Integrated environmental management of transboundary transitional waters: Curonian Lagoon case study

Abstract

The term transitional waters embraces a wide array of ecosystems' types, including river mouth ecosystems, lagoons, coastal lakes, rias, fjords and fjards, brackish wetlands and hyper-saline ecosystems. The paper analyzes the challenges of integrated environmental planning of the transboundary transitional waters based on the case study of the Curonian Lagoon, which is the largest coastal lagoon in Europe shared by Lithuania and Russia. In terms of the water quality management framework on the basin level, the Russian Neman river water management district is by and large complementary to the Lithuanian Nemunas River Basin District. Yet, differently from the European Union, transitional or coastal waters are not integrated into the river basin management schemes or action programmes in Russia. Since there is no equivalent term for ‘transitional waters’ in the legislation of the Russian Federation, the Russian part of the Curonian Lagoon is classified as an ‘internal marine water body’ and, therefore, it is not subject to the river basin management regulations. There is significant transboundary coherence in the management of the terrestrial protected areas adjacent to the Curonian Lagoon. However, the aquatic protected areas, which cover the marine nearshore of the Baltic Sea and the entire lagoon area in the Lithuanian part of the region are not matched by reciprocal aquatic nature protection in the Russian part, except of the 1 km wide nearshore strip in front of the Nemunas Delta. Currently, there is no cross-border management plan for the entire Curonian Lagoon as a single transboundary transitional water body. Concise yet straightforward planning scope, high-ranking governmental support, proper financing, dedicated cooperation between local, regional, and national authorities, and the participatory approach are the essential principles for the successful cross-border integrated environmental planning and management of the transboundary transitional waters.