FOCUS ON SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE

STRATEGY AIMS TO PROTECT FORESTS ON BULGARIAN DANUBE
ISLANDS
The Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture and Forests and the Ministry of Environment and Waters adopted a strategy for the protection and restoration of natural floodplain forests on the Danube islands in Bulgaria, according to a press release from World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The strategy, unveiled Oct. 2, was developed in cooperation between the two ministries, the Danube-Carpathian Programme of WWF-International and Bulgarian environmental NGOs, the release said. "The floodplain forests on the Bulgarian Danube islands are unique natural habitats with essential environmental functions, supporting rare and globally threatened species of animals and plants," according to the release. 

European Union legislation requires that these habitats be placed under special protection. The strategy reportedly calls for restrictions on logging, coupled with measures to mitigate the possible economic consequences of reduced timber production. The strategy also includes "restoration of forests of native species in selected sites, where this is feasible and ecologically justified, as well as strengthening of the protected areas network on the islands," the release said, adding: "The specific steps for the implementation of the strategy and their financial estimates will be elaborated in an Action Plan for the Protection and Restoration of Floodplain Forests on the Bulgarian Danube Islands, which is currently under preparation." Contact: Jasmine Bachmann, WWF International - Danube Carpathian Programme,  tel: (43-1) 488-17-270; email: jasmine.bachmann@wwf.at; web: http://www.panda.org/danube-carpathian

DANUBE SURVEY FINDS HEAVY POLLUTION NEAR BULGARIAN
ESTUARY
The level of iron residue in the Danube River was measured at 100 times the acceptable level near the estuary of the Timok River in  Bulgaria, according to an Oct. 16 report from the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA). The study, conducted during September, found that the lead content of the water in that area is 10 times the acceptable level, while arsenic concentrations were 15 times the acceptable levels, BTA reported. The survey was conducted jointly by Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine and Yugoslavia, according to BTA.  Contact: Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Waters, tel: (359-2) 9406-2000; web: http://www.moew.government.bg

CONFERENCE TO LOOK FOR 'FACTS ON DEPLETED URANIUM'
The Czech Republic-based Res Publica Association for Information is planning to hold a conference in Prague Nov. 24-25 on the topic of depleted uranium (DU), according to an announcement from the group. DU-tipped weapons were used during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, and since then there have been increasing fears in the region and around Europe that shrapnel from these weapons can pose a serious health hazard. At the conference, entitled "Facts on Depleted Uranium," experts are to share their knowledge about what the real risks of this substance might be to human health and the environment. To attend the conference, contact Res Publica, e-mail: publica@publica.cz; web: http://www.publica.cz/

POOR WASTE DISPOSAL FACILITIES HOBBLE YUGOSLAV DRUG
INDUSTRY
Representatives of Yugoslavia's drug industry say foreign investment is being threatened by the lack of an adequate means for disposing of outdated pharmaceuticals and production waste, according to an Oct. 19 report from Reuters. Nikola Lukac, quality control manager of drug producer HEMOFARM, was quoted by Reuters as saying: "Serbia has no central storage location or facility for waste destruction, but we are obliged by law to adequately store the waste ... This costs us a lot, and could cost us even more if foreign investors condition their loans on the disposal of the stored waste." There is an estimated 150-300 tonnes of pharmaceutical waste stored at factories in Yugoslavia, according to the Reuters report. 

Valentina Marinkovic of the Yugoslav drug firm Zdravlje Leskovac said some international agencies had offered to donate a facility for breaking down the waste, but only on condition that Yugoslavia take in waste from other countries, a plan the government opposed, Reuters reported. According to Reuters, Andjelka Mihajlov, an environmental official in the Republic of Serbia, said the adoption of a waste management strategy was planned for 2002 and suggested Yugoslavia could equip its cement plants to burn the waste, a model used in other industrialised countries. Contact: HEMOFARM, tel: (381-11) 344-0092 or (381-11) 444 3334; web: http://www.hemofarm.co.yu/defaulten.htm

STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT REPORTS AVAILABLE
ON CD
A compact disc containing extensive data from strategic environmental assessment (SEA) reports for countries and territories of South Eastern Europe is now available free of charge from the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC). The disc contains separate SEA reports for Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia and Yugoslavia in electronic form. To receive a copy of the disk, 
Contact: Grazyna Krzywkowska at the REC, e-mail: grazyna@rec.org

REGIONWIDE NEWS

CONFERENCE TO HELP NGOs AFFECT COURSE OF DANUBE
RIVER POLICY
The Slovak Country Office of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) announced Oct. 12 that it will be organising a conference designed to help non-governmental organisations from around the region critique, and shape, the River Basin Management Plan (RBMP) that is being developed for the Danube. The RBMP for the region will be the main policy tool for implementing the European Union's Water Framework Directive. According to a press release by the REC’s Country Office, Slovakia: “The preparation of RBMPs is one of the most important venues of influence for NGOs. 

The information publicly available during the preparation of the RBMPs allows NGOs to identify strategic weaknesses of the RBMPs. In addition, the Water Framework Directive allows for, and encourages, NGOs to demand more concrete, detailed sub-basin, watershed and sector-based management plans. Hence, NGOs, supported by the general public, can have a highly significant, positive impact on future Danube River water management.” The
project, which is supported by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, will seek to encourage participation of NGOs in the Danube RBMP by bringing together a group of NGO representatives so that they can map out strategies for cooperation, the press release said. Contact:  Vladimir Hudek or Richard Muller, REC Country Office Slovakia, tel: (421-2) 5263-2942; e-mail: rec@changenet.sk;  web: http://www.rec.sk

REPORT OUTLINES ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF EU ACCESSION
A recently published report, prepared for the European Commission, concludes that European Union accession countries would realise significant environmental benefits if they implement EU environmental directives. The report, published online Oct. 19 and dated July 2001, attempts to quantify environmental health benefits in human terms, and also, for the sake of measurement, in financial terms. 

The report concluded that: “There are very significant benefits to be gained by all candidate countries from fully implementing EU directives. For example, fully implementing the EU Directives related to air quality can lead to between 15,000 and 34,000 fewer cases of premature deaths from exposure to air pollution, and between 43,000 and 180,000 fewer cases of chronic bronchitis. When taken all together, the annual value of these benefits ranges between EUR 12 billion and EUR 69 billion.

This corresponds to between EUR 80 and EUR 410 per capita. Over the time period until 2020, the cumulative benefits amount to between EUR 134 billion and EUR 681 billion.” While the report summarises the benefits of environmental compliance with EU regulations, it apparently does not attempt to quantify the potential threats to the environment that could arise as a result of compliance with EU regulations in other sectors. Environmental activists and observers in the region have expressed fears that, in agriculture, transportation and other areas, EU policies may actually make the situation worse for the region's environment.

AARHUS CONVENTION GOES INTO EFFECT
With the minimum of 16 ratifying parties achieved, the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters entered into force on Oct. 30, only three years after its launching in Aarhus, Denmark, in June 1998. The so-called Aarhus Convention, which requires its parties to develop extensive rules for guaranteeing the public’s right to know about potential threats to the environment, is “the most ambitious venture in the area of environmental democracy so far undertaken under the auspices of the United Nations,” according to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Developed through the framework of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the convention has been ratified by five countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), 10 Newly Independent States (NIS) and only two Western European countries. In some of the CEE and all the NIS countries, becoming a full party to the convention is simpler, because the act of ratification in itself is enough
to make the treaty a part of national legislation. While this approach makes earlier ratification possible, gaps in national legislation, a lack of implementing provisions and detailed procedures and insufficient institutional capacities can make actual implementation complicated. Contact: Jeremy Wates, Secretary to the Aarhus Convention, UNECE, tel: (41 22) 917-2384; e-mail: jeremy.wates@unece.org;  web: http://www.unece.org/env/pp

NUCLEAR ROUNDUP

AUSTRIAN POLITICIANS ARGUE OVER REACTION TO TEMELIN
REACTOR
Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel said he will not veto Czech Republic's membership in the European Union because of the controversial Temelin nuclear plant, but Joerg Haider, a member of the junior partner in Schuessel's coalition government wanted to keep the veto threat alive, according to an Oct. 29 report from Radio Prague. Schuessel did say that Austria demanded a guarantee that Temelin, a nuclear power plant built in Southern Bohemia close to the Czech-Austrian border, would meet European standards, the report said. Austria has long opposed the Temelin plant, which is built on a Soviet design with Western upgrades and went into test operation last year.

Haider, a member and former chairman of the far-right Freedom Party, the junior partner in a government led by Schuessel's People's Party, said that, if Czech officials refused to listen to Austrian proposals for alternatives to Temelin, the country could be left with no option but to use its veto of Czech EU membership, according to Radio Prague. Some observers have reportedly said that cracks are forming in Austria's coalition government, because of disagreement on Temelin and other issues.  Contact: Upper Austrian Parliament Chairman Josef Puehringer,  e-mail: LH.Puehringer@ooe.gv.at or  Karel Bohm, chairman, Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety,  tel: (420-2) 2422-3139; fax: (420-2) 2162 -704 e-mail: karel.bohm@sujb.cz or Czech Environment Minister Milos Kuzvart, tel: (420-2) 6712-2719 or (420-2) 6712-1111; or Greenpeace Austria, tel: (43-1) 545-4580.

ENVIRONMENTALISTS PROTEST SHIPMENT OF BULGARIA'S SPENT
NUCLEAR FUEL
Five Russian environmental groups on Oct. 25 appealed to the Ukrainian Parliament and President Leonid Kuchma to halt plans to transport about 40 tons of spent nuclear fuel in a train from Bulgaria's Kozloduy power plant to Russia through Ukraine, according to a report from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE). The environmental organisations said in an open letter that half of all nuclear fuel accidents occur during transportation and noted that "the movement of nuclear materials outside nuclear power plants creates the possibility for terrorist attacks," according to RFE. These protests coincided with similar protests across Siberia, according to reports. The shipment of spent nuclear fuel was authorised by a 1997 agreement that Bulgaria negotiated with Ukraine, Russia and Moldova. Bulgaria, which does not have adequate waste storage facilities, must export nuclear waste from its Kozloduy nuclear reactor.  Contact: Bulgarian Atomic Energy Committee, tel: (359-2) 720-217 or  Bulgarian Environment Minister Dr. Evdokia Maneva, tel: (359-2) 882-577 web: http://www.moew.government.bg

ROMANIA AND RUSSIA TO CO-OPERATE ON NUCLEAR SAFETY
Romania and Russia signed an agreement on co-operation in nuclear energy on Oct. 23, according to a report from the Balkan Information Exchange Daily News. The agreement means that Romania's National Committee for Nuclear Activities and Russia's Ministry of Atomic Energy will exchange information and notify each other in the event of nuclear accidents or other emergencies, the report said. Romania has reportedly signed similar agreements with Bulgaria, Greece and Hungary, and is negotiating with Turkey and Ukraine.  Contact: Romanian Environment Ministry, tel: (40-1) 410-0246  or (40-1) 410-0215; e-mail: biodiv@mappm.ro

NEWS FOR JOURNALISTS

EMERGENCY FUND SET UP TO HELP JOURNALISTS IN SEE
The South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO), an association of journalists in the region, said it has established an emergency fund to assist journalists who need help. According to an announcement from the group: "The SEEMO Emergency Fund is administered by the SEEMO secretariat, who will provide additional assistance on a case-by-case basis. Activities carried out by the secretariat include writing letters in support of journalists, publicising press freedom violations and undertaking press freedom missions in order to represent the views of the media to the authorities. … Donors financing the SEEMO Emergency Fund may decide in advance where SEEMO should provide assistance." Contact:  South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), tel: (43-1) 513-3940; e-mail: seemo@freemedia.at;  web: http://www.freemedia.at/seemo

NEW E-MAIL NEWSLETTER COVERS GHG EMISSIONS TRADING
A new e-mail newsletter reports on the emerging market for green-house gas emission permits, which has the potential to bring financial gain to Central and Eastern Europe while helping alleviate the problem of climate change. The e-mail newsletter, from Point Carbon "covers a broad range of news media all around the world," according to the publishers. They also publish material on their web site which addresses this topic at http://www.pointcarbon.com. To subscribe to the newsletter, send an e-mail to majordomo@pointcarbon.com with "subscribe pointcarbon" in the message body.  Contact: Stian Reklev, editor, Point Carbon; tel: (44-92) 447-147 e-mail: sr@pointcarbon.com

Copyright 2000 by the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe
Ady Endre út 9-11
2000 Szentendre
Hungary
Tel: (36-26) 504-000
Fax: (36-26) 311-294
E-mail: GreenHorizon@rec.org
Web: http://www.rec.org/