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Ecological basin Policy

Ecological basin Policy

by Lagutov Vladimir Victorovich
Center of Coordination and Information "Azovbass"
Nongovernmental Regional Ecological Movement "Green Don"
Russia, Novocherkassk, 346408
Dachnaya str. 1, ap.2
tel. (7-86352) 27239
e-mail: zedon@novoch.ru

1. The existing situation in the former Soviet Union could be characterized as following:

- complete failure of the governmental ecological policy;
- inability of the first sector (national authority) to improve situation by structural reorganization or funding changes;
- insignificant influence of nongovernmental organizations on current situation and the decision-making process;
- inapplicability of western experience to the local conditions due to the big scale of the work to be done and absence of civil society.

2. Concept

2.1 The concept is aimed at the stabilization of the environment under conditions of limited resources and authority degradation. The main idea behind the realization of this goal is the dislocation of the most active social part of the local population in the key areas of river basins.

2.2 Ecological aspects
based on the selection of six main criterias for the boundaries establishment for ethno-natural protected territory:
- the whole basin is managed according to highest water priority;
- the controlled territory is the floodplain as the key element of the basin;
- biodiversity indicator is the most vulnerable species of the river ecosystem (sturgeon for the Azov Sea basin);
- the whole migration route for the selected species is restored from the places for living and feeding to the spawning ones;
- the life cycle is protected by special status of the territory limited by the most possible area of floodplain;
- the traditional (sustainable) usage of natural resources with elimination of pollution sources is established on the whole ethno-natural territory

2.3 Social aspects

based on the introduction of real self-government of local population in the questions of the restoration of traditional, that means rational, usage of natural resources and style life on those territories
- the most active social part of the population in the given basin is chosen (Cossacks in the Azov Sea basin);
- the traditional Cossacks' self-government is restored on the mentioned territories.
- the structure of CossacksÒ community are defined by the natural pattern of the river stream;
- the relationships with other parts of the basin are based on the principle of the ecological domination and the economic regulations;
- all nature-protected agencies and ecological founds are reorganized into the one basin management agency governing all protected territories;
- the relationships in transbourder regions of the basin are constructed similarly.

3. Expected outputs

3.1 The environment in the basin is stabilized and controlled on the whole catchment area by local population as the most effective forces of alert response.
3.2 From the international perspective could be solved the following problems:
- the sustainable region development;
- biodiversity rescue;
- transborder problems within one watershed and basin;
- the restoration of the traditional style life of the local population.

3.3 Providing the most active and destabilizing part of the society with the employment and duties useful for the whole society.
3.4 the creation of preconditions for the restoration of civil society by using successful example of the ecological situation improvement in the most damaged areas of the basin.
3.5 participation of the NGO community in the process as the information, control and coordination centers with limited funding in the framework of international participation.
3.6 the fulfillment of SoES tasks as the social-ecological international organization.
3.7 the creation of state status for Cossack groups and the rehabilitation of the Cossack movement as the protector of environment from the destructive ecological policy of national authorities.
3.8 the redistribution of the forces balance in the community, which will be aimed at the biodiversity rescue and preventing ecosystems from degradation:
- at present the weak influence of NGOs (<1%) against authority (1%) and "business" causing natural degradation (5%) could be enforced by the participation of more active part of society (Cossacks - 5%), the significance of which will depend on the position of the European Community;
3.9 the opportunity of real activity for achievement of goals established at Rio-92 Summit on basin aspects of Strategic Action Proposals.