WARSAW, Poland -- The World Wildlife Fund urged Poland to learn from Western mistakes and protect its rivers as it continues economic transformations.


"You have the option to keep your rivers alive, with their biological qualities, with their capacity to deliver drinking water, to combat pollution and even to help protect you from flooding," said WWF President Ruud Lubbers on Monday.


Lubbers came to Poland to launch WWF's "Living Rivers Campaign," an agenda for renewal of Poland's rivers and a plan to restore their integrity and wildlife where necessary.


The plan calls for cooperation among Polish authorities, environmental groups and the European Union to set up a network of protected areas along Poland's rivers and for restoration of floodplains as a part of a flood protection program.


Lubbers said many Western nations, using "economic justifications," have destroyed the life in many rivers with engineering projects like dams and bridges.