackle similar problems across European rivers.