An icy wind is blowing over the Oder this early afternoon. Steffi Lemke is also feeling cold. The Federal Minister for the Environment observes a white-tailed eagle, bean and white-fronted geese from the lookout tower in the Lower Oder Valley National Park and cannot get enough of the landscape. At the same time, Lemke is very concerned about the Oder ecosystem and Germany’s only floodplain national park, which is also the first large cross-border protected area with Poland. The major environmental catastrophe with massive fish deaths about four months ago has left its mark. Lemke and those responsible for the national park see the ecosystem threatened by undefined discharges into the river, the high level of salt input and the development of the Oder, which Poland is promoting.
According to the ministry, at least 360 tons of fish died on the Polish and German sides in August. Experts assume that high salinity in the river is a major reason, combined with low water, high temperatures and a toxic species of algae. According to the Federal Ministry for the Environment, hundreds of chemical substances can be contributory factors in the environmental catastrophe. The fish kill had led to upsets in the relationship between Germany and Poland. Poland continues to insist on an expansion of the Oder, Germany wants a stop.
Lemke reports on the initially “tough” talks with the Polish side in the search for the cause of the great fish kill. The salt load is a very big risk for the ecosystem, especially in the warm season, Lemke made clear. She wants to continue to urge Poland to identify the cause of the salt discharge into the river. “The most important thing remains that the Polish side must look at how the increased salt loads can be reduced.” The question is whether this will be done as a precautionary measure.
The proliferation of the toxic golden alga would not have been possible if the salt input had not been so high, she made it clear once again. The understanding of the problem has now grown on the Polish side. She is in discussion with the Polish side so that such a catastrophe will not happen again. On November 23, she discussed this in a video conference with her Polish colleague. In addition, there are intensive discussions in a working group with the Polish side and joint workshops will be held in the coming year – also on the problem of golden algae.
During her on-site appointment, the Green politician herself read the current measured values in the Oder in the area of the lower Oder valley in the Uckermark. The deputy park manager Michael Tautenhahn explained that the values currently show that the salt input is as high as it was during the environmental disaster in the summer. “This indicates that the water is polluted with some kind of discharge that doesn’t belong there.”
“The Oder now needs a recovery phase. Especially now, after such catastrophic damage, everything has to be geared towards supporting renaturation and regeneration here,” says Lemke.
Meanwhile, national park manager Dirk Treichel pointed to a section of the river on the Polish side, where the expansion of the Oder from 2024 is to progress, among other things, with the renewal of the groynes. Among other things, this results in a faster flow rate of the river. The expansion will lead to a change in the ecological conditions in the national park, says Treichel. Target species would disappear and European obligations such as the implementation of the Natura 2000 directive would no longer be met, he made clear. “It’s about a standardization of the Oder, including the shore areas.” The expansion of the river destroys its diversity.
Talks are being held with Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing, Lemke reported. The expansion in Poland is not about a “small repair” but about a far-reaching change in the ecosystem – including for the fish stocks.
For the Federal Environment Minister, the national park preserves natural treasures for children and grandchildren and also allows wilderness. “The question is how we can deal with these natural resources in the future and protect them better from the catastrophes of last summer with the terrible fish kill.” That’s what drives her, says the Green politician, who grew up on the Elbe. The freshwater ecosystems are the most threatened in Central Europe and at the same time the most species-rich.
