The EcoDefense, an NGO based in Kaliningrad, is looking for partners, possibly Nordic NGOs, for a project aimed to study and protect the tree avenues of Kaliningrad region, to be submitted to the NGO Support Program of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
The project is to strengthen civil environmental rights through protection of an important element of our common historical, natural, and cultural landscape, the avenues, through cooperation and good practices transfer by Nordic, Baltic, Polish and Kaliningrad NGOs.
The avenues, or green corridors of Europe, are lines of trees by sides of roads and streets. They present European rich natural and cultural heritage and need to be cared now and preserved for future generations. With their aesthetic, environmental, and economic values, the tree-lined avenues form a living environment for the local communities, serve as an essential element of road infrastructure, and provide valuable ecosystem services.
Unique for Russia, in Kaliningrad region, the avenues are an important and recognizable feature of region’s landscape that belongs to history and nature of the area. They are an integral element of regional identity that connects past and present generations living on this land. Presently, Kaliningrad avenues have no legal protection and are exposed to destruction by regional authorities.
The project will study, adopt and implement skills and expertise of the Nordic countries, Baltic States, and Poland in the field of the avenues protection and regulation to help to develop a legal avenue protection base as well as give Kaliningrad activists necessary cross-border support and mobilize awareness rising cultural, social, and planting initiatives. The project will strengthen cultural landscape protection and build the capacity of NGOs in countries involved.
The project application will be submitted to the NGO Support Program of the Nordic Council of Ministers. The deadline for submissions is October 15, 2017. The program does not require co-financing by the project partners. Only nongovernmental organizations are eligible as project partners under the program.
More information about the project: