Where water is shared between two or more countries, the same threats to the environment is shared. In the Interreg Aurora funded project Our Precious transboundary waters the aim of the cooperation is solving the shared problems by developing joint tools that is needed in a joint water management of the Pasvik, Neiden and Tana regions. To achieve the goals of the project, it is necessary to combine information and know-how from the Finnish and Norwegian parts of the transboundary watersheds to get a common picture of the changes taking place here.
The project will document and study the current state of the environment in the Pasvik river catchment, based on methods harmonized in previous projects and create joint salmon database for Neiden river catchment. The project will also make common plans preventing the spread of salmon parasite Gyrodactylus salaris to Tana and Neiden rivers and master new methods to evaluate genetic diversity and differentiation for brown trout, a species of conservation concern.
The project responds to the request of people living in the border municipalities of Finland and Norway to raise awareness of the state of the transboundary watersheds of the Pasvik, Neiden and Tana regions, and strengthens the cross-border interaction among municipalities, local NGOs, scientific organizations and government authorities in Norway and Finland. The project is implemented at the initiative of the Finnish-Norwegian Transboundary Water Commission.
You can read more about the Finnish-Norwegian Transboundary Water Commission on this webpage
The project has been appointed as an Operation of Strategic Importance by the Interreg Aurora Programme. This means a project which provides a significant contribution to the achievement of the objectives of the Interreg Aurora Programme.
Contact: Ilona Grekelä, ELY Elinkeino-, liikenne- ja ympäristökeskusten sekä työ- ja elinkeinotoimistojen kehittämis- ja hallintokeskus – ilona.grekela@ely-keskus.fi
