Volunteers from two villages in central Moldova cleaned up a local landfill to protect a nearby nature reserve.
SOL, a small Moldovan NGO led by Maria Gurscaia from the village of Tipova, proved that when people decide what the most pressing problem in their village is, they can effectively help the environment. There is a large landfill site in the village, right next to a nature reserve with deep canyons, waterfalls, and caves. The rain drained the wastewater into a stream flowing into the valley. The landfill is located between two sectors of the reserve (204 ha of canyon and 102 ha of forest). As this is an official village waste disposal site, the dump cannot be removed entirely within the next few years until official safe waste disposal sites are established for each region, according to the national waste management strategy.
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To at least reduce the size of the dump and prevent wind and water from clogging the canyon, SOL decided first to bulldoze the numerous piles of waste into one place and plow a barrier strip and trenches for planting seedlings. The municipal government provided equipment for this purpose. Subsequently, 11 volunteers from the two municipalities planted 400 seedlings of the three-thorn sinker (gleditsia triacanthos) from November 2022 to January 2023 to create a natural barrier in the form of a tree belt. This woody plant is considered a pioneer plant, growing well on poor soils and preparing them for planting other species. It is also most suited to local needs, as it has long thorns to prevent frequent strong winds from carrying litter around and grows quickly. This tree species also has an additional environmental impact as it creates biomass and food for insects, including bees, and birds.
The securing of the Tipova landfill site is thus an excellent example of a local civic initiative to protect the environment for other communities. This event was organized in cooperation with Biotica and Arnika as part of our joint project supported by the Transformation Cooperation Programme of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.
