SQUATTERS AT TOXIC FACTORY SITE IN ALBANIA PREVENTING CLEANUP
Attempts by the United Nations Environment Program and World Bank to clean up a former pesticide plant contaminated with highly toxic chrome 6 in Porto Romano, Albania, are being frustrated by the presence of approximately 6,000 squatters who live in the factory ruins and have nowhere else to go, according to reports carried in the July 12 edition of the UN Wire news service. Soil and groundwater pollution at the site is 4,000 times the level deemed acceptable by the European Union, according to a July 12 report by Colin Woodard of the Christian Science Monitor. 

The highly toxic chemical is contaminating the Adriatic Sea even as hundreds of thousands of tourists vacation on beaches in neighboring Montenegro, UN Wire reported. After 1992 riots at the factory destroyed the walls surrounding the site, Albania, the United Nations Environment Program and the World Bank have launched a cleanup program, according to the UN Wire report. The clean-up was to give top priority to sealing off of the area, but the economic migrants from rural parts of northern Albania, who came south to look for work and have set up house in the ruined factory, say they have no place else to go. "People get sick here all the time," said Lushi Bajrami, who has lived at the site since 1990, according to the report by Woodard. The UN Wire report, which cited Woodard and La Libre Belgique, quoted one woman resident as saying: "We know that the site is polluted, that we're endangering our health and that of our children by living here, but where could we go? Here, we can live without having to pay anything." 
Contact:
Adriana Bardhoshi, Institute of Public Health, Tirana, tel: (355-42) 70-057
or
Petrit Vasili, Albanian Ministry of Health, tel: (355-42) 64-671 
e-mail: maritas@albnet.net

REPORT OUTLINES ENVIRONMENTAL WORK BiH NEEDS TO DO TO HARMONISE WITH EU
A new 129-page report outlines in detail the specific work that Bosnia and Herzegovina must undertake in order to harmonise its environmental legislation with that of the European Union, according to a July 10 announcement from the Bosnia and Herzegovina Office of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC), which produced the report. "Based on this research, it could be concluded that Bosnia and Herzegovina is facing serious environmental problems today," the introduction of the report says. "The capacity to deal with this huge challenge is very weak."

According to the report, which is based on research conducted between January and March of this year, some of the biggest obstacles Bosnia and Herzegovina faces in improving its environment include: poor enforcement mechanisms; weak institutional capacity, which is further diluted by existing political divisions; lack of monitoring equipment; lack of communication and cooperation between Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina; a low level of expertise; the tendency for displaced people to have less concern for their local environment; and a general lack of environmental awareness. 

GREENPEACE PROTESTS POLLUTION FROM ROMANIAN PAPER FACTORY
Twenty-two Greenpeace activists from Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Netherlands, Austria and Germany held demonstrations July 11 outside Somes S.A. paper factory, near Dej in the Romanian province of Cluj, to protest the outdated, polluting practice of using chlorine bleach in paper manufacturing, according to a press release from Greenpeace. Demonstrators delivered a barrel of the company's own wastewater and a petition calling for improvement of the environment around the plant to the managers of the company, which is 70 percent owned by Austrian Hovis-group, situated in Vienna, the release said. According to the release, "This company still uses the outdated and polluting chlorine bleaching technology and spills their waste water nearly untreated into the river Somes." 

The release quoted Greenpeace-Campaigner Steffen Nichtenberger as saying: "We demand from Somes S.A. to switch to a total chlorine free bleaching technology, as it is used as standard technology in Austria and other European Union countries. . While the people in Romania suffer from industrial pollution, the profits of the paper factory go directly to Vienna. Hovis must influence the Somes S.A. to decrease industrial pollution in the Dej region." The press release said that, aside from stopping the use of bleach, the factory also needs to improve its wastewater treatment. Greenpeace campaigners have been visiting polluted sites in Romania as part of an over-all "Clean Water Tour" around several countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
Contact:
Greenpeace, e-mail: franko.petri@greenpeace.at
web: http://www.greenpeace.at

BULGARIA, HUNGARY RATIFY KYOTO PROTOCOL
The Bulgarian parliament ratified the Kyoto Protocol on climate change on July 17, and the Hungarian parliament ratified it on July 16, according to published reports. The 1997 protocol obliges Bulgaria and Hungary to cut their carbon dioxide emissions by 8 percent from 1988 levels and by 6 percent from 1987 levels, respectively, by 2012, according to Kyodo News. Achieving these reductions should not be difficult for these countries, as cleaner methods of production put in place in the last 10 years, coupled with closure of much heavy industry in the region, have already helped them reduce their air pollution emissions. The Kyoto pact requires industrialized countries to cut their greenhouse-gas emissions from 1990 levels by an average of 5.2 percent between 2008 and 2012. The pact will enter into force 90 days after being ratified by at least 55 states -- representing 55 percent of industrialised countries' carbon dioxide emissions in 1990, Kyodo News reported. 

EUR 72M IN EC FUNDING FOR CONSERVATION INCLUDES 13 CEE PROJECTS
Seventy nature conservation projects in the European Union and five candidate countries have been approved for grant funding by the European Commission under the LIFE-nature scheme, according to a July 8 press release. The projects represent a total investment of EUR 130 million in nature conservation, to which the European Union will contribute up to EUR 72 million. Thirteen of the projects listed are within the EU candidate countries of Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Romania and Slovenia. The LIFE-Nature projects are aimed at protecting and restoring habitats and conserving flora and fauna throughout Europe. In Estonia, one project will fund preservation of forestry areas and another, in the Karula National Park, will work towards maintaining environmentally friendly, traditional farming practices. 

In Hungary, the release said, there are two projects aimed at restoration in the eastern plains region of Hortobagy National Park: One project will help restore 6,650 hectares of natural plains by removing an irrigation system, another will encourage organic farming in the region. A third Hungarian project is aimed at preserving angelica (angelica palustris), a threatened plant species found on continental floodplains, and a fourth project in Hungary is meant to protect habitats for the Carpathian imperial eagle, an endangered bird of prey, the release said. 

In Latvia, there will be two projects, one designed to survey the country's entire coast and determine it's natural value and the other to protect priority habitats and species in Kemeri National Park, which has one of the largest raised bogs remaining in Europe, the release said. In Romania, according to the release, the funding will pay for management of populations of brown bear, lynx and wolves in Vrancea County and for two projects aimed at wetlands -- one in Comana and another in Satchinez. In Slovenia LIFE funding will pay for a project to preserve brown bears and a second project to preserve precious karst habitats, the release said.
Contact:
EC Nature Protection, fax: (32-2) 296-8824; e-mail: nature@cec.eu.int

EU ACCESSION COUNTRIES SIGN EL TIEDE DECLARATION ON BIODIVERSITY
Environment ministers from all 13 European Union candidate countries -- Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey -- signed the El Teide Declaration on bio-diversity at an informal meeting with Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom in Brussels on July 12, according to a press release from the European Commission. The El Teide Declaration, a joint initiative of the European Commission and the Spanish Presidency of the EU was signed by environment ministers from the EU member states on June 25, the release said. Signers of the delcaration agree "to take all necessary measures to halt bio-diversity loss by 2010, in particular the finalisation and active management of the Natura 2000 Network," according to the press release. "Natura 2000 is a community-wide network of nature protection areas established under the 1992 Habitats Directive. The aim of the network is to assure the long-term survival of Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats." 
For further information on bio-diversity loss and nature conservation and for a copy of the text of the El Teide Declaration, visit the following website: http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/environment/nature/home.htm

BUDAPEST TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE PLANS RAISE CONCERNS FROM NGOs
Hungarian Transport Ministry approval for development of major highways and a metro line in Budapest raised objections from two non-governmental organisations according to a July 4 press release from the groups -- CEE Bankwatch and the Clean Air Action Group. The highway development would involve building a new bridge over the Danube River, north of Budapest and adding to the M0 ring road on the Danube's west bank. "The new bridge over the Danube would cross a national park and the most important source of drinking water for Budapest. Posing any danger to these is unacceptable," Teodora Donsz, Hungarian co-ordinator for the CEE Bankwatch Network was quoted as saying in the press release. 

"The bridge and the western sections of the M0 would seriously damage the Buda Hills, a nature reserve of exceptional beauty that preserves fresh air and hosts the largest biodiversity in Hungary. The investment would generate extensive extra traffic, causing further deterioration of the environment and worsening traffic conditions in the capital and its surroundings." As for the proposed new M4 metro line, Andras Lukacs, president of Clean Air Action Group was quoted as saying: "Construction of the metro would consume all the municipality's entire resources for public transport development, while playing down other crucial tasks. At the same time, even according to the most optimistic calculations, the metro would only serve 10 percent of the population using public transport." Both organisations have sent letters on their position to decision-makers like the mayor of Budapest, the European Investment Bank and the European Commission, the release said. 
Contact:
Donsz of CEE Bankwatch: (36-1) 217-0803; e-mail: ddori@zpok.hu; or
Lukacs of the Clean Air Action Group, tel: (36-1) 365-1365.

GREENPEACE REPORTS HEAVY MERCURY POLLUTION AT CZECH CHEMICAL PLANT
Greenpeace on July 18 published the results of chemical analyses that show that the site of the Spolana chemical factory in Neratovice, Czech Republic, is polluted with concentrations of mercury that are up to 100,000 times more than the normal amount for non-contaminated areas, according to a press release. "The situation in Spolana is worse than we expected. The concentrations of mercury in the samples we took are ten times higher than Spolana admitted publicly," the press release quoted Miroslav Suta, a toxic expert for Greenpeace, as saying. Greenpeace has been pressuring the owners of Spolana, a former amalgam electrolysis unit located next to the Elbe River, to take safety measures around dioxin- and mercury-polluted buildings, according to the release. Although Spolana has agreed to wall off some of its buildings, Greenpeace has said that the site should be completely closed off and decontaminated, because flooding in the area could release toxins into the Elbe River. 
Contact:
Jan Haverkamp, Greenpeace Czech Republic, tel (420-2) 2431-9667 or (420-60) 356-9243; e-mail: jan.haverkamp@cz.greenpeace.org; 
web: http://www.greenpeace.cz/temelin/index.htm

IFEJ GIVING GRANTS TO SEND JOURNALISTS TO JOHANNESBURG
The International Federation of Environmental Journalists (IFEJ) has announced plans to pay the airfare and accommodation of 10 journalists from "developing countries and Eastern Europe," so they can attend the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, which takes place Aug. 28-Sept. 3. "Each applicant should send a two-page CV and cite how s/he has been covering issues which pertain to sustainable development and the environment, preferably at the global level," according to the announcement. "Applicants may be employed or freelance print or radio/TV journalists. We would require each applicant to send a 700-800 word article on how his country or region has (or has not) taken steps towards the goals set out in Agenda 21 in Rio towards making development sustainable. The best entries will be published in an IFEJ newsletter." The deadline for applications is Aug. 1. Applications should be sent to all four of the following e-mail addresses: Darryl D'Monte, IFEJ President, darryldmonte@hotmail.com, Robert A. Thomas, IFEJ General Secretary, rathomas@loyno.edu, Michael Schweres, IFEJ co-Executive Director, michael.schweres@45nord.org, Victor Baccheta, IFEJ Board member and former Treasurer, vbacchet@internet.com.uy. 
For more information, contact the
 IFEJ headquarters, tel: (33-4-75) 764-769; web: http://www.ifej.org

NEW JOURNAL ON ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SEEKS SUBMISSIONS
A new journal, entitled "Environment and Sustainable Development," which aims to foster debate on the environment and sustainability "in an integrated way" is interested in submissions. 
To see a sample copy of the journal, or to see submission guidelines, check their web site at: http://www.inderscience.com/catalogue/e/esd/indexesd.html

ONLINE GLOSSARY EXPLAINS KEY TERMS ON CLIMATE CHANGE, ENVIRONMENT
The United States Environmental Protection Agency has a useful online glossary of terms used in the discussion of climate change and the environment in general.