The work of the JSF is conducted by supporting environmental research projects, developing regional plans for environmental improvements, conducting feasibility studies and holding seminars on specific environmental topics. Among the projects for 1996, the Japan Special Fund completed a feasibility study on hazardous waste management in Siaulai, Lithuania and launched a pilot testing of clean-up technology at the area's most threatening dumpsite. Work also began on a study of municipal water supply in the city of Fier, which will address one of the most critical problems in Albania. In all, six projects, amounting to USD 30 million, have been supported in Albania, Hungary, Lithuania, FYR Macedonia, Poland and Slovakia. In 1997, the Fund plans to expand assistance to several other countries of the CEE region.
NEW REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL CENTERS Central and Eastern Europe is not the only region trying to balance ecological concerns with transition issues, our neighbors to the East face many of the same challenges. It is with this similarity in mind that the REC conducted a feasibility study for developing a REC-like organization in the Newly Independent States (NIS) which was presented at the Sofia ministerial conference. The report showed a clear need for REC-like services in NIS and the initiative was supported by several donor countries and four NIS members, Georgia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine.
An International Supervisory Board (ISB) made up of international funders and host country environmental ministries was established in 1996 to implement the establishment of the "new" Regional Environmental Center and the four initial countries are working to establish national offices. The REC has been asked to assist with the training of the project staff and national office personnel.
OPEN AND EFFECTIVE PARLIAMENTS As circumstances in the region have changed, both parliamentarians and environmental NGOs have begun to recognize the necessity of working together to fulfill their tasks and objectives at a higher level. Although cooperation may seem natural for two sides with the same goal of preserving the environment, for legislators and NGOs this is quite a new challenge. A lack of mutual understanding and few working connections have typically meant that cooperation proved quite difficult.
Nonetheless the will to cooperate is strong. Politicians recognize the importance of working with NGOs to build a strong political base for policies and NGOs on the other hand know that the power to make improvements lies largely with the leaders in parliament. It is with this new philosophy of cooperation in mind that the Regional Environmental Center and the Global Legislators Organization for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE) launched a project to involve citizens in parliamentary work and to strengthen parliamentary authority for environmental conservation. National meetings were held between parliamentarians and NGO representatives in each of the 13 countries involved in the project, as well as two major international conferences.
NATUREXPO In the four years since the Convention on Biological Diversity was opened for signature at the Rio Earth Summit in June 1992 there has been considerable dialogue among scientists, policymakers, academicians, businesses and other stakeholders to address the issue of biological conservation. But progress on many priority issues has been slow at best. In 1996, the REC contributed to the debate on the sustainable use of nature by playing an integral role in the first-ever NaturExpo and the corresponding International Scientific Conference on the Sustainable Use of Biological Resources held in August in Budapest.
The REC hosted a parallel workshop on the region's national environmental action programs - an area where the Center has considerable and unique expertise - and took the lead in drafting the Budapest Declaration on Sustainable Use of Biological Resources which was endorsed by more than 200 participants at the Conference.
