November 2012: Under the third phase of the project on “Transboundary Cooperation and Sustainable Management in the Dniester River Basin,” the Zoï Environment network and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)/GRID-Arendal have prepared an environmental atlas for the basin, which includes 43 thematic basin maps and demonstrates the vulnerability of the Dniester river basin’s environment and water resources.

According to officials from Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, the atlas aims to provide a source book for a number of groups, including environmentalists, specialists from the environmental inspectorates and agencies for water resource management. It illustrates the importance of synthesizing environmental and water administration components in decision making in the basin. The atlas includes basin maps and information detailing, among other things: physiography; administrative division; drainage; mineral deposits; population; wastewater discharge; and land use.

The project on transboundary cooperation in the Dniester Basin, through which the atlas was developed, has been implemented in the framework of the Environment and Security Initiative (ENVSEC). ENVSEC, which addresses environment and security risks in Eastern Europe, South Eastern Europe, Southern Caucasus and Central Asia, is a multi-stakeholder initiative that includes the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UNEP and the Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe (REC), among others. [Publication: Transboundary Cooperation and Sustainable Management in the Dniester River Basin]