Assessment of the ecological state of the border area waters
Funded by Euregio Karelia Neighbourhood Programme 2001-2006

Objective of the project

The objective of the project was to promote the assessment of the ecological state of the border region water systems, to secure the recreational use of Pyhäjärvi, and to develop sustainable nature tourism.

Main activities

• Creation of a water protection plan for the Lake Pyhäjärvi by gathering information about the lake and its drainage area, environmental load of the lake, land use, geology, quality of lake water and its ecological state. • Translating the plan into Finnish, English and Russian, • Defining the ecological state of the lake in cooperation with the Russian authorities, • Elaboration of reports and articles of the results, and publishing them in scientific publications, • Organisation of public events to spread information about the state of the Lake Pyhäjärvi and its protection.

Achievements

The project created a water protection plan for the Lake Pyhäjärvi, which included details about the lake and its drainage area, environmental load of the lake and forms of the use of land. Cooperation with the authorities also helped to gain information about the Russian sites of the lake, including the use of drainage area, geology and the composition of the drainage area. The plan also included details about the quality of the lake water and its ecological state and current guidelines on water protection, adapted for the Lake Pyhäjärvi. The water protection plan was composed in Finnish, English and Russian. The English version also included details about the drainage area in the Russian side, and the Russian version was further complemented with details about the Russian sites of the lake. The ecological state of the Karelian Lake Pyhäjärvi was defined following the guidelines of the Framework Directive in the field of water policy. The ecological state was defined in cooperation with the Russians by, for instance, performing comparisons of taxonomies and methods in the sampling and information processing of various biological organisms, such as plant plankton, benthic animals and fish. The researches were compiled in reports and articles in scientific publications. The results were also presented in national and international events, including Petrozavodsk. The results of the project were publicised as widely as possible, including the municipalities and provinces of the target area, in order to make people participate in the monitoring of the lake. The project organised several public events presenting the state of the Lake Pyhäjärvi and the latest research results, giving guidance to the residents to observe the state of the water systems and to protect the waters. The people also had the chance in the events to make questions about matters related to the lake and to share their own experiences about the state of the lake. The project published in cooperation with the Karjalan Pyhäjärvi ry Association a water protection guide delivered to every household, which aimed at safeguarding and protecting the recreational possibilities of the Lake Pyhäjärvi, fishing in particular, and the development of sustainable nature tourism.