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Abstract/Summary
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The River Oder is one of the last relatively near-natural large rivers in Europe. Yet the government of the Republic of Poland is planning to develop the River Oder with funding by the World Bank, the EU, and the Council of Europe Development Bank. While Germany has also actually committed to the development in a bilateral agreement however, the specific German implementation plans and timelines have not been made public yet. Already now, one thing is for sure: the measures will irreversibly destroy valuable habitats of many rare and endangered animal and plant species on both the Polish and the German side of the river. The plans violate EU law in several respects and endanger not only the environment, but also agriculture on both sides of the River Oder. This conclusion is reached by researchers from the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany’s largest freshwater research centre. The researchers have contributed to the previous planning process by conducting scientific studies, preparing expert opinions and providing specialist advice. In this IGB Policy Brief, the authors now urgently recommend that the European Commission, the Federal Government and the Brandenburg State Government take further diplomatic and legal action against the Polish development project and also stop the development plans in Germany. Instead, all levels of government are urged to support the protection of the River Oder as an ecological focus area.
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