On October 30, 2018 at the headquarters of the Water Production Plant of the Upper Silesia Water Supply Holding in Goczałkowice-Zdrój, the first meeting of the Steering Committee was organized, supporting the implementation of the project “LIFE16 NAT / PL / 000766 Protection of wetland birds habitat in the Upper Vistula Valley”.
The guests were welcomed by Jolanta Prażuch, Regional Director of Environmental Protection in Katowice, thanking those participants who contributed to the launch of the Project. Special thanks were sent to the land managers for agreeing to carry out the work and signing agreements on cooperation and implementation of the project. During the meeting, the Chairman of the Committee and his deputies, Dr. habilitated doctor Robert Gwiazda from the Institute of Nature Conservation of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow and the lords of Arkadiusz Slaska, the President of the Breeding Center in Osiek, and the doctor Ilgiza Izmazarowa, director of the Polish Academy of Sciences of the Ichtiobiology and Fisheries Department in Gołysz.
During the first meeting of the Steering Committee participants were presented with the assumptions of the project, the rules of its operation, sources of financing and formal and legal conditions. Each of the beneficiaries discussed the activities that will be carried out as part of the project, indicating their state of advancement. Particular attention was paid to activities related to the protection of habitats on the Goczałkowice Reservoir and on gravel pits for which the beneficiaries prepare documentation enabling the selection of contractors.
After the break, a discussion was initiated, during which issues related to:
- taking into account in the technical parameters of islands for birds elements that will allow them to safely breed. It was also pointed out that the islands will be designed and constructed to be habitats for specific species included in the project;
- the problem of hazards posed by the beaver on the breeding ponds and the necessity to secure the islands and selected dikes in a way that protects them against these mammals;
- solutions adopted in the project related to securing the island on the Goczałkowice Reservoir, with particular emphasis on the specificity of this reservoir;
- the problem of location of fishing piers to be made as part of the activity related to the sewerage of tourist traffic;
- proposals for technical solutions for the implementation of beaches for terns on the islands, so that they can not be overgrown by bushes and trees.
The Steering Committee was appointed by the Regional Director for Environmental Protection in Katowice in June 2018. It is a consultative and advisory body in the scope of activities undertaken by the Beneficiaries as part of the project implementation. The members of the Committee substantively support the project team: they monitor the correct implementation of the project’s objectives, give guidelines for the scope of planned works, evaluate the implemented activities and participate in the ongoing monitoring of the project. The members of the Steering Committee include representatives of local governments from the areas covered by the project, employees of scientific communities, ornithologists specialized in fisheries management and managers of hydrotechnical facilities.