CCB activities in Lithuania Antanas Kontautas Klaipeda university

CCB activities in Lithuania Antanas Kontautas Klaipeda university CCB Anual conference and 25 aniversary Vilnius, 2015. 04. 25

Main activities in past • River restoration and ecological engeneering • Restoration of salmon and sea trout populations • Harmfull instalations • River watch and environmental education • Ecological agriculture

General information on rivers of Lithuania • In Lithuania there about 29 000 rivers, streams and rivulets, which all together constitute up to 64 000 km. • 97 % of all rivers are shorter than 10 km and 9 rivers are longer than 200 km. • The biggest river – Nemunas. The length in Lithuania’s territory – 475 km, basin area – 46 695 km 2 (total length – 937. 4 km, total basin – 97 863 km 2). • The average density of the Lithuanian river network is 0, 99 km per km 2. • The main problems relevant with rivers – The pollution of water • Agriculture • Industry • and sewage – Regulated rivers – Dams

Dammed rivers in Lithuania

River watch - main outputs • • • popularization of knowledge on local rivers among inhabitants; presentation of results to other pupils and teachers; placing of information and results in the mass-media promotion the valuable natural features of rivers by field trips (canoeing, walking) cleaning-up of local water courses from "mechanical" pollution; school debates on the basis of the results obtained and materials gathered; promotion of save use of water resources surveying of inhabitants regarding the state of the environment and of local rivers proposals for local institutions for actions making river water clean

Ecological engineering for environmental restoration: Smiltelė stream catchment • The initial project proposal involved several ecotechnological measures to be established in Smiltele river basin: – Establishment of buffer zones – Collection of rubbish and removal of silt from the streams – Creation of pool-riffle zones – Construction of artificial spawning sites – Cleaning of the Smiltele river pond – Building of artificial delta near the mouth of the tributaries – Creation of a sedimentation pond system in tributary Zarde • The main purpose of these measures was to decrease negative influence of excisting pollution sources to the ecosystem of Smiltele and increase river’s self-cleaning capacity.

Ecological engineering for environmental restoration: Smeltale stream catchment • The biggest tributary Smeltaite (12 km, 29, 3 km 2), which carries a heavy load of pollutants (agriculture sources and untreated wastewater) flows in mid-stream of Smiltele, where it’s not canalized and is most suitable for salmonids. • At the confluence of the Smeltaite and Smeltale, a parcel of land ca. 2 ha was turned into wetland for river water treatment. This was resulted in a meandering series of bioponds, separated by shallow thresholds planted with emergent vegetation. • The Smeltaite river Park was established for leisure time and ecological education 3.

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