Comprehensive measures for the protection of Baltic dune habitats, removal of invasive species and a wide-ranging educational campaign - these are the basic assumptions of the Life for Dunes PL project led by dr Magdalena Lazarus, in which the University of Gdańsk acts as the leader. On 24 January 2025, at the Marshal's Office of the Pomeranian Voivodeship, contracts were ceremoniously signed for project funding from the European Commission's LIFE programme for 2021-2027.

The LIFE programme focuses on supporting environmental and climate action, and funding from the European Commission is awarded to projects of significant importance to the implementation of the European Union's environmental policy objectives. Projects are co-financed by national institutions - in the case of Poland, this is the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management.

‘Obtaining a grant from the European Commission under the LIFE programme is a huge challenge requiring the preparation of a high quality project of significant importance to the achievement of the environmental objectives of Europe or selected regions,’ said Dorota Zawadzka-Stępniak, President of the Board of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management.

The total budget of the LIFE for Dunes PL project is EUR 12,841,723.39. The subsidy granted by the European Commission is EUR 8,603,950, while from the funds of the NFOŚiGW - PLN 10,303,453. The project activities will be carried out at an international level, as they will cover parts of the southern Baltic coastline in Poland, Germany and Lithuania protected under Natura 2000. The project partners are: Marshal's Office of the Pomorskie Voivodeship represented by the Pomeranian Landscape Parks Complex, the University of Szczecin, the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin, the Institute of Hydraulic Engineering of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Slowinski National Park, the University of Klaipeda (Lithuania) and the German NGO EUCC - Die Küsten Union Deutschland e.V.

‘The aim of the project is to protect and renaturate coastal dune habitats and carry out scientific research that lays the foundation for effective management of the Baltic coastal zone,' said UG Rector prof. dr hab. Piotr Stepnowski. ‘The main tasks of this six-year project are the removal of invasive species and the restoration of natural vegetation and land clearing, which is expected to allow an assessment of the real impact of invasive species on the biodiversity of the dunes. The project will also result in the development of specialised software for monitoring dune habitats using remote sensing methods.’

‘We have managed to involve a number of excellent specialists from several different scientific institutions and authorities. I am pleased that the whole process of preparing and submitting the application was successful,' says the project manager on the UG side, dr Magdalena Lazarus from the Department of Plant Taxonomy and Nature Conservation of the UG Faculty of Biology.

In addition to the Life for Dunes project, the LIFE Pom GOZilla project, concerning the implementation of a waste management plan, received funding in our region under the EC LIFE programme. In this project, the University of Gdańsk is one of the strategic contractors, and the project will result, among other things, in the creation of a UG Competence Centre for local authorities and pilot work on bio-waste recycling.

During a ceremonial meeting at the Marshal's Office, the project managers presented the project assumptions and planned activities. The guests then went to the UG campus in Oliwa to visit the educational exhibitions at the Faculty of Biology, accompanied by the Rector prof. Piotr Stepnowski, the Vice-Rector for Research prof. dr hab. Wiesław Laskowski and the Dean of the Faculty of Biology prof. dr hab. Dariusz Szlachetka. Dr Elżbieta Sontag told the audience about the Museum of Amber Inclusions and the fossil resin research conducted at the University of Gdańsk, as well as the fin whale skeleton on display in the building, which made a great impression on the guests.

Read more about the Life for Dunes project here.

We also invite you to read a report on the event on the Pomeranian Voivodeship Government website.