LITHUANIAN NATURAL HERITAGE

Erasmus + project " Acting Now for Future" , 4th meeting in Kaunas

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11/10/2022- 13/10/2022.

Curonian Spit

• Curonian Spit is a 98-kilometre long, sand-dune spit that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea coast. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site shared by the two countries.
• The Curonian Spit for centuries has been an area of massive traveling dunes, the so-called “Lithuanian Sahara”. It’s few fishing villages used to be temporary: over 10 of them are known to have been consumed by the moving dunes.
• The origin of the Curonian Spit (neria curoniensis) name is linked to the Curonians – a tribe of Western Balts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5emmoKhMYE

Environmental problems and solutions

Problems:

• Increased tourism destroys the very nature that attracts it.
• Due to the importance of tourism and fishing for the regional economy, pollution of sea and coastlines may have disastrous effects for the area as the unique nature and the economy would be damaged.

Solutions:

• Banning tourists from hiking in certain areas of the spit.
• To reduce the pollution of sea and coastline there has to be higher taxes for fishermen and cargo ships working in the Lagoon

Environmental problems and solutions

Problem:

In 2020 a company Grigeo Klaipėda purposely poluted the Curonian lagoon by releasing untreated waste water

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Solution:

To avoid problems like this, the government could look into companies work and control some aspects of their activities. Also introduce bigger taxes for pollution.

Environmental problems and solutions

Problem:

In 2022 a series of explosions occurred in the Nord Stream pipeline, dumping large amounts of liquid natural gas into the baltic sea.

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Trakai

Trakai is the city situated between 3 lakes, that represents Lithuania for more than two million tourists every year. It is well known for its natural beauty of landscapes, wildlife reserves, forests and the island castle on lake Galvė which is the only one of its kind in Europe.

Environmental problems and solutions

Problems:

• Due to massive tourism environment faces quite a few issues
• Noise and carbon emission
• Littering

Solutions:

• Creating a virtual tour around the city and the castle
• Introduce a city entrance fee
• Make the parking more expensive

Dzūkija national park

Dzūkija National Park was established in 1991 in order to preserve the pine forests, the landscape, and the villages of the region. It‘s one of the major national parks in Lithuania. It’s famous for pine tree forests which hides tiny Lithuanian villages, sandy rivers and lakes and of course famous Druskininkai resort neighbouring to Dzūkija National Park.

Environmental problems and solutions

Problems:

• Big flow of tourists in the summer
• In 2019 tire fire in Alytus had big impact on Dzūkija National park. Fire extracted huge carbon emission which had negative effect on parks environment
• Due to the loss of traditional land use, the growth of rivers, meadows and farmlands with trees and shrubs is increasing.

Solutions:

• Control the flow of the tourists
• Allocate funds for environmental management

Kaunas Lagoon regional park

Kaunas Lagoon Regional Park is exceptional because of the amazing nature and history. In 1959 after the construction of Kaunas hydroelectric power station, the waters of the Nemunas river flooded a great part of the valley, covering an area of over 6.350 ha and formed a wonderful lagoon landscape; impressive shoreline rock exposures, a rich and complex aquatic ecosystem, wide, shallow bays and wooded peninsulas with steep, narrow bays.

Environmental problems and solutions

Problems:

• Annual seaweed reproduction in summer season has negative impact on Kaunas Lagoon ecosystem since more seaweeds extract more toxins
• Factories next to the lagoon might be polluting the water with toxic waste�

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Solutions:

• To avoid problems like this, the government could look into companies work and control some aspects of their activities. Also introduce bigger taxes for pollution.

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Environmental problems and solutions

Problems:

• Kaunas Hydroelectrical Power Plant disturbed the ecosystem

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Solutions

• Reduce Kaunas Hydroelectrical Power plant production to minimum

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Thank you for your attention