Held under the theme of wastewater, the 2017 edition of World Water Day has been marked in the pan-European region with a film screening and roundtable.

The screening of ‘The Apple Lake’ was held in Geneva’s International Environment House on 22 March. The film tells the story of Lake Prespa – one of the oldest freshwater ecosystem on Earth hosting over 2000 species of birds, fish and mammals in Macedonia, Albania and Greece.

Featuring in the film is Kole Vasilevski, a 68 year-old fisherman who has been living on and from the lake for over 50 years. Two years ago he was about to put down his tools, tired of finding more apples in his fishing net than living fish due to its ecosystem being severely degraded by local pesticide use.

Yet thanks to a UN Development Programme project whereby neighbouring apple farmers cut pesticide use 30%, a new composting plant to recover apples that would have been thrown away and improved sewage treatment for example, the nature has begun to recover and Kole has been able to continue his passion.

“Smart cooperative action can lead to win-win solutions” stressed Louisa Vinton, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Skopje at the screening.

The film "shows key elements of success: governments that implement, stakeholder interests being represented and brought together, and attention being paid to inter-generational heritage,” noted UN Environment Regional Director Jan Dusik.

The screening was organised by the UNDP together with the Geneva Environment Network and the Swiss Development Cooperation.

Wastewater a resource.

Worldwide, over 80% of all wastewater from agriculture, energy production and industry enters water bodies untreated, underlined Ekaterina Tegina of UN Environment’s Russian Federation Office at a roundtable held in the Russian capital’s state library also marking the day.

Clean water is important for our health, food security and biodiversity. If properly used or treated, wastewater can be a huge potential resource of energy and nutrients while also offering a money-saving opportunity to households and businesses, she stressed.

UN representatives and other water experts spoke of the importance of addressing water challenges at the event, which brought together several dozen students from five universities. Water quality has a major impact on people’s health, with unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene causing 842,000 deaths each year, noted Tatiana Kaigorodova, Chief of the World Health Organisation’s  Documentation Centre in Moscow.

Yet water is not just about quenching thirst or protecting health, said Vladimir Kuznetsov, Director of the UN Information Centre - it is also vital for creating jobs and supporting economic, social and human development.

For more information on the screening please write to diana.rizzolio@unep.org or jannes.vandermeer@unep.org and for more details on the Moscow event contact ekaterina.tegina@unep.org