ROMANIAN VILLAGERS SAID TO OPPOSE PLANS FOR HUGE
GOLD MINE
A new citizens' group called Alburnus Major has been organised in
Romania to oppose an open pit gold mine planned by Canadian company Gabriel Resources, according to a March 11 press release from Mining Watch Canada. Gabriel has plans to relocate 800 homes and 2,000 people, to build a huge open-pit gold mine. The village is the site of important ruins from Roman times, which would reportedly be destroyed by the mining project. The project is unacceptable to local residents, according to Alburnus Major, which claims to represent 80 percent of the people living in Rosia Montana, the oldest village in Romania. 

"A large majority of the people are totally opposed to this resettlement operation," according to Francoise Heidebroek of Alburnus Major. "Nobody has consulted the population and asked whether they agree to move from their homes." Alburnus Major alleges that the Romanian authorities "lack the necessary financial and technical resources to carry out environmental monitoring and to assess environmental impacts," the release said. According to the press release, after paying for relocation of residents and digging the mine, Gabriel Resources expects an after-tax net profit of USD 1.1 billion. The government of Romania reportedly holds a 20 percent interest in the project and will receive a 2 percent gross production royalty.
Contact:
Joan Kuyek or Jamie Kneen, MiningWatch Canada, 
tel: (1-613) 569-3439, e-mail: jamie@miningwatch.ca; 
web: http://www.miningwatch.ca.

NGO CALLS FOR NEW ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF
ROMANIAN FOREST PROJECT
The CEE Bankwatch Network has announced the publication of a report pointing out deficiencies in the environmental assessment of Romania's Forestry Development Program (FDP). Based on the report's findings, Bankwatch is calling for a new environmental assessment of the FDP, which receives funding from the World Bank, according to a press release. The press release said: "Although the Project Information Document states that the main aims of the project are institutional strengthening and capacity
building, both of which are badly needed in the Romanian forestry sector, 69 percent of the proposed lending is for forestry road construction, which would lead to increased logging activities.

However, the impacts of increased forest harvesting as a consequence of the implementation of the FDP is not discussed at all, either at the strategic or project level. Without forest harvesting estimates for different alternatives, it is impossible to make any sound environmental impact level and significant prediction, or to compare program alternatives." The press release also said the environmental assessment was flawed because the public was not adequately involved in the process. The letter sent to World Bank Executive Directors requesting a new Environmental Assessment can be found at:
http://www.bankwatch.org/publications/policy_letters/2002/romaniaforest
-lettertowb.html.
Contact:
Jozsef Feiler, CEE Bankwatch, tel: (36 1) 217-0803.

OPENING CEREMONY SET FOR ENVIRONMENTAL
RESOURCE CENTER IN BELGRADE'
The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) Country Office in Belgrade has announced that they will hold an April 4 opening ceremony and press conference to unveil their Environmental Resource Center, a web portal offering a wealth of information about environmental issues in the country and the region. The resource center, which offers databases, directories and other electronic information, will be explained in detail on April 4, at noon, on the fifth floor of the Palace Belgrade, Masarikova street 5, Belgrade. 
Contact:
Dr Radoje Lausevic, REC Country Office, tel: (381-11) 3061-715;
e-mail: rlausevic@recyu.org; web: http://www.recyu.org

REPORT: DANISH GOVERNMENT GIVES EUR 4M IN
ENVIRONMENT AID TO SEE
The Danish Environmental support scheme has a new appropriation totalling a little more than EUR 4 million that will be spent for environmental improvement of the South Eastern European region, according to a report in the Danish Environment Newsletter. The funds will be spent on bringing national legislation in line with European Union directives and international conventions, as well as clean-up projects, development of wastewater and solid waste management systems and other areas, the report said. 
Contact:
The Danish Ministry of Environment and Energy, web: http://www.mem.dk.

REC URGES STRONG ACTION TO PREVENT REPEAT OF TISZA DISASTER
In a report analysing the international legal implications of the Baia Mare cyanide spill into the Tisza River in January, 2000, the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) recommends tough action to strengthen international legal regimes that can prevent industrial accidents, according to a March 7 press release. "The report, 'International Law and the Baia Mare Cyanide Spill,' examines the international regimes for accident prevention, liability for environmental harm and environmentally responsible investment, and finds that immediate steps can be taken to improve the safety of industrial operations in Central and Eastern Europe. The report includes a proposed environmental code for foreign investors that would significantly diminish the risk of accidents at foreign-owned or controlled facilities," the press release said. 
Contact:
Steve Stec, REC, e-mail: sstec@rec.org.

EU TO CO-FINANCE WASTE PROJECTS IN SOUTHERN LITHUANIA
The European Union signed an agreement with Lithuania's government on March 13 on co-financing a project to improve waste management in the Alytus region in southern Lithuania, according to a report from Radio Free Europe /Radio Liberty. The project has an estimated cost of EUR 7.8 million and involves improving collection and transportation of waste from the southern cities of Alytus, Druskininkai and Birstonas, the report said. Alytus's current dump site is to be closed and a new one opened, according to the report. The EU is to provide EUR 3.9 million for the project, through their Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession program, and Lithua nia will provide the rest from their state budget, loans and private investments, the report said. 
Contact:
Lithuanian Environment Ministry, tel: (370-2) 610-588

AUSTRIAN PM SEEKS EARLY CLOSURE OF KOZLODUY PLANT
Bulgaria's Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg and Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel met in Vienna on March 21 to discuss nuclear safety and the timetable for decommissioning Bulgaria's Kozloduy plant, according to the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA). Following the meeting, Saxe-Coburg said it was too early to give any deadlines for the closure of the No. 3 and 4 reactors, BTA said. Schuessel had urged him to fulfil an earlier pledge by Sofia to close the first and second units by the end of this year, and the third and fourth by 2006, but many in Bulgaria would prefer to postpone the second round of closures until 2010, BTA said. 
Contact:
The Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Waters press office, 
tel: (359-2) 940-6231; 
or
Bulgarian Environment Minister Dolores Arssenova, tel: (359-2) 940-6222, web: http://www.moew.government.bg.
or
(420-2) 6712-1111; or Greenpeace Austria, tel: (43-1) 545-4580.

LITHUANIA WANTS GUARANTEE OF MORE FUNDING TO CLOSE IGNALINA
Following a week of meetings in which European Union officials tried to pressure Lithuania to close the Ignalina nuclear power plant by 2009, the country's EU negotiators said on March 21 that the country would not agree
to that deadline without a solid commitment of financial assistance, according to Reuters. Lithuania's negotiators said in a statement that closing Ignalina will cost an estimated EUR 3 billion over the next few decades -- a sum that is equal to 23 percent of the country's 2000 gross domestic product, Reuters reported. The EU has proposed to give EUR 70 million per year in 2004-2006 to help with the costs of closing the plant, but Lithuanian officials say that is nowhere near enough, Reuters said. Lithuania's government is expected to vote by the end of March on a resolution to revise the national energy strategy, and that resolution would link closure of Ignalina's second reactor to long-term financial commitments from the EU, according to Reuters. 
Contact: 
Lithuanian Environment Ministry, tel: (370-2) 610-588

CZECHS STOP LOAD OF SCRAP FROM SLOVAKIA DUE TO LOW-LEVEL RADIATION
A train car filled with scrap iron that was sent by an unnamed firm in Zilina, Slovakia, was stopped at the Czech border on March 11 after it was determined to be emitting radiation, according to a report from CTK, the Czech News Agency. The Slovak State Health Institute said the cargo, which had been destined for the Nova hut metallurgical works in Ostrava, north Moravia, emitted a level of radiation that would not threaten the health of
people in the surroundings of the carriage, according to the report. A strip of steel contaminated with CO 60 radionuclide was discovered in the cargo by specialists from Kosice, and the scrap will be destroyed, the report said. 
Contact:
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.

USD 1,000 AWARDS OFFERED FOR THE BEST ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM
The deadline is April 1 for the Society of Environmental Journalists' first annual Awards for Reporting on the Environment, which offer a USD 1,000 prize in each of nine categories, for environmental journalism in newspapers, magazines, newsletters, television, radio and the Internet, according to an announcement from the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network. Non-English entries must be accompanied by a complete translation. Information and entry forms are available online at http://www.sej.org.

ARTICLES SOUGHT ON TOPIC OF ''FORESIGHTING' FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Greener Management International has announced that it is seeking articles and case-studies for a special journal issue on the topic of "foresighting" for planning sustainable development. Foresighting is a new type of forecasting in which several possible future scenarios are considered, instead of just focusing on "the most likely scenario." Abstracts of approximately 300 words should be submitted by April 10, according to the announcement.
Contact:
Professor Anthony Clayton, e-mail: aclayton@uwimona.edu.jm; or Emilio Vento e-mail: evento@unido.org; or Dr Walter Wehrmeyer, 
e-mail: W.Wehrmeyer@surrey.ac.uk