Million project on the Oder: Together against climate change and epidemics!

Million project on the Oder: Together against climate change and epidemics!

An important project has seen the light of day, the goal of which is to combat climate change and animal diseases. On July 10, 2025, the district councilors from Poland and Germany signed a funding contract for an impressive 1.8 million euros. This initiative is urgently necessary because the threats from climate change do not stop at national borders, as the Uckermark district councilor Karina Dörk emphasizes. The devastating fish death in the summer of 2022, triggered by high salinated salinas in the water, is an impressive example of the dramatic consequences that climate change brings with it, how Nordkurier reported.

In order to be up to the challenges of the future, the project includes better preparation for dangers and cross -border cooperation in an emergency. Fire brigade exercises and training courses are to be coordinated, for which Ewa Dudar, district administrator of the Polish district of Gryfino, particularly emphasizes the bundling of forces in natural disasters. The joint operational network between Uckermark, Vorpommern-Greifswald and Gryfino plans, among other things, the development of alarm and operational concepts that should benefit all counties.

dangers from animal diseases

A central point of the project is to combat animal diseases that are transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks and flies. These zoonoses can not only endanger animals and humans, but also the biological diversity and the economy as a whole. Agriculture and tourism in particular are affected by these threats. The dangers from climate change should not be underestimated, because they favor the spread of new animal diseases, such as the Wochenblatt DLV. In Germany, vector-associated epidemics such as the West Nile virus are expected, while high summer temperatures are massively endangering fish and other living things.

In the context of this cooperation, the tasks are clearly distributed. The Uckermark will take care of the rescue from danger areas and the limitation of hazardous substances, while Vorpommern-Greifswald takes over the management of the emergency services. Gryfino, on the other hand, will specialize in environmental analysis. It is planned to carry out extensive exercises for practical operational readiness by 2028.

teaching from the disaster

The analysis of the EU on the environmental disaster in the summer of 2022 has shown that high salinated salaries in Oder, caused by industrial wastewater, were essential factors for fish death. The toxic algae blossom, which killed 360 tons of fish, illustrates the urgency of quick action. EU Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius therefore calls for the implementation of the recommendations from the report, which affect, among other things, the tightening of environmental regulations and the improvement of environmental management. In particular, the sources of salt -containing introductions should be better monitored and identified in the future in order to avoid similar disasters. The need to develop management strategies in the catchment area of Oder is in the focus of how Germany.Represation.ec.europa.eu emphasized.

The challenges that climate change imposes to us can also be felt in agriculture. Heat, shortage of water and rising temperatures increase the risk of fish death and require new solutions that must have an eye on both animal welfare and health of humans and animals. With unified alarm and operational concepts, the counties can ensure that they remain capable of acting even in difficult conditions.