As you may have heard, the Ukrainian government has just started work on a canal which will severely damage the Danube Delta nature reserve. The 3km deep-water channel will pass through an internationally protected part of the reserve and destroy the nesting areas of thousands of endangered birds. The Danube Delta is the most important breeding area for birds in the whole of Europe. If this canal is built it will fundamentally disrupt the hydrological balance of the delta by taking water from other estuaries. It will also bring oil pollution into the reserve and will physically threaten the habitat of thousands of rare birds.
This area is protected by the Ramsar Convention on Weltlands, is part of the Ukrainian and Romanian cross-border biosphere reserve and is on the UNESCO global reserve network list. Within the part of the delta directly impacted by the canal there are 223 bird species, of which five are from the European Red list and 31 are from the Red Book of Ukraine: these are species which are known to be threatened with extinction.
Even the US State Department, not normally noted for its high level of environmental awareness, is concerned about the situation:
“The biosphere region of the Danube Delta provides crucial habitat for endangered species, vital nesting grounds for over 300 species of migratory birds and spawning grounds that support a vital herring fishery. The U.S. Government has urged the Government of Ukraine to conduct the necessary impartial environmental impact assessment for the proposed canal and to select a route that will minimize the destructive impact on the environment, thus fulfilling its international commitments under the environmental agreements to which it is a party. ”
According to the Ukrainian Union for Bird Conservation (UTOP):
“If it goes ahead, this development will destroy the nesting and staging sites of tens of thousands of birds, including six species on the IUCN Red List of Globally Threatened Species and 38 on the Ukrainian Red List”, said Oleg Dudkin of UTOP. “Along with the Volga Delta in Russia, this is the most important wetland site for birds in Europe”. In a letter sent last month, UTOP urged the Ukrainian Government to give an undertaking to cancel plans for the new canal at the European Environment Minister’s Summit in Kiev which opened on 21 May. UTOP says there are at least six preferable alternative routes to the proposed canal including Solomonov – Zhebriyanovskaya Bay.”
The Ukrainian government approached a number of Dutch companies to do the work and they sensibly refused. However a German company, Josef Moebius Bau-Aktiengesellschaft of Hamburg clearly has lower ethical standards. This company has set up a subsidiary, the Danube Biosphere Reserve Company and has sent one of its ships, the Josef Moebius, to start the dredging.
Since the German government helped finance the Danube Delta Biodiversity Project they might be interested to know that a German company is going to be responsible for damaging it. In order to express your disatisfaction with this please contact the German ambassador in Ukraine:
German Embassy in Ukraine
wi@german-embassy.kiev.ua
His Excellency Dietmar Gerhard Studemann
Botschafter der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in der Ukraine
Vul. Bohdana Chmelnytzkoho 25
01901 Kyiv, Ukraine
Fax: + 38 044 247 68 18
In addition you can contact this company directly:
Hauptverwaltung
Josef Moebius Bau-Aktiengesellschaft
Vorstand (Chief executive) Herr Dipl.-Ing. Werner Moebius
Brandstucken 18 22549 Hamburg
Telefon: 0 40 - 800 903 - 0
Telefax: 0 40 - 800 48 10 E-Mail: Konrad.Smiatek@moebiusbau.de and
kontakt@moebiusbau.de
http://www.moebiusbau.de/data/index2.html
One of the most effective ways of protesting about the project is to contact the Ukrainian embassy in your own country. Here is a list of Ukrainian embassies: http://www.brama.com/ua-gov/diprep.html
In addition, you can fax and email the Ukrainian president himself:
President Leonid Danilovich Kuchma
Vul. Bankova, 11
252220 Kiev
Ukraine
Fax: +380-44-293-1001
email: questions@adm.gov.ua
Here are some other Ukrainian ministers who share responsibility for the disaster:
Prime Minister
Mr Viktor Yanukovich
str. Grushgevkogo 12
01019 Kiev
Ukraine
Fax: +380 44 2930535
email: portal@kmu.gov.ua
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr. Anatoliy Zlenko
Mykhaylivska pl. 1
252018 Kiev
Ukraine
Fax: 380-44-293-6950
email: zsmfa@mfa.gov.ua
Minister of Transport
Mr G KirpaMinistry of Transport
Peremohy pr 57
252113 Kiev
Ukraine
email: com@mintrans.kiev.ua
Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources
Mr V. Shevchuk
fax: +380 44 229-83-83,
e-mail: mep@mep.freenet.kiev.ua
NEKOS VLADIMIR YEFIMOVICH
Head of the Geoecology and Constructive Geography Department
(the group which gave a positive assessment to the canal project).
Phone: +38 (057) 707-53-86
e-mail: vnekos@mail.ru
vladimir.e.nekos@univer.kharkov.ua
DELTA-LOTSMAN state company
VIKTOR BEZDOLNY - director
Main Ukrainian contractor on the canal project
tel: 380-512500901
fax: 380-512500999
e-mail: delta@pilot.mk.ua
Head of Administration Odessa Region
Mr S Grineveckiy.
e-mail: webadmin@ogn.odessa.net
Thank you for your concern and interest.
Dr Paul Kail
Director
Animal Consciousness Foundation
http://www.animals.org
This area is protected by the Ramsar Convention on Weltlands, is part of the Ukrainian and Romanian cross-border biosphere reserve and is on the UNESCO global reserve network list. Within the part of the delta directly impacted by the canal there are 223 bird species, of which five are from the European Red list and 31 are from the Red Book of Ukraine: these are species which are known to be threatened with extinction.
Even the US State Department, not normally noted for its high level of environmental awareness, is concerned about the situation:
“The biosphere region of the Danube Delta provides crucial habitat for endangered species, vital nesting grounds for over 300 species of migratory birds and spawning grounds that support a vital herring fishery. The U.S. Government has urged the Government of Ukraine to conduct the necessary impartial environmental impact assessment for the proposed canal and to select a route that will minimize the destructive impact on the environment, thus fulfilling its international commitments under the environmental agreements to which it is a party. ”
According to the Ukrainian Union for Bird Conservation (UTOP):
“If it goes ahead, this development will destroy the nesting and staging sites of tens of thousands of birds, including six species on the IUCN Red List of Globally Threatened Species and 38 on the Ukrainian Red List”, said Oleg Dudkin of UTOP. “Along with the Volga Delta in Russia, this is the most important wetland site for birds in Europe”. In a letter sent last month, UTOP urged the Ukrainian Government to give an undertaking to cancel plans for the new canal at the European Environment Minister’s Summit in Kiev which opened on 21 May. UTOP says there are at least six preferable alternative routes to the proposed canal including Solomonov – Zhebriyanovskaya Bay.”
The Ukrainian government approached a number of Dutch companies to do the work and they sensibly refused. However a German company, Josef Moebius Bau-Aktiengesellschaft of Hamburg clearly has lower ethical standards. This company has set up a subsidiary, the Danube Biosphere Reserve Company and has sent one of its ships, the Josef Moebius, to start the dredging.
Since the German government helped finance the Danube Delta Biodiversity Project they might be interested to know that a German company is going to be responsible for damaging it. In order to express your disatisfaction with this please contact the German ambassador in Ukraine:
German Embassy in Ukraine
wi@german-embassy.kiev.ua
His Excellency Dietmar Gerhard Studemann
Botschafter der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in der Ukraine
Vul. Bohdana Chmelnytzkoho 25
01901 Kyiv, Ukraine
Fax: + 38 044 247 68 18
In addition you can contact this company directly:
Hauptverwaltung
Josef Moebius Bau-Aktiengesellschaft
Vorstand (Chief executive) Herr Dipl.-Ing. Werner Moebius
Brandstucken 18 22549 Hamburg
Telefon: 0 40 - 800 903 - 0
Telefax: 0 40 - 800 48 10 E-Mail: Konrad.Smiatek@moebiusbau.de and
kontakt@moebiusbau.de
http://www.moebiusbau.de/data/index2.html
One of the most effective ways of protesting about the project is to contact the Ukrainian embassy in your own country. Here is a list of Ukrainian embassies: http://www.brama.com/ua-gov/diprep.html
In addition, you can fax and email the Ukrainian president himself:
President Leonid Danilovich Kuchma
Vul. Bankova, 11
252220 Kiev
Ukraine
Fax: +380-44-293-1001
email: questions@adm.gov.ua
Here are some other Ukrainian ministers who share responsibility for the disaster:
Prime Minister
Mr Viktor Yanukovich
str. Grushgevkogo 12
01019 Kiev
Ukraine
Fax: +380 44 2930535
email: portal@kmu.gov.ua
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mr. Anatoliy Zlenko
Mykhaylivska pl. 1
252018 Kiev
Ukraine
Fax: 380-44-293-6950
email: zsmfa@mfa.gov.ua
Minister of Transport
Mr G KirpaMinistry of Transport
Peremohy pr 57
252113 Kiev
Ukraine
email: com@mintrans.kiev.ua
Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources
Mr V. Shevchuk
fax: +380 44 229-83-83,
e-mail: mep@mep.freenet.kiev.ua
NEKOS VLADIMIR YEFIMOVICH
Head of the Geoecology and Constructive Geography Department
(the group which gave a positive assessment to the canal project).
Phone: +38 (057) 707-53-86
e-mail: vnekos@mail.ru
vladimir.e.nekos@univer.kharkov.ua
DELTA-LOTSMAN state company
VIKTOR BEZDOLNY - director
Main Ukrainian contractor on the canal project
tel: 380-512500901
fax: 380-512500999
e-mail: delta@pilot.mk.ua
Head of Administration Odessa Region
Mr S Grineveckiy.
e-mail: webadmin@ogn.odessa.net
Thank you for your concern and interest.
Dr Paul Kail
Director
Animal Consciousness Foundation
http://www.animals.org