Peipus

Several bi-national, regional and local agreements taken place, considerable efforts and time added to the general climate of building trust between two riparian countries in different spheres of life. It resulted in the development of the crossborder cooperation networks and institutional strengthening. Furthermore, it’s worth mentioning the cooperation developed among the local authorities, small businesses for environment and tourism, and NGO networks. Transboundary cooperation was gradually established and proved to be viable though some key issues like the agreement and approval of LBMP, Monitoring Programme and some other documents are still in process The harmonization of standards, norms and procedures is still on-going process where there is a need of the agreement on such issues as joint water quality monitoring, similar and comparable monitoring systems, use of agreed parameters and timely data collection and sharing after validation. Furthermore, the harmonization of the norms, standards and procedures as an instrument of the LBMP implementation will ensure a sustainable use and protection of transboundary water resources through (i) maintenance and improvement of the lake’s water quality, (ii) sustainable use of transboundary waters, (iii) restoration of fish stock and sustainable use of fish resources, (iv) protection of the lake’s wildlife, and (v) joint management of the Lake’s Basin via coordinated activities, environmental monitoring, information exchange, additional research and studies, joint surveillance, public participation, financing, etc.

Center for Transboundary Cooperation is an international non-profit institute, which works to promote balanced development of border areas, especially in Lake Peipsi/Chudskoe region.

. The TDA was prepared by Akvaplan- NIVA A/S in cooperation with other institutions from Estonia and Russia in February 2005. Since the satellite projects were still on-going it brought certain limitations to apply to full extent the final data, findings and recommendations drawn by those projects and relevant to the UNDP/GEF project. Whilst preparing the TDA there was still an uncertainty related to the pollution sources and loads from the Russian part of the Lake Peipsi due to the delay with the EU Tacis project implementation. The draft of Monitoring Programme was developed in the 3rd Quarter of 2004. There were three joint expeditions carried out in 2003 and 2004. Furthermore, previous joint monitoring results were used for data analysis. • A TDA was completed and adoption of the Management Programme was finalized in 2006. • A program for coordinated surface water monitoring in the two countries using UN ECE guidelines was prepared and agreed to in principle. Implementation was begun with activities such as two joint monitoring expeditions and two winter samplings. • A Nutrient Load Reduction Plan was completed, with wastewater discharge reduction targets set for 2015. • Two feasibility studies were conducted: one on ecological farming in the Basin; and another on water and ecological tourism around the lake.

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