Despite the massive fish kill, Poland is planning to further expand the Oder for shipping. Environmental groups are horrified: the catastrophe must be used as an opportunity to revive and stop expansion to protect ecosystems. Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke takes a similar view.
In view of the fish deaths in the Oder, several nature conservation and environmental organizations are pushing for a comprehensive rescue plan for the German-Polish border river. “The dramatic loss of fish, mussels and other molluscs, both in absolute numbers and in biodiversity, as well as the unforeseeable consequences for the ecosystem of the Oder require rapid, comprehensive political action,” demanded the German Nature Conservation Ring. The catastrophe must be used as an opportunity for revival, in which the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany must participate.
The associations also include the Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND), the German Environmental Aid, the Nature Conservation Union (NABU), WWF Germany, the Euronatur Foundation and the Heinz Sielmann Foundation. They consider an immediate stop to the expansion of the Oder planned by Poland to be necessary. The Oder must be protected and used in an environmentally friendly manner, which requires long-term funds. In addition, the monitoring of the water must be improved.
At the German-Polish Environmental Council, Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke and her Polish counterpart Anna Moskwa should launch an Oder action program on Monday. At the German-Polish meeting in Bad Saarow in Brandenburg, the fish kill should be an issue: Lemke had announced that, in addition to further education, there should be talks about how the Oder can be regenerated and a better ecological condition can be achieved. Lemke had already called for an end to the Oder expansion.
Masses of dead fish had been discovered in the border river. The exact cause of the fish kill is not yet clear. Scientists see a major reason for the environmental catastrophe in the river’s high salinity, combined with low water, high temperatures and a toxic species of algae. Environmentalists had warned of another fish kill.
