The second national workshop in the frame of the MEASURES project was organized by REVIVO in collaboration with the University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical faculty, Department of biology on February 12th 2020. The main goal of the workshop was to find solutions and collect ideas on how to achieve good ecological status of rivers and to recognize the main obstacles preventing us to achieve this goal in Slovenia.

More than 57 stakeholders from different sectors (scientific, experts, NGOs, civil society, students, ...) attended the workshop and actively participated in discussions with their knowledge and experiences.

The workshop was implemented in the form of a smaller symposium. The welcome speech was followed by five invited speakers, who presented different aspects of river planning and management, including fish and river connectivity, ecological status of rivers and monitoring. Institute Revivo was the first and the MEASURES project field activities and results for Slovenia were presented, and the need for the stakeholders to contribute to the project with their knowledge, experiences, participation and data collection in MIS (MEASURES Information System) was highlighted. Next up were T. Kodela and B. Sotenšek from the Fisheries Research Institute of Slovenia (FRIS), who focused on the management and determination of ecological status using freshwater fish as indicators. They also pointed out the Institute’s legal function and power to provide expert opinion and guidance to the relevant Ministry when any construction or infrastructure projects are proposed that could potentially impact freshwater fish.

Stakeholders from different sectors participated at the conference (Koprivnikar, 2020)

The third speaker was the most experienced fish pass designer from Slovenia, Mr. D. Ciuha. He explained the main functions of the fish passes he constructed and the necessary elements that a fish pass should have to serve its purpose. Several examples of good and bad practice were given, pointing out the lack of monitoring and scientific surveys to confirm the functionality of these fish passes.

Next on the stage was dr. T. Mohorko (Ministry for the environment and spatial planning), explaining the River Basin Management Plan for Slovenia, its development, the strategies it tries to harmonize, the time table and the development process for the new RMBP (NUV III).

Finally, dr. N. Dolinar (Slovenian Environmental Agency) explained the monitoring system for the evaluation of ecological status, the methods used, the issues and lack of fish monitoring methods and the challenges for the future.

These presentations were followed by an open discussion, supported by a panel of the presenting experts.

The main conclusions emerging from the intense discussion were:

Not enough is being done in practice for improving the ecological status of rivers, we should start with the efficient implementation of measures as soon as possible.
The different stakeholders (scientific, expert, NGOs, civil society,…) should be directly involved in the preparation of the national documents from the beginning and not just at the end. In addition, their opinions and suggestions should be considered, which is currently not the case.
Better water management will be ensured with the greater trans-departmental cooperation and through the active involvement of all stakeholders (managers, experts, scientists, interested individuals and associations, …).
The main purpose of the fish pass is to ensure the passage of aquatic organisms and not to provide alternative habitats. This understanding must be taken into consideration when searching and/or implementing concrete solutions.
Both, positive and negative consequences of the construction of individual fish pass should be expertly assessed (such as spreading of non-native species, which fish species will cross it now and in the future, ...).
The experts and government should join forces to make an effort to educate and raise awareness among the general public, since the water quality is the top social and national issue and as such the public should have access to all the information.

Intense discussion among invited speakers and public (Koprivnikar, 2020)

The workshop concluded with an agreement that open discussions such as the one realized in this symposium, with many different sectors and disciplines involved, should be organized more regularly once to four times a year. We are looking forward to the third conference as part of the MEASURES project when we will have another opportunity to make a step further in making changes in the river management and how the national plans and programs are being prepared.