PP guidelines in print

• The UN Economic Commission for Europe recently published the Guidelines on Public Participation and Environmental Decisionmaking. These guidelines were prepared to help countries in Europe and North America develop the legal framework and mechanisms necessary to ensure public access to information, to facilitate and encourage public participation, and to provide effective public access to judicial and administrative remedies for environmental harm. The guidelines were endorsed at the Sofia conference by ministers of environment from forty-nine ECE countries.

WWF on the WWW

• World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the world's largest independent conservation organization, has launched its own World Wide Web site called the WWF Global Network. This site provides comprehensive news and information on all aspects of conservation and the environment, from forests and climate change to marine issues and sustainable development. A careful design ensures that users with less powerful computers will be able to access all 6,000 pages of text available within the site.

  "It will hopefully become the premier conservation site on the Web, with great potential to prompt public action on key conservation issues," says Robert SanGeorge, WWF's Director of Communications. It offers researchers, teachers and students quick and easy access to conservation information.

  Other exciting features include a Photo Gallery that highlights the world's threatened treasures; In the Field, a country-by-country breakdown of WWF projects from Albania to Zambia, as well as exclusive commentaries from WWF field project leaders; an All About WWF section that links you to other WWF Web sites and provides information on WWF's history, its priorities, and key players; a Sights and Sounds area that presents videos of WWF conservation activities in action; and Global Action Alerts that tell you how you can get involved.

  Visit the WWF Global Network for yourself at URL: http://www.panda.org/.

Environment and quality of life on CD-ROM

• Conference proceedings from the International Geographical Union 1994 Regional Conference are now available on CD-ROM. Described as "topical and comprehensive," the conference proceedings are designed to bring forth the most recent and reliable knowledge about changing environment and quality of life issues in Central and Eastern Europe. They focus on a wide range of issues, from environment and development to environmental philosophy to resource management. For more information on Environment and Quality of Life in Central Europe: Problems of Transition Conference Proceedings, contact: IGU RC, Albertov 6, 128 43 Prague 2, Czech Republic; Tel: (42-2) 2491-2060; Fax: (42-2) 2491-5817; E-mail: demodept@prfdec.natur.cuni.cz.

Czechs finance clean-ups

• The Czech state privatization agency, the National Property Fund (NPF), will provide approximately USD 1.1billion to clean up environmental damages caused by privatized companies, NPF chairman Roman Ceska announced. According to Ceska, the 30 billion crowns would be provided over the next six years. Financial help would be made available to firms in which the state still holds a majority stake, and to those for which new owners have paid for, excluding those privatized completely in the voucher privatization scheme. (Source: CET ON-LINE).

USAID pulling out of Hungary

• Environmental organizations that receive money from the United States Agency for International Development beware: US AID is expected to end its mission in Hungary by the end of the decade. The speed of progress made by Hungary was cited as the reason for leaving the country earlier than expected. AID is expected to spend USD 15 million to USD 20 million a year over the next three to five years. The organization plans to shift its focus from macro-economic advisory projects to local governments and nongovernmental organizations.

Waste oil spoils Croatian coast

• Croatia's state-owned oil company INA dumped between 100 and 150 metric tons of waste oil into Bakar Bay, a branch of the Adriatic south of Rijeka. The area is part of the Kvarner region that includes the nearby island of Krk and some of Croatia's best-known tourist resorts. The incident took place on 18 March and led to a protest by local mayors, the pro-government daily Vjesnik reported. One of the mayors demonstrated how a stone thrown into the bay floated on the slick. Damage is estimated at DM 6 million. (Source: OMRI Daily Digest).

New dump for Riga

• The World Bank is preparing a USD 30 million solid waste management project that would clean up and eventually close the existing dump site in the city of Riga. If closed, a new site would be established. The project will develop an overall waste management strategy as well as a pilot component for waste separation. The project will be implemented by the Ministry of Environmental and Regional Development. For more information, contact: Kathleen Di Tullo, Room H 5200, World Bank, Washington, DC, USA; Tel: (1-202) 473-0028.

Banks woo waste water

• Development banks have targeted waste water treatment plants and management strategies as profitable for both the environment and investors. The World Bank is preparing the USD 6.2 million Siauliai River Basin Management Environment Project in Lithuania, that will include a water and wastewater component and an environmental management strategy. In Poland, the World Bank is preparing waste water projects for both Krakow and Wroclaw. The two projects total USD 100 million and will focus on institutional strengthening and investments for the rehabilitation and expansion of water supply and wastewater systems for the cities. The EBRD is also getting in on the waste water act by preparing a USD 254,800 Municipal Environment Investment Program in Slovenia. The program will confirm the Waste Water Collection and Treatment Technical Cooperation Project as the least-cost technical solution to the pollution of Kastela Bay, assess the financial strength of each participating municipality, and conduct an audit of each water enterprise involved in the project.

En-dangerous logging

• Malaysian logging company Samling is preparing to log part of the Romanian Carpathians. The Carpathians are one of the last refuges of many rare and endangered species, such as the Imperial Eagle. Ecologists in the region are looking for information on Samling's activities in Romania, and are contacting other ecologists and activists who would be able to comment on the nature of the threat. Please contact: Jude Griffin, Regional NFN, CEU, Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy, Pf 1082, H-1245 Budapest, Hungary; E-mail: griffinj@sirius.ceu.hu. (Source: Kompass)

More laws on file

• REC has recently obtained an official English-language version of the Romanian Law on Environmental Protection. Copies are available from the REC's Business Information Service. For further information, contact Jerome Simpson at REC Head Office, E-mail: jerome@rec.org.

Black Triangle Grants

• The REC will soon offer small grants to nongovernmental organizations in Poland and the Czech Republic working on environmental issues in the infamous Black Triangle. The Black Triangle Grants Program will function much like the Danube Grants Program, channeling money from the Phare Multi-country Programme's Black Triangle Programme Coordination Unit to needy NGOs. The Black Triangle PCU has made ECU 60,000 available for the program. Grants are available up to a maximum of ECU 4,000.

  "This program will help raise public awareness of the issues and the remedies associated with environmental problems in the Black Triangle; hopefully, this will encourage the public to address these problems," says Robert Atkinson from the REC's Local Office and Outreach Team.

IOIS host

• The REC is now the official European host site for the International Organization of Information Specialists (IOIS).

Twists and turns of the EU

• Every year the European Union spends USD 300 million on advertising campaigns against smoking. Sounds good, but at the same time far more is being paid to tobacco growers of Greece and Southern Italy. Since Europeans don't favor their tobacco, millions more are spent to subsidize its export to the Third World. This topic and others concerning the often conflicting environmental policies of the EU are revealed by the book The Eco-Twisters. It presents a dossier of environmental problems caused or exacerbated by EU policy. The chapter on EU aid for the CEE should make interesting reading for those hoping to join the EU.

  A limited number of English language copies are available for CEE NGOs. Please contact Robert Atkinson at the REC Head Office or via e-mail: robert@rec.org.