A F T E R T H E W A R
Ecological catastrophe in Yugoslavia?
During the war over Kosovo, the Yugoslav
environment was exposed to 78 days of bombing and 17,000 flight attacks by
NATO forces. Aside from creating major political, humanitarian and economic concerns, the war inflicted considerable damage on the natural and built
environment in Yugoslavia and its Balkan neighbours.But how much damage?
What follows are two stories of the damages, with somewhat different conclusions. The first (pages 14-15) is an abridged version of the Assessment of the Environmental Impact of Military Activity during the Yugoslav Conflict, prepared by the Regional Environmental Center (REC), led by Robert Atkinson, for the European Commission's environment directorate (DG-XI). The REC used its network of country offices and local experts to make this preliminary assessment of damages to Yugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria, FYR Macedonia and Romania. The report was made public June 28 (to view: <http://www.rec.org/REC/ Announcements/yugo/contents.html>).
Dr. Janet Eaton, a Canadian biologist, educator and research fellow of the US-based International Systems Institute prepared the second assessment (page 18). Throughout the war, she collected and compiled some 64 articles for her Ecological Catastrophe & Health Hazards of NATO Bombings bulletin, posting them to multiple international listserves and environmental and peace agencies throughout the world (to view: <http://www.flora. org/flora.mai-not/12187>). Her story is based on these articles.
Additional features in this Bulletin's cover story include a look at reconstructing the Balkans, lessons learned from post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina and environmental threats to security in the region and Europe.
*Editor's note: Between the time of the release of the REC's report in late June and the publication of this Bulletin, small required modifications to the report have been discovered as new information has come in. As soon as these are clarified, they will be posted on the REC's website along with the original report. The REC apologises for the delay.
