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By Alexander Juras
Today in Kosovo, the burning of coal and wood for heat generation, heavy emissions from the outdated, filter-less, coal power plants Kosovo A and B, and car traffic, particularly in Pristina (including international community vehicles), have resulted in heavy air pollution. Drinking water is contaminated with heavy metals and other pollutants, especially near mining areas such as Trepca and Obilic. Over 40 percent of the population lack access to public water supplies. Using trees for heating purposes has led to visible deforestation and soil erosion may follow. Protected areas such as the Stara Planina National Park are heavily mined. Park management is impossible and misuse such as illegal wood cutting and hunting is unpreventable. Rivers, creeks and illegal sites are used as waste dumps. Only 20 percent of households in towns are connected to sewage systems. Hazardous waste storage sites do not exist. Exact data about the magnitude of these problems is not available. There is no comprehensive monitoring system - only occasional sampling such as that done of drinking water by KFOR. And environmental legislation is neither implemented nor enforced. Regarding administration, Kosovo is now governed according to UN resolution No. 1244 by the United Nations Interim Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), divided into four "pillars" - civil administration (led by the UN), humanitarian assistance (led by UNHCR), democratisation and institution-building (led by the OSCE) and economic reconstruction (led by the EU). These cooperate closely with TAFKO, the European Commission's Taskforce for the Reconstruction of Kosovo. UN sub-organisations such as UNICEF, WHO and the FAO can be found in Kosovo, as can many national representations and hundreds of NGO-type organisations, the REC being one of the few dealing with environmental issues. One of UNMIK's tasks is to help solve environmental problems. In a very short time and under difficult circumstances, its newly established environmental section began developing an environmental strategy for Kosovo, coordinating donor efforts, initiating the rebuilding of environmental institutions and developing a system for collecting and storing waste. Regarding an environmental strategy for Kosovo, the REC believes top priority should go to rebuilding environmental civil society, including developing and implementing a sufficient legal framework and monitoring system. Otherwise, there is high risk that environmental tasks will be done by consultants - an expensive and unsustainable solution - proven by past experiences in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Environmental civil society must be rebuilt, to advance democracy, pluralism and diversity under the rule of law and to promote and enforce transparency and accountability in government and the economy - something that Kosovo has not seen for a long time. Finally, Kosovo must be involved whenever possible in international environmental activities, as expressed in the mandate of UNMIK, particularly those under the Stability Pact. Environmental problems are of a transboundary nature and cooperation in the environmental sector is a good entry point to cooperation in others. |
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