Dniester (environmental project)
The Ukrainian-German Dniester project is a long-term collaboration between Ukrainian and German scientists to solve the environmental problems of the Upper Dniester . In the last phase carried out, the project was called “Transformation processes in the Dniester region (Western Ukraine)”. The project was funded by UNESCO , the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Ministry of Nature Conservation of Ukraine (BMBF funding № 399699B). The technical and organizational support for the project was initially provided by the Philipps University of Marburg, later by the Technical University of Dresden and, on the Ukrainian side, the Institute for Ecology of the Carpathian Mountains (Ukraine).
In the joint work of the Ukrainian and German scientists, interdisciplinary studies of the Upper Dniester Basin and its tributaries were carried out from the sources to the mouth of the left tributary Koropets in order to derive recommendations for the careful use of natural resources. The focus here was on developing sustainable and effective land use concepts for the region. The results of the research were published in the book "Transformation processes in the Western Ukraine".
Background and history of the project
Since 1988 the eponymous international, ecological and cultural expedition "Dniester" has been working on the eponymous river of the project. In 1993, Stephan Niemeier, then a biology student at the Philipps University in Marburg , expressed the desire to participate in the expedition team in order to get to know the work of the expedition.
Niemeier took a liking to the Dniester expedition. When he returned home, he informed Professor Harald Plachter about the work of the Ukrainian researchers. Professor Plachter decided to send students in his field of nature conservation (Faculty 17 - Biology, Philipps University of Marburg) to the Dniester in the future. In the summer of 1993, five students from Marburg traveled to Ukraine for the first time. They brought equipment for hydrological studies of the Dniester. The results were documented in a report, the scientific quality of which was approved by Plachter. In the following year, a group of students from Ute Kampwerth's chair at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg took part in the expedition. She then emphasized the excellent opportunity to investigate comparatively original ecosystem conditions in the Dister Valley. Was important and here is also that the scientific study findings for the nature conservation management anthropogenic embossed ecosystems in Central Europe can provide. Taking note of Kampwerth's impressions, Plachter decided to examine the possibilities of working with the Ukrainian ecologists more closely.
In the autumn of 1994 he traveled to Ukraine and met with Ukrainian scientists in Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk. He also visited the Carpathian Mountains . In December of the same year he asked representatives of the Lion Society in Lviv to establish contact with the Ukrainian government in order to create opportunities for Ukrainian-German cooperation. This society enabled a conference for the planned project in May 1995. Employees from state institutions in both countries took part. The participants of the conference saw good potential for a future science project. As a result, the German side decided to institutionalize the project at a high international level with UNESCO. The submitted research concept was checked by UNESCO and met its high standards for binational projects. Vefa Mustafayev was appointed curator of the project because he speaks fluent Russian and English. This should simplify the international maintenance of contacts. As UNESCO itself does not work directly with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), this field of activity has been assigned to state scientific institutions and authorities in Ukraine.
The beginnings of the project
After the federal government had decided to implement Ukrainian-German scientific cooperation, the first pilot phase of the project could start. First of all, it was determined which research work will be started and which target priorities apply. Furthermore, the necessary organizational structures were created. The overall management of the research project was entrusted to Plachter. Together with his working group, he defined the research guidelines and overarching goals of the overall project. He appointed Stephan Niemeier as project coordinator. He organized the work of the project office in Lviv, which was located in the Institute for Ecology of the Carpathian Mountains. A management team was set up to manage the project on the Ukrainian side, including Mykola Kozlovski, Valentyn Stetsyuk and Eleonora Zacharko.
In the meantime Kost 'Malinowski held the scientific management for a short time. Thereafter and until the end of the project, this task was entrusted to Professor Josef Tsaryk. In 1999, Mechthild Roth took over the project management on the German side. Philipp Kästli (Switzerland) and Ralph Nobis (Germany) acted as coordinators of the entire research project. Due to its complexity, the research project was divided into differentiated sub-projects. These drafted work plans with a detailed description of the research goals and how these are to be achieved. For this purpose, the spatial reference areas were defined, detailed schedules were created and responsibilities were determined.
Structure of the project and participants
The entire research project was carried out in three phases. On the Ukrainian side, the project was supported by the following institutions: Institute of Ecology of the Carpathians (located in the city of Lviv), National Ivan Franko University of Lviv , National Forest University of Lviv, National Agrarian University of Lviv, National Technical University of Oil and Gas Ivano Frankivsk.
Sub-projects
- TP 1.1. Scientific coordination and project administration . Subproject leader: M. Roth, Technical University Dresden (TUD), specialization in forest sciences, Institute for Forest Botany and Forest Zoology, Chair for Forest Zoology; J. Tsaryk, Ivan Franko University Lviv, Faculty of Biology.
- SP 1.2 Databases & GIS
- SP 1.3 Relief and soil . H. Brückner & M. Huhmann.
- SP 1.4 Climate. The climate of the Upper Dniester region. Physico-geographical conditions and landscape structure of the Upper Dniester region, western Ukraine . B. Mucha, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv.
- TP 2.1. Biotope mapping . Subproject leader Vasyl Tkatschyk. Main participants: V. Melnyk, N. Tkachyk (Dmytertschuk), U. Levchyshyn.
- SP 2.2 Village vegetation .
- SP 2.3 Breeding birds and amphibians .
- SP 2.4 .: Material pollution . Sub-project leader: OM Adamenko.
- SP 2.5: Concepts for the rehabilitation of rivers . Sub-project management: Hans Wilhelm Bohle, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Biology - Zoology.
- TP 2.6. Hydrology
- TP 3.1. Land use development . Project leader: P. Shtojko, the participants: I. Kojnowa, R. Slywka.
- SP 3.2. Current landscape and agricultural structure as well as their recent changes caused by transformation processes . Sub-project leader: Wilfried Endlicher. Research Associate: Dipl.-Geogr. Barbara Bosch. Student staff: Vinzenz Mewis, Tanja Zastrutzki, Steffi Lehmann.
- SP 3.4 Grazing systems . Sub-project leader: H. Plachter; Knowledge Employee. Rolf Satzger (Philipps University of Marburg, Department of Biology, Department of Nature Conservation). Sub-project leader: J. Tsaryk, Wiss. Staff: Inna Tsaryk (Ivan Franko University Lviv, Faculty of Biology, Department of Zoology).
- TP 3.5. Vegetation studies for the development of near-natural forest use concepts . Subproject leader: PA Schmidt, Institute for General Ecology and Environmental Protection, Department of Forest Sciences, Technical University of Dresden; M. Tschernjawskyj Ukrainian State Forest Technology University Lviv (USFU). Staff: Dipl. Forstwirt Thomas Glaser, Institute for General Ecology and Environmental Protection, Forest Sciences, Technical University Dresden, P. Jaschtschenko, Institute for Carpathian Ecology (IK), J. Henyk, USFU, S. Grydzhuk, USFU.
- SP 3.5 Soil zoological contributions to the development of near-natural forest use concepts . German contractor: Prof. Dr. M. Roth, A. Kohlert, Professorship for Forest Zoology, Institute for Forest Botany and Forest Zoology, TUD. Forest Sciences Department. Ukrainian contractors: M. Kozlovsky, I. Kaprus, W. Risun, IK.
- SP 3.6 Fish Resource . Staff: V. Lesnik & E. Korte.
- SP 3.7 Land use planning . Subproject leader: Prof. Dr. Giselher Kaule, University of Stuttgart, Institute for Landscape Planning and Ecology (US), M. Kit. Employees: B. Holz (US), S. Pozniak.
- SP 3.8 Ecological principles of nature conservation . Subproject manager S.Stojko. Collaborators: S. Stojko, K. Malinovski, K. Tatarinov.
Organization of the research project
Typical model communities were defined for each model room. The model room 1 (MR1) was assigned to the Carpathian Mountains and is divided into two sub-areas. The first sub-area (MR1A) contains the model communities Busowysko and Verkhniy Luzhok and is located on the upper reaches of the Dniester: the model area MR1A extends roughly from the city of Turka to the city of Staryj Sambir. On the upper reaches of the river Stryj there is sub-area MR1b, which extends roughly from the source of the river to the village of Verkhnie Synevydne. The model communities Wolosianka and Jalynkuwate are located here. In the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains - for example from the village of Hordznia to the city of Mykolaiv - there is a model room MR2 with the model communities Dublany and Kolodruby. The Koropets river valley was chosen for the third model room (MR3). For each model room, GIS maps in scales from 1: 10,000 to 1: 200,000 were created according to the needs of the sub-projects. The digital maps form the basis of the GIS database. It contains in particular data on biotopes, forest distribution, soil maps and mapping results on the distribution of animal and plant species that are listed in the Red Book of Ukraine
Individual evidence
- ↑ UNESCO / BMBF research project 'Transformation processes in the Dniester region (Western Ukraine)'. .
- ↑ Transformation processes in the Western Ukraine ( Memento of the original from June 21, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
