Moldova, Ukraine and Romania became involved in a transboundary project to monitor the ecosystems of the rivers situated in the Black Sea Basin. In the launch conference in Chisinau, the project’s manager Elena Zubkov said a common system of environmental indicators that are essential in the long-term monitoring of transboundary ecosystems will be worked out. The obtained results and the recommendations for improving the situation will be published on an online platform, IPN reports.

According to Elena Zubkov, a consortium of researchers from three countries could be constituted at the end of the project to monitor transboundary ecosystems in the long run. Within the same project, there will be improved the population’s access to scientific reports and information from researchers and staged working meetings, summer schools, workshops, etc. “By saving the river, we save ourselves,” stated Elena Zubkov.

Ion Toderaș, director of the Institute of Zoology, said the Republic of Moldova has the poorest water resources among all the post-Soviet states. “Without natural capital, we have no chance of survival,” he stated.

The HydroEcoNex project “Creating a system of innovative transboundary monitoring of the transformations of the Black Sea river ecosystems under the impact of hydropower development and climate change” will be implemented by the Institute of Zoology in partnership with the Eco-Tiras International Association of River Keepers, the Lower Danube University of Galați, the Ukrainian Scientific Center of Ecology of the Sea and the Hydrometeorological Center of the Black and Azov Seas.

The project has a total budget of about €900,000 and is financed by the European Union through the European Neighborhood Instrument within the Joint Operational Program “Black Sea Basin 2014-2020”.