Moldova

Moldova is one of the most vulnerable countries in Europe in terms of the effects of climate change. Rural areas are increasingly affected by extreme droughts and floods. Due to intensive agriculture and logging, people have cut down most of the trees in the past - forests now cover only a tenth of the territory - which worsens the water regime of the landscape. At the same time, almost sixty percent of the population lives in the countryside and agriculture is a vital source of livelihood for them. The country's development is largely paralyzed by the frozen conflict that has led to the unrecognized Transnistrian Republic on the left bank of the river.

We have published a handbook with practical tips, we support active people and local communities from the rural areas who care about the revitalization of rivers and landscapes - for example, when planting trees. We also focus on the presence of pollution in the rivers, which leads to massive fish deaths every year, and we work to clarify the causes and find the culprits.

We strive for progressive changes in the ossified legislation, in which laws from the times of the Soviet Union still survive. For example, we have succeeded in extending the ban on imports of synthetic fishing nets used by poachers. We promote better public access to environmental information and participation in decision-making processes.

Information in Russian can be found at https://arnika.org/ru/moldova 

Our work is supported by the Transition Promotion Program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.