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BALKANS More than 20,000 kilograms of fish were reportedly poisoned in the 50-hectare Narta Lagoon in the village of Zvernec, Albania, said Albanian Daily News on March 21. Zvernec's leader believes the disaster was deliberately created by someone claiming to be the owner of the land around the lagoon, said the report. The lake is a source of fish and water for some 70 local families who have demanded local authorities find the culprits.
BIODIVERSITY On February 23, the Polish environment minister announced the extension of the Bialowieza National Park from its current area of 10,000 hectares to 56,000 hectares, reported the EUROPARC European Bulletin (2000, Vol. 38). The decision should be implemented by 2001. The news follows years of campaigning by environmental organizations that have repeatedly called for fully including the valuable deciduous valley forests and mixed forests between Hajnowka and Bialowieza, subject to recent increasing exploitation, within the boundaries of the national park, said EUROPARC. Following the 1996 extension of the national park from 5,000 hectares to its present 10,000 hectares, this recent government decision means that by 2001, virtually all the virgin forests of Bialowieza will be designated as national park. Together with the 90,000 hectares of the adjacent national park in Belarus, this forms a total area of nearly 150,000 hectares, in keeping with the international importance of the area, reported EUROPARC. Protected area and nature conservation staff from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) will be able to develop their professional skills through Phase II of EUROPARC's Expertise Exchange project, signed January 3, according to the EUROPARC European Bulletin (2000, Vol. 38). Funded by the European commission's Phare program, the EUR 1.9 million project will run until January 2002, building on Phase I which ran from February 1997 to 1999. Phase I enabled 475 participants to take part in over 230 workshops, exchange activities and visits. Phase II will continue to promote improved conservation management in both the natural and cultural landscapes of the 13 Phare countries in CEE. Other key aims include building the capacity, skills and knowledge of nature and landscape conservation professionals and facilitating the raising of environment awareness within protected areas. The project includes West European "expert missions" that will provide advice in fields such as strategy development and the implementation of new legal systems. Methods for improving eco-tourism and local development will be explored. Transfrontier networks and environmental education will be strengthened. New topics include wetlands conservation and eco-friendly agriculture to counter major threats posed by modern farming systems, said EUROPARC. Planned activities include a Conservation of World Heritage Sites seminar to be held in Poland, a Conservation of Wetlands workshop in Romania and an Ecotourism and Sustainable Development workshop to be held in Bulgaria, among others.
ENERGY A coalition of 74 civic initiatives calling itself Referendum 2000 announced on April 19 that it is launching a petition to hold a referendum on the controversial Temelin nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic, reported Radio Free Europe news on April 21. Referendum 2000 says the power station will affect the lives of numerous citizens who did not suitably participate in the decision to complete the plant, scheduled for May 2001. The coalition hopes to forge a two-thirds majority in the Czech parliament in support of the referendum.
The US continued to resist ratification of the Kyoto protocol on reducing greenhouse gases during the annual meeting of environment ministers from the world's seven most developed countries and Russia, held in Japan in early April, reported ENDS Environment Daily. Despite calls from the European Commission for a strong signal in favour of ratification and entry-into-force of the global accord by 2002 at the latest, the EC said that no unanimous position could be reached. Instead, a communiqué adopted by ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, UK and the US stated that ratification should take place by 2002 for "most" countries. The EU had wanted a strong commitment from the US in the lead-up to the sixth conference of the parties to the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change in the Netherlands this November - a meeting that is expected to finalise many of the detailed procedures for implementing the Kyoto protocol, reported ENDS. However, EC sources say the American government was reluctant to make a bold statement in favour of ratification in the build-up to the presidential elections later this year and that the energy issue is very sensitive in the US, particularly at a time of high oil prices, said the report.
OTHER NEWS
On April 19, the European Commission (EC) approved a loan of EUR 212.5 million to help upgrade the safety standards of two nuclear reactors at the controversial Kozloduy plant in Bulgaria to "internationally acceptable levels," reported ENDS Environment Daily. The money was promised after Bulgaria agreed to shut down the plant's other four "non-upgradeable" reactors, including this one above, built in the early 1990s. The EC said the loan would finance over 40 percent of a five-year modernisation programme, according to the report. Bulgaria pledged to decommission the four Soviet-designed VVER reactors after Commission chief Romano Prodi warned that failure to close them would prevent the country from entering the EU. Sofia agreed to shut down two of the reactors in 2003. No date has been set for the second pair, but the EC says it understands they will be taken out of service by 2006. Environmentalists criticised the loan, calling it the "continuation of an inconsistent strategy" which has "failed to assure the closure of any nuclear power plant in the region." By not insisting on a closure date for the second two reactors, the EU was "effectively prolonging the lifetime of high-risk reactors in order to finance Bulgaria's electricity export programme," said Patricia Lorenz of Friends of the Earth Europe (FoEE), according to ENDS. Following major war-related damages (such as this oil dump above), Kosovo's domestic industries are receiving international interest. Racke, a German-based company, has agreed to purchase five million litres of the red wine Amselfelder from agricultural-industrial enterprise Rahoveci based in Rahovec, Kosovo, reported the Balkan Economic Bulletin (Week 12, 2000). Racke, a former partner of Rahoveci, had purchased some 20 to 30 million litres of wine annually until 1990. Rahoveci has 30 years experience in wine production from its 990 - hectare vineyard. The war stalled full production at Rahoveci but a large amount of wine is still stored in the vineyard's vaults. The issue of exporting and transporting the wine was resolved through the support of the UN Interim Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the introduction of the label, "Made in UNMIK." Swiss-based Holder Bank, the largest cement-producing firm in the world, will start negotiations for an agreement on investing in the Sharri cement factory in Hani I Elezit, Kosovo, reported the Balkan Economic Bulletin (Week 12, 2000). The firm was the successful bidder in the first phase of a tender published by UNMIK, also the first tender on hiring industrial organisations in Kosovo. Holder Bank will manage the reconstruction of the factory and environmental protection, said the report. Also, experts have made plans to re-activate Kosovo's badly damaged Feronickel industrial project, reported the Balkan Economic Bulletin (Week 9, 2000). The project was inaugurated for experimental work in 1984 with significant reserves of the oxide mineral nickel estimated at 17,500,000 tonnes. Annual production realized in normal conditions between 1989-1991 was about 6,000 tonnes of nickel. Damages from the recent war are estimated at USD 16,611,000. Experts estimate that full production could employ 1,350-1,450 workers, if necessary foreign financial investments are secured, said the Balkan Bulletin.
Environmental pressures in Hungary have eased substantially over the last decade, but air pollution, waste management and sewerage problems remain, reported ENDS Environment Daily. These are the main conclusions of a recent environmental performance review published by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) - the latest in a series of studies of member country environmental conditions and the first for Hungary since it joined the OECD in 1996, said ENDS. Pollutant emissions to air and water have fallen significantly in the 1990s due to both a downturn in industrial activity and high levels of investment in pollution control, now estimated at about 1.5 percent of GDP. However, half the population is still exposed to serious or moderate air pollution and recent rises in ambient levels of nitrogen and sulphur oxides suggest emissions may not have been decoupled from economic growth, reported ENDS. Rapid growth in the vehicle fleet also threatens to offset recent air quality gains. Regarding water, "bacterial contamination occurs almost all the way along the Danube and Tisza rivers. Secondary water courses are highly polluted, particularly in the vicinity of major urban centres." Great concern also relates to serious waste management problems, with most collected waste being landfilled "in small communal facilities which, for the most part, do not conform to environmental regulations." Overall, Hungary's international record is described as excellent. It has drastically reduced its contribution to the pollution of the Danube basin and emissions of carbon dioxide will be lower in 2000 than in 1990. The target set under the Kyoto protocol is likely to be met despite new economic growth, the OECD predicts. "From the solitary person who held a sunrise vigil on Earth Day in Indonesia, giving thanks to the Earth, to the massive eco-fairs held in Latin America and Europe, every Earth Day event is an important part of the whole," reported Earth Day Network, an international organization that coordinated Earth Day 2000 events worldwide, including over 5,000 groups in 183 countries. Successful events in Central and Eastern Europe included: clean-up projects in Pristina, Kosovo; a fair on renewable energy, urban development and sustainability in Galati, Romania; and a mass procession of cyclists in Budapest, Hungary, demanding better transportation alternatives. The Association for Progressive Communications (APC), a global Internet community for social justice, celebrated their 10th anniversary on May 2 in Visegrad, Hungary. APC was the first globally interconnected non-profit, non-governmental network of communities and individuals working for peace, human rights, development and protection of the environment. While the Internet has proven to be an invaluable communications tool for global activists, basic Internet access for many is still not possible. "Focused initiatives have been implemented and need to be strengthened, to encourage ac information and communications technologies," said APC chair, Roberto Roggiero. Conference subjects included urban telecentres in Columbia, online votes to cancel debt in developing countries and online publishing for activists, among others. |
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BALKANS BIODIVERSITY ENERGY US postpones Kyoto ratification OTHER NEWS Bulgarian nuclear loan approved Hungarian performance assessed _____ |
     
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