Environmentalists protested against the expansion of the Oder on the International Day of Rivers in Kienitz near Letschin (Märkisch-Oderland). With canoes and banners they were out and about at the port of Kienitz on the German-Polish border river.
In August there was a massive death of fish in the Oder. “In order to prevent further disasters, we must jointly end the development of the Oder and invest in the protection and renaturation of the entire Oder and ban toxic discharges,” demanded the initiator of the protest, Norbert Bartel.
The fish kill had led to upsets in the relationship between Germany and Poland. Poland insists on an expansion of the Oder, Germany wants a stop.
The Leibniz Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) also warns against further regulating the Oder through river engineering measures such as deepening and lowering limit values for emissions. There are also lawsuits from environmental organizations.
