The historical river Krechet is being revived in the Brest region

The river Krechet, which flows into the full-flowing Yaselda, has been restored and cleaned up. Specialists of the "Let's Give Children Clean Water" project of the New World Program, financed by The Coca-Cola Foundation, have revived more than a 2-kilometer river stretch within the town of Bereza, planted a new alley, thus creating a beautiful embankment for the locals. 

The Krechet is a right tributary of the Yaselda river. People lived on these riverbanks back in the Stone Age, and a century ago, local residents actively fished here on boats. However, since then, the Krechet bed has been covered with silt and grass, which slowed down the flow and led to reproduction of algae. The river became muddy, emitting an unpleasant smell and practically unsuitable for many aquatic animals, as well as unattractive from a recreational point of view.

The Coca-Cola Foundation, in collaboration with the Global Water Challenge, undertook to restore the historic river. Under the New World Program, 50 thousand US dollars were allocated for this purpose. The work was carried out by the international public association "Environmental Initiative "BURENKO-plus", which also had implemented 2 projects on restoration of Lake Beloye in the Grodno region a year before. It was decided to revive the Krechet in three stages in partnership with the Republican Biological Reserve "Sporovsky" and the local executive committee.

Most of all, the river has been changed in the town of Bereza. This is where it divides the town into two parts. The bed of the river here was deepened and cleared of waste and silt. The riverbanks were freed from excess vegetation. In total, more than 2 km of the river were restored - the most problematic area. Since then, water volumes increase daily, the water in the river becomes cleaner and flows faster.

In addition, secondary school No. 1 named after V.H. Golovko in Bereza received equipment for opening its own laboratory, including an oxygen meter, conductometer, instruments for measuring liquid hardness, scales, microscopes, tests and reagents. Scholars will be able to monitor the quality of the water by themselves and take care of the river, which is supposed to make the town look more attractive. Moreover, scholars will be able to study water from any natural sources, try themselves in writing scientific works and participate in republican and international water stewardship competitions.

The “New Life” alley has been planted in Bereza, which is designed to symbolize the revival of the river. Residents of the town, together with project participants, planted young trees along the riverbank near the city park.

“Krechet was in a very bad condition. The river bed has not been regularly cleared from silt deposits for almost 40 years. During this period, the river channel narrowed, the banks became overgrown, and underwater sediments created a "plug effect", which contributed to flowering and overgrowing. In fact, it was a “dying” river. Now it has received a "second life", and we hope that after completion of all the work, the residents will be able to preserve it for future generations, ” – says Vladimir Koltunov, Chairman of the international public association "Environmental Initiative "BURENKO-plus".