Press releases

BREST, 14 August (BelTA) – Pinsk Oblast will host a cross-border festival of small rivers on 22 August, BelTA learned from the local foundation for promoting international dialogue and cooperation Interaction.

Representatives of Pinsk District together with representatives of Ukraine’s Lubeshov District are implementing the small river monitoring project Transboundary Water Inspectors. The initiative is aimed at comprehensive protection of water bodies in the Pripyat basin. One of the stages of the project involves the organization of a festival of small rivers. The family festival will take place in the village of Pinkovichi.

“First of all, we want to attract the attention of the population to the problems of small rivers, to instill a culture of ecological behavior. Such events are one of the ways to encourage people to think that environmental conditions depend on them and their responsible attitude to nature,” the organizers said.

The program of the festival will include the review of the results of the cross-border summer camp which is to take place in the village of Kallaurovichi on 16-21 August. The camp will welcome 200 school students from Pinsk District and Lubeshov District. They will monitor the state of small rivers in their settlements where 20 public environmental posts will be set up. Experts will teach children to use a compact chemical laboratory and carry out monitoring campaigns, make water filters. The camp will also include events on waste sorting and the flora and fauna of rivers.

The Transboundary Water Inspectors project is co-financed by the European Union under the Eastern Partnership territorial cooperation program Belarus-Ukraine. The total budget of the initiative will be about €278,000, with the EU’s contribution making up 90% of the amount. The project is implemented by the Pinsk District Executive Committee and the Interaction Fund. Their partners are the Education, Youth and Sports Department of the Lubeshov District Administration and the public environmental organization The World Around Us.