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LIFE IP CleanEST

The CleanEST project is a LIFE integrated project in Estonia focussed on water quality and river restoration. 

Within the next 10 years, the LIFE IP CleanEST project will improve the status of the water bodies and research how to improve their status. Work will take place over 240,000 hectares, representing a total of 574 km of watercourses and roughly 160,000 hectares of coastal waters.

The LIFE IP CleanEST project will cost almost 16.7 million euros. 60% of the project is financed by the European Union, with the remaining 40% funded by the Estonian Environmental Investment Centre and state budget.

Within 10 years, the following will be carried out in Ida-Viru and Lääne-Viru counties:

  1. Surface, ground and coastal water surveys will be conducted
  2. The bed and banks of a 1.5 km stretch of the River Erra will be cleaned
  3. Residual pollution will be removed from Kohtla-Nõmme and Pahnimägi
  4. Spawning grounds for fish will be restored in rivers
  5. Fish passages will be restored
  6. The River Purtse will be repopulated with salmon

The leading partner of the project is the Ministry of the Environment. Other project partners include:

  • The Environmental Board
  • The Environment Agency
  • The Environmental Inspectorate
  • The Estonian Environmental Research Centre
  • The Information Technology Centre of the Ministry of the Environment
  • The Geological Survey of Estonia
  • The Ministry of Rural Affairs
  • Tallinn University of Technology
  • Estonian University of Life Sciences
  • Science Centre AHHAA
  • Estonian Public Broadcasting
  • State Forest Management Centre
  • Estonian Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce
  • Rakvere City
  • Narva City
  • Alutaguse rural municipality
  • Lüganuse rural municipality Viru-Nigula rural municipality
  • Vinni rural municipality
  • Kadrina rural municipality
  • Väike-Maarja rural municipality
  • Union of Ida-Virumaa County Municipalities
  • Last but not least, The Rivers Trust

Read the press release here.

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