Objective
At a recent workshop on the health of Lake Baikal, an international group of scientists advocating continuous monitoring of the lake ecosystem was very worried that efforts to maintain the health of the lake may be reduced as a consequence of the economic difficulties of the present transitional period in Russia. Rather than reducing these efforts, further steps in the direction of more sophisticated analytical techniques, now available and being used in other great lakes, need to be implemented. The maintenance of the pristine condition of Lake Baikal is a regional, national and international duty. Other great lakes in the world have been subject to great anthropogenic stress and their restoration is now being attempted at very great expense.
The global heritage of Lake Baikal is still relatively intact and constitutes an international reference point. Owing to increasing local air pollution, the long-range transport of pollutants generated elsewhere, and the foreseen increase in pollutants reaching the lake via rivers, extremely careful control activities in the hydrographic basin and continuous monitoring of lake water should be performed. Because of the peculiar ecosystem of the Baikal area, it is impossible to extrapolate results and conclusions from previous experience of other lakes of similar or slightly smaller size, and therefore an ad hoc research project needs to be organised.
The aim of this project is to evaluate the levels of persistent contaminants in several areas of Lake Baikal, with particular emphasis on those contaminants with relevant ecological impact, in order to give some indications for the maintenance of the integrity of the lake. So far, the health of the ecosystem of Lake Baikal has not been studied extensively. The results of this project may prove that this remote lake has a better condition than many lakes elsewhere and may, therefore, have the function as a reference point.
The chemical and biological monitoring of water, sediment, flora and fauna obtained from several areas of Lake Baikal and analytical comparison of the results obtained on heavy metals and chlorinated hydrocarbons will provide information on the number of hot spots of contaminants in the lake; the locations of hot spots of contaminants in the lake; the size of the contaminated areas concerned; and the biological half-life of the most persistent contaminants.
A comprehensive review of all activities, results, comments and advice will be provided to the Russian authorities and to other bodies in western Europe and the NIS.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
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Coordinator
53100 Siena
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.