WWF - Conservation and environmental news & publications: Austria

APP's double default on creditors

2012-03-27

European, Japanese taxpayers unwittingly underwrite continued
forest and tiger habitat destruction.

Pekanbaru, Sumatra; Gland, Switzerland: Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) has been accused of a "double default" on international creditors, after an investigation revealed that the company has decimated tropical forests it promised to conserve under "legally binding" debt restructuring agreements.

"APP Default on Environmental Covenant," a new report from Sumatra NGO coalition Eyes on the Forest, shows that the company in 2004 agreed to protect high conservation value forest under debt restructuring agreements it made with taxpayer-backed financial institutions in nine countries. The debt restructuring agreements were negotiated after APP in 2001 defaulted on a massive $US13.9 billion of debt and was delisted by the New York and Singapore stock exchanges.

The 2004 agreements covered the restructuring of $6 billion in debt to the taxpayer-backed export credit agencies of Germany, Japan, France, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Spain and Denmark. Under the agreement, APP – part of the giant Sinar Mas conglomerate - also promised to be fully sustainable by 2007, something it defined as producing all pulp exclusively from plantation wood. The company described the agreements as a "legally binding contractual obligation".

Click to enlarge (© Eyes of the Forest)

The Eyes on the Forest investigation shows that 2007 was the year APP's wood suppliers began clearing the very areas of high conservation value forest in central Sumatra's Pulau Muda that had been highlighted by APP as an example of a new "scientific basis for the sustainable development of our plantations and the management of our conservation areas".

"Despite APP's praise for the independent mapping of the high conservation value forest in the Pulau Muda rainforest, our analysis of recent satellite imagery shows a third of the identified 34,000 hectares has now been drained and cleared," said Muslim Rasyid, co-ordinator of Jikalahari (Forest Rescue Network Raiu), a member of Eyes on the Forest.

Much of this clearing was legally questionable on other grounds, being on peat of more than four metres deep which when drained gives off colossal carbon emissions.

Promises cannot be trusted

"Even in legally binding agreements with government-backed credit institutions around the world, APP has demonstrated that its promises cannot be trusted," said Rod Taylor, Director of WWF International's Forest Programme.

"In just the last couple of months, it's been revealed that APP and affiliates have cleared inside a self-declared tiger sanctuary, that the company has made claims about sustainability certifications that its certifiers reject, and that protected timber species are present in supplies to its pulp mills."

APP has missed self-imposed deadlines of 2004, 2007, and 2009 of supplying its pulp mills exclusively from renewable plantation wood. An announcement it would finally fulfil this promise by 2015 was recently amended to a new deadline of 2020 – when there is a risk there will be little forest left in Sumatra. Eyes on the Forest calls on the ECAs and other investors to not finance APP's plans to expand existing or open new pulp and paper mills in Indonesia, in China and around the world.

"WWF urges taxpayers to tell their export credit agencies to stop supporting the destruction of Sumatran and other tropical forests and driving elephants, tigers and orang-utans to local extinction," said Nazir Foead, Conservation Director WWF-Indonesia.

"This is a company that defaulted on its debts and defaulted on the environmental covenants it agreed to as a condition of restructuring its debts. Any support to its plans to expand risks history repeating itself, with any new pulp mills adding to the over-capacity driving the assault on Sumatra's natural forests and wildlife.

"This is not a business model that should be financed by any prudent financial institution or investor for replication in Borneo, Papua or anywhere else."

For further information:
"APP Default on Environmental Covenant," a report by Eyes on the Forest (www.eyesontheforest.or.id), a coalition of Sumatra NGOs including WWF Riau, can be found here

The truth behind APP's greenwash, by Eyes on the Forest, compares APP claims of sustainability and responsibility to its actual practices. See http://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?202809/Massive-APP-greenwash-campaign-is-mostly-hogwash-finds-new-report

APP certifiers distance themselves from sustainability claims http://wwf.panda.org/?203540/APP-certifiers-distance-themselves-from-sustainability-claims#disqus_thread

WWF-US last month detailed the link between APP's destruction of Sumatran rain forests and U.S. toilet paper imports. To download the report and learn more about WWF's tissue campaign, please visit www.worldwildlife.org/tp
Phil Dickie, pdickie@wwfint.org, +41 79 703 1952
Chris Chaplin, cchaplin@wwf.sg, +65 9826 3802

About WWF
WWF is one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with over 5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the Earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption. panda.org/news for latest news and media resources

Lights out on Bosphorus Bridge marks Earth Hour transition into Europe.

2011-03-27

Lights going out on Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge was a fitting way to mark Earth Hour's transition from Asia to Europe.

The symbolic action of turning lights out for an hour in an expression of concern for the environment is in the process of being officially observed in thousands of communities across 134 countries and territories on all continents.

In Turkey, one of only a few countries to straddle 2 continents, the lights had earlier been switched off in capital Ankara's Opera House. WWF-Turkey enlisted 250 businesses and corporations and 2,000 online supporters to support its Earth Hour efforts.

The CEO of WWF-Turkey Tolga Bastak, made his Earth Hour press speech while the lights of the Bosphorus Bridge were going dark.

"This year, the lights are going off for a different cause," Bastak said, "we put great pressure on the natural resources of our planet and our ecological footprint exceeds the biological capacity by 50 per cent.

"If we continue living and consuming as usual, we would need two planets by 2030 and 2.8 planets by 2050. It is getting harder and more difficult each day to survive in our 'global home'. We should try living in the resources that the planet supplies and respect the limits of one planet.

"Today, we ask everyone to take this opportunity to question how they can contribute to a living planet by making small changes in their lifetsyles and habits."

With Russia's main Earth Hour events in Moscow still 8 hours away, WWF-Russia's Polar Bear Patrol were commemorating Earth Hour by setting out from their base in the small village of Lavrentiy to the even smaller Uelento, the nation's easternmost settlement on the Dezhnev Cape.

"We know Earth Hour very well," said a spokesperson for the patrol unit. "As we get to Uelen, we will tell the villagers about this action and I'm sure, they will support us. We are glad that the ones who keep peace between the bears and humans and protect the Arctic animals will be the first ones in Russia to celebrate this global event."

As the event traversed 11 timezones, riders in 20 cities saddled up on bicycles adorned with LED lamps - with the northernmost ride in Murmansk going ahead despite the forecasts of a strong snowstorm. The westernmost ride was staged in Archangelsk near the Finnish border. Over the border, the lights went out at the distinctive Helsinki cathedral, Finland and a special Tampere market place Energiatehdas (Energy factory) was set up with the energy being provided by dancers and stationary cyclists.

"These cyclists are heroes," said WWF's Russia office. "In Moscow it is -8 degrees."

In Moscow, talk show host Nikolay Drozdov and popular actor Lubov Tolkalina arranged a dinner and auction for celebrities to commit to Beyond the Hour actions which included abandoning plastic bags and sharing cars. At the new Ecocentre was an environmental education event for children which attracted a range of city and government officials.

Mobile and social platforms spread the message in Egypt

Timezones here start dropping deep into Africa where Earth Hour participation boomed. In Egypt, the Earth Hour message was going out on the social media networks that recently played such a crucial role in the country's transition towards democracy, thanks in part to spirited sponsorship by Egypt's largest telco provider Mobinil. Using their extensive networks and calling on the support of Nile City management and the Egyptian Ministry of Environment, Mobinil engaged the participation of Egyptians, switching off the lights of their 5 office buildings across the country in recognition of their own commitments to go beyond the hour, including the establishment of one of Egypt's first LEED buildings.

In Kenya, lights went out at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre and United Nations Buildings across the East African nation as more than 10,000 gathered for a three hour concert in Nairobi with some of the country's leading musicians, including acclaimed afro-fusion artist Achien'g Abura, who implored her fans to make a commitment to go beyond the hour for Earth Hour 2011.

"If there is anything you take away from this year's Earth Hour it is that there is something you can do in the way you live your life that makes a difference. Your lamp may be pretty but it does not have to be on," she said.

Ugandan Earth Hour activists, officially participating in the event for the first time, have spread out into their communities with a range of beyond the hour activities. Enock Nimpamya committed to the training of 10 journalists in environmental reporting and to restore a hectare of degraded land in Kampala while Job Mutyaba will be assisting in the installation of efficient cook stoves in an Entebbe orphanage and its surrounding community. Around 20 individuals and organisations in Uganda have committed to planting 16,000 trees.

15 year old motivates town in Swaziland

Nathi Mzileni, a 15-year-old boy from Swaziland, was inspired to take action in 2010 when he realised his town near Shewula Nature Reserve in the east of the country did not participate in Earth Hour. He started a group at his High School called Green Enviro to educate people about climate change, and this year single-handedly made Earth Hour a reality with major buildings in Simunye turning off including the Church of the Nazarene, the Simunye National Library, Simunye Country Club and major schools such as the Ngomane and Lusoti Primary Schools and Lusoti High.

Earlier this week, in Botswana, Former President Festus Mogae was among members of the public who came in large numbers to plant trees, in Gakuto, to demonstrate one of the ways Botswana can go beyond the hour of switching electricity off on March 26. Earth Hour was observed with a candle-lit ceremony in Gaborone. The lights also went off at the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

Soweto again demonstrates power of grassroots action

Almost 35 years after making global headlines as the scene of one of history's greatest displays of grassroots action, Soweto, South Africa embraced the world's largest environmental action by turning off the lights at Orlando Stadium to the soaring strains of a spirited candlelit concert headlined by the Grammy award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir.

Other soccer stadiums turning off included Moses Mabhida (Durban), Nelson Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth), and Soccer City (Johannesburg). International soccer regulator FIFA had earlier come out in support of Earth Hour.

Citizens of Durban which will in December host the next global climate change conference chose to follow a beach clean-up with a soccer in the dark event at popular tourist site, uShaka Marine World. Four well-known soccer teams battled it out in the dark of the Marine World.

Shutting off all lights in all municipal buildings were Durban and Bloemfontein, while Cape Town turned off its backdrop, the spectacular Table Mountain as well. Johannesburg flicked the switch on some of its best known landmarks including the Ponte Tower, the Hillbrow Tower, the SABC (national broadcaster) and the Sentech Tower (broadcast signal distribution centre) and hotels and businesses all over the city.

Moving on to Africa's northwestern-most nation, Morocco received the Earth Hour baton, the national capital, Rabat, switching off the lights of the Chellah ruins and ancient Medina walls surrounding the old city. The official ceremony in Rabat was attended by local government members, the President of local NGO Ribat Al fath, and hundreds of people who celebrated the event with Kanun and Gnawa music.

While in Casablanca an Earth Hour show accompanied by candles and acoustics was held at the 'Casa del Arte' (school of art) as diners at the iconic 'A ma Bretagne' restaurant celebrated a candlelit Earth Hour dinner by the famous Casablanca foreshore.

Ancient Acropolis switches off

Greece, which recently passed admirable biodiversity protection legislation despite economic adversity, turned off its best known landmark, the Acropolis, crowned by the Parthenon dominating the ancient city of Athens. On current information, this was the oldest buildings complex to observe Earth Hour.

Cyprus celebrated Earth Hour in the Presidential Palace with a message from the President and members of the Green Party.

Bulgaria celebrated Earth Hour for the third year, in part with free acoustic concerts staged simultaneously in top Sofia music clubs. Many of the musicians had previously recorded a video asking fans to turn off computers as well as lights. Lights went out at the National Theatre, the National Library and the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia and on administrative buildings, historic monuments and public spaces in 46 towns and cities outside the capital. Patron for the event was EU Commissioner, Kristalina Georgieva, and top Bulgarian tennis players Wimbledon semi-finalist, Tsvetana Pironkova, and Junior Wimbledon and US Open winner, Grigor Dimitrov, were Earth Hour ambassadors.

"I believe that Earth Hour shouldn't be just turning off your lights for an hour once a year," Tsvetana Pironkova said. "We should all think how we can contribute to saving our planet every day. The Earth is not our home only, it will need to be the home of our children too. To begin with, I always unplug the charger once my mobile phone has charged. I try not to have the TV on if I am not watching it, to switch off the lights when I leave a room and to recycle as much as possible!"

"I try to choose the products I use depending on how they were made. When possible, I chose the most environmentally friendly products. I try to use recycled materials and use as little energy as possible in my daily life", Grigor Dimitrov said.

"Really, it's not difficult and I believe that everyone can work on their environmental footprint and be more responsible towards the environment".

Locals in Pristina, Kosovo marked their commitment to go beyond the hour at Mother Teresa Square where, from 3.00pm local time, organising partners "AKEA" and "Eko Viciana" provided boards for Kosovars to sign up in support of the Earth Hour movement.

Some 42 Serbian cities and municipalities led by Belgrade and Nis took part in Earth Hour, with Eco Musketeers again persuading Belgradians in Republic Square to register pledges and mark out the Earth Hour logo with candles.

A concert held in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina was at full capacity with 300 people attending the event. Man of the year and renowned musician, Damir Imamovic, showed his support by performing at the event.

Croatia was also a third time participant, this time with the support of President Ivo Josipovic. Fifteen cities and towns signed up for the event and the lights went out for the first time on UNESCO heritage sites at old Dubrovnik and the sprawling palace of Roman Emperor Diocetian which dominates Split.

Actor and Earth Hour ambassador, Zrinka Cvitesic, hosted the drum concert and singing in Petar Preradovic Square in the capital Zagreb.

Romania again turned out the lights on its Parliament Palace, one of the world's largest buildings which consumes in one hour what a household consumes in a year. Other notable buildings to darken included the Romanian Athenaeum, the National Theatre in Bucharest, the Central Library, the National Opera and the National Art Museum.

Outside Bucharest, 51 other cities and towns commemorated Earth Hour including 9 out of the 10 largest cities. As buildings plunged into darkness, people could choose among 20 events - candle-lit shows, stargazing, unplugged concerts hosted by folk artists and children choirs. A Bucharest bike march across the city drew 500 while an unplugged concert hosted by popular musician and Earth Hour ambassador Zoli Toth`s band SISTEM and by Romanian choir SOUND, provided the music in front of the Romanian Athaeneum.

"Every day we consume a lot of energy that we don't actually need," said Toth. "If we are a bit more careful and care about future generations, we can decrease our carbon footprint significantly in the future. Everything depends on us."

The historic city of Brasov in the heart of the Carpathian mountains organized a special event, showing a silent movie, powered by the energy produced by several people biking.

The so-called Endless Column by famous Romanian sculptor Constantin Brâncusi at Târgu Jiu in the heart of Romania, also went dark for Earth Hour. The monument was commissioned to honour the soldiers who defended Târgu Jiu during the First World War and saved from the destruction by the former Communist regime in the 1950s. An 18th, but incomplete rhomboidal module at the top is thought to be the element that expresses the concept of the infinite.

Ukrainian capital Kiev flicked off lights on busy Kreschatik Boulevard and the historic orthodox Christian Kievo-Pecherskaya monastery to lead 32 further cities in observing Earth Hour for the country's third time. Supporters enjoyed an hour of acoustic music with popular Ukrainian singer Dmitriy Shurov and music band "Bahroma" at the Contemporary Art Centre M17.

In Odessa, the historic centre of the city, including the Opera and seaside boulevard, were also shrouded in darkness. At 8:30pm people could join a street concert near the city hall, followed by fire shows and a flash mob with candles. At the end of the concert people could write their pledges to the planet on lanterns and let them fly into the night sky.

"If each one of us begins to monitor the quantity of gas, water and electricity used, the numbers for a huge country like Ukraine will be enormous. In reality it is so simple to change our behaviour", said Earth Hour veteran and popular clothes designer Lilia Poustovit, who has been an ambassador to the Ukrainian campaign since 2009.

In other Ukrainian cities people could visit street concerts and candlelit dinners at different restaurants, as well as join roller skaters in Energodar and attend an evening of street astronomy in Poltava.

Belarus turned out lights on its most prominent and perhaps most startling building - its national library, a glass 23-story rhombicuboctahedron (a solid with 8 triangles and 18 squares) while Lithuania turned off the lights on the castle most featured on its national currency, the 14th century Vilnius Gediminas Castle, backed up by the National Museum building. Polish celebrations in 30 cities and towns were led by TV presenter Kinga Rusin.

"I have supported the 'Earth Hour' for several years now, because it offers a practical opportunity for every resident of this planet to switch off the lights for one hour, thus taking part in the pursuit of a common goal in terms of promoting green thinking and the sustainability of our planet," said Latvian President Valdis Zatlers.

"By taking an active part in this, as opposed to standing around the sidelines, we confirm that we are concerned about the climate changes that are occurring in our environment."

Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis and the State Parliament Saeima also supported Earth Hour's fourth commemoration in Latvia.

Malmo wins Earth Hour greenest city award

Across the Baltic, 30 Swedish cities competed for the honour of being named 'Earth Hour Capital 2011' and it was Malmo that received the award from the King in the inaugural Earth Hour City Challenge for the most holistic, inspiring and credible plan for reaching zero carbon emissions.

But the city isn't about to rest on its laurels with Mayor Ilmar Reepalu telling the international panel of experts that "our work isn't finished, and our goal is for Malmö to be powered by 100% renewable energy by the year 2030."

Elsewhere, famous musician Anders Paulsson was leading the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra through its paces in the Stockholm Concert House in Sweden, while at the other end of the musical scale Love Generation, Vanessa Falk, J-Son and Vanessa Liftig were starring in a carbon-neutral pedal-powered Hip Hop concert in the dark at the Sockholm Cultural Centre

Folk music and pop concert fans weren't neglected either with a concert in Katarina Kyrka (one of the largest and most central churches in Stockholm) Stars included Me and My Army, Carl Norén, Little Majorette, Esbjörn Hazelius Kleerup and Stiko Per Larsson, with Stiko's next engagement being a post Earth Hour walk from Stockholm to Copenhagen.

Earth Hour actions in the Albanian capital Tirana took place across the city with the theme of "turn off the lights - turn on solidarity with the planet". Locals gathered in front of prominent Tiranian landmark, The Faculty of History and Philology, where the lights were turned off as part of a ceremony followed by a "candle party" that lasted the full 60 minutes of Earth Hour. Those attending were kept entertained by an acoustic guitar concert without the use of electricity and the event was broadcast across Albania by local TV network, Planet TV.

In Norway, Earth Hour celebrations broke records for the third year in a row with 181 cities and communities participating (up from 162 in 2010). One of the highlights included a ski resort that celebrated the event with a torch slalom event where participants were invited to ski down the slopes with torches in hand. Norwegian Polar Explorer Borge Ousland communicated the urgency of action that goes beyond the hour, "during my expeditions to the Arctic, I have sailed right through the consequences of climate change: where there should have been ice, there is now open sea. The changes are dramatic and the job of cutting greenhouse gas emissions has never been more important than now".

The Norwegian national energy company, Statnett, reported a national drop in energy consumption during the hour that surpassed last year's saving. Figures showed that Norwegians who switched off their lights were able to save the equivalent of slightly over 6 million 40W light bulbs.

Candlelit demand for "Energiewende jetzt!"

A 3000 candle demand for " Energiewende jetzt! ("Switch to Green energy now!") was the main feature of the "Switch Off Event" at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Lanterns were used to spell out "Klimaschutz jetzt" (climate protection now).

Some 65 cities and towns in Germany participated in Earth Hour 2011.

There was a fourfold increase in Czech Republic cities and towns participating in Earth Hour, including four regional capitals. Among the 131 was Brno, the country's second biggest city, which invited citizens to "enjoy the darkness" with movies about darkness, lectures on climate and light pollution, concerts in the dark and a guided city walk to some of the "dark" corners of the city, stopping at art shops, cafés and restaurants operating only by candle light. The observatory in Valašské Mezirící had an evening dedicated to climate and light pollution.

Runway switches off at Budapest Airport, no alarm necessary

More than 5000 people congregated in the darkened Castle precincts of Budapest, Hungary to hear celebrities talk about climate change, environment protection and why they support Earth Hour.

In what was initially slightly alarming news, Budapest Airport announced a commitment to turning off runway lights. The temporary black-out, carried out, the airport explained, under strict national and international control to ensure passenger and aviation safety celebrated a light system refit which has significantly reduced the amount of energy the airstrip uses to provide lighting that can be seen from a distance of 20 kilometres.

Lively university town Szeged in southern Hungary hosted an event featuring drummers and fire dancers. Mulled wine and refreshments were served and Earth Hour supporters received candles with the Earth Hour logo.

Austrian capital Vienna participated in Earth Hour for the first time, as President Heinz Fischer affirmed support with a statement saying that "The Federal President of Austria welcomes all activities such as Earth Hour to make known the drastic impacts of climate change to all Austrians and people who live in Austria".

Lights go off on the famous Vienna City Hall building and the huge and historic Schönbrunn Palace on the outskirts of Vienna. Some 11 further cities supported the event. Among these were the historic towns of Innsbruck, Linz, Klagenfurt and Salzburg. In Salzburg, lights went out on 20 landmarks, among which Castle Hohensalzburg and the Statue of Mozart. In Switzerland, the International Olympic Committee based in Lausanne also offered its support.

Eternal city Rome Italy went temporarily dark around a main event in Piazza Navona which kicked off with animations and children leading up to the lights of the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi being turned off by actor Christian de Sica and WWF Italy founder Fulco Pratesi. Down towards the forum, the Colosseum dimmed.

Swim champion Massimiliano Rosolino was the first of a procession of celebrities to light flying lanterns on the green carpet, while Pocoyo Mascotte was on board to animate the square along with a concert of street artists.

Milan's main event for Earth Hour was held in the gothic scenery of Piazza Duomo. From the afternoon animations, games and laboratories, including ecological house, solar energy and water clock demonstrations, were held for the kids. The city's famous cathedral played mute witness to one minute of silence for Japan.

Spain also saw a record turnout with 214 cities and towns, 172 schools and universities, 76 companies and 153 other organisations supporting the event. Some 15,026 individuals have signed online. In Portugal the lights were switched off by Internationally renowned Portuguese composer, António Vitorino d'Almeida.

City of light turns them off

A 25m² Earth Hour logo of 1,600 LED lit Pandas was a new touch to Earth Hour celebrations in Paris, France, but the main spectacle remained an Eiffel Tower suddenly switching off. Pressing the red button to accomplish this is one of the most sought after jobs in the entire global progress of Earth Hour. Other switches are, however, required to turn off historic bridges over the Seine. Some 126 other French towns and cities also went dark.

Celebrations in The Netherlands were centred on Rembrandt Square in Amsterdam with a special set played by top ten Netherland Dj and Earth Hour ambassador, Ferry Corsten. In the country's second largest city Rotterdam, lights on the City Hall and Erasmus Bridge were extinguished for the hour.

60 static cyclists broadcast the Earth Hour news

At the Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, a special event was created for Earth Hour: human energy cast through the darkness to shine a message of hope onto the walls of the iconic Royal Albert Hall. For the duration of the hour, 60 static cyclists powered a projection of natural world animation and Earth Hour news.

"Earth Hour is about millions of people all over the world coming together to switch off their lights, tackle climate change and protect our natural world," said UK Prime Minister David Cameron. " It is a huge symbol of global solidarity, an inspiring display of international commitment. I urge everyone to take part, and I really do believe this is another small step to the big prize we all want to see – our planet protected from Climate Change."

Landmarks that darkened for Earth Hour across the UK include the EDF Energy London Eye, Manchester United Old Trafford, Albert Hall, Buckingham Palace, and No 10 Downing Street. The Tower Bridge is among 6 bridges across the UK that switched off during Earth Hour.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said, "I am pleased to give my full backing to WWF's Earth Hour to highlight London's commitment to energy conservation. At City Hall we'll be turning off our lights to mark this global event, and ensuring that London's iconic Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square will be in darkness."

Scotland's official countdown event for Earth Hour was held at Edinburgh Castle. Alex Salmond MSP, Scotland's First Minister, said, "The Scottish Government is delighted to back WWF's Earth Hour.

Our world-leading Climate Change Act with its target to cut emissions by 42% by 2020 is challenging but achievable, and in doing so we will create a cleaner, greener Scotland with a thriving low-carbon economy. We are committed to leading by example and to encouraging others to do the same.

"Every person in Scotland typically contributes twice the global average in terms of greenhouse gas emissions produced as a result of our everyday behaviour. Small changes in our daily lives will not only help reduce emissions but can also contribute towards a healthier lifestyle, improve our environment and offer real financial savings.

"WWF's Earth Hour provides an opportunity to demonstrate Scotland's commitment to tackling climate change in a simple yet effective way."

Lord Mayor of Dublin, Ireland, Gerry Brown, celebrated his city's participation in the global initiative, highlighting its pioneering role in the European roll out of Earth Hour, "Dublin was the first city in Europe to support Earth Hour and I am proud to continue this tradition that shows the power of small nations, individuals and communities to come together and send a powerful message." Ireland switched off some of its best known landmarks such as the Rock of Cashel, Donegal Castle and Leinster House.

World's first five country protected area to conserve "Europe's Amazon"

2011-03-25

Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia and Slovenia today signed a historic declaration to establish a trans-boundary UNESCO Biosphere Reserve to protect their shared nature and wildlife along the Mura, Drava and Danube rivers, "Europe's Amazon".

The declaration - signed during the Informal Ministerial Meeting within the Hungarians EU-Presidency - paves the way for creating the world's first five-country protected area and, with an overall size of about 800,000 ha, Europe's largest riverine protected area.

"This landmark cross border agreement is a powerful demonstration of a shared green vision that builds on and reinforces regional cooperation and unity in Europe," said Jim Leape, WWF International Director General.

The declaration was signed today by Mr Nikolaus Berlakovich, Mr Sándor Fazekas, Mr Oliver Dulić and Mr Roko Žarnić, the ministers responsible for environmental protection in Hungary, Serbia and Slovenia, and Mr Jasen Mesić, the minister of culture in Croatia.

Given the global importance of this outstanding commitment in initiating the trans-boundary UNESCO Biosphere Reserve between five countries, WWF today presented the five ministers with the WWF "Wild Heart of Europe" award, handed over by Andreas Beckmann, Director of the WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme and Gábor Figeczky, CEO of WWF Hungary.

"It is not only a significant step forward in protecting the region's natural treasures but serves as a striking example of how nature conservation can bring countries together," said Andreas Beckmann.

"WWF hopes the declaration signed today will accelerate the country's efforts to fully establish this critical trans-boundary protected area within the next couple of years to protect this green belt in the heart of Europe," Beckmann added.

In 2009 Croatia and Hungary signed an agreement to protect their shared biodiversity hotspot along the Mura, Drava and Danube rivers. This agreement has served as a basis for the current five-country declaration.

With rare floodplain forests, river islands, gravel banks and oxbows, the new five-country protected area spans 700 kilometres of rivers and 800,000 hectares of unique natural and cultural landscapes. The area is home to the highest density in Europe of breeding pairs of white-tailed eagle and endangered species such as the little tern, black stork, otters, beavers and sturgeons. It is also an important stepping stone for more than 250,000 migratory waterfowls every year.

"The five countries have agreed to protect an area which is one of the richest in Europe in terms of species diversity," said Arno Mohl, Project Coordinator of the "Mura-Drava-Danube" Biosphere Reserve project at WWF Austria. "Such floodplain areas can only be topped by the tropical rainforests."

The river ecosystem is also vital for the socio-economic well being of the trans-boundary region. It is a major source of good drinking water, natural flood protection, sustainable forestry, agriculture and fisheries. It also has an important role in promoting eco-tourism, awareness raising and environmental education in the region.

"We trust that this agreement will end unsustainable river regulation and gravel and sand extraction projects which are still threatening this unique river ecosystem," Arno Mohl said.

WWF also hopes that no new hydropower dams will be planned for the area and the gravel excavations will not threaten river dynamics.

The new protected area was declared with the help of WWF, EuroNatur and local partner organisations such as Drava League, Green Action and DOPPS-Birdlife Slovenia.

"Since the 1990's EuroNatur has invested a great deal to foster regional cooperation to preserve the natural values of the rivers. We are very proud about the achievement of this joint commitment that will trigger transboundary regional development based on natural values of the riverine landscape", said Martin Schneider-Jacoby from EuroNatur.

The WWF project "Protecting Europe's lifeline - the creation of a Trans-Boundary Biosphere Reserve along the Danube, Drava and Mura rivers" is carried out with the support of the MAVA Foundation, Asamer Holding and The Coca Cola Company.

For further information:
Arno Mohl, Project Coordinator, Mura-Drava-Danube Biosphere Reserve, WWF Austria +43 676 83 488 300

Download the management concept for the Biosphere Reserve has already been developed by WWF and EuroNatur.

Navigation threat barges in on Danube

2010-12-09

New plans to ease navigation bottlenecks on the Danube could threaten some of the river's most scenic and natural values, said WWF after the release today of plans of the European Commission to increase navigation on the river as part of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region.

The Danube River basin, the most international river basin in the world, comprises 19 countries and is currently home to close to 100 million people. One quarter of them depend on the river for their drinking water.

WWF criticises the decision to increase navigation on the Danube by removing the so-called bottlenecks, obstacles to navigation during low water level. This usually involves deepening and widening the fairway with the help of old-fashioned and expensive infrastructures. Such interventions would not only affect local ecosystems, but the entire river morphology and dynamics as well as the associated flora and fauna.

The number of existing navigation projects show the alarmingly broad definition being applied to the term bottleneck - it includes the last free flowing stretch of the Danube in Germany and the entire Hungarian section of the river. Many areas with outstanding natural values are also being investigated for intrusive navigational works. In the Lower Danube, islands like Belene, Cama-Dinu and Turcescu are considered bottlenecks at the same time as being part of Nature Parks or designated EU Natura 2000 sites.

Although the river has seen considerable improvements in its condition over the last decade, this decision could result in significant negative impacts on its unique environment without bringing the expected economic benefit to the region.

"Heavy investments in diking and dredging the Danube have been justified by various officials with reference to the Rhine river. But the Rhineland has very different conditions from the Danube area, with an industrial base that has developed over centuries and not just thanks to the river. Expecting an economic miracle from investments in Danube navigation is a myth, and potentially a very costly mistake." said Andreas Beckmann, Director of the WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme.

The Danube as opposed to the Rhine, does not harbour as many industrial sites, and many of the large economic centres on the Danube are not located on the river.

"Today is a sad day", said Petruta Moisi, a prominent Romanian environmentalist who lives close to the river in Galati. "It's sad not because there will be navigation along the Danube River – the river has always been navigable – but because of the narrow mindset of the hydrologists and river engineers, who were all trained over the past 50 years and this is their final lifetime opportunity to get things wrong".

"It's the same pattern of thinking that made it possible for the former river wetlands and floodplains to be destroyed for good starting back in the early 1970s."

"I feel sad because I truly believed in all the decision makers' capacity for understanding the issues here. But who will pay the price now for doing things in an unsustainable way? You do not need to be smart to know that", Moisi said.

The current focus of the proposed strategy on expensive and out-dated approaches to increase navigation risks not only waste money but destroy valuable biodiversity and associated ecosystem services, from flood protection to water purification.

"Solutions for improving inland navigation without changing drastically the nature of the river are available and are less costly in financial as well as ecological terms. We need to invest in innovative ship design that fit the existing depth of the river, better information systems, and nature friendly infrastructure." added Beckmann.

WWF is calling on Danube countries and on Hungary as next leader of the EU Council to seize the opportunity of the Strategy to bring short and long term benefits to its population by using its enormous natural and cultural assets in a sustainable way.

Other aspects of the plan, which will continue the improvement of water quality and offer special protection to the sturgeon, were praised by WWF.

For further information:
Stefania Campogianni, Media and Communication Officer, WWF European Policy Office, tel: +32 2 743 88 15, mob. +32 (0)499 539736, email: scampogianni@wwfepo.org

Andreas Beckmann, Director, WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme, mob: +43 676 84 27 28 216, email: abeckmann@wwfdcp.org

Irene Lucius, Head of Policy, WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme, mob: +43 676 84 27 28215, email: ilucius@wwfdcp.org

Sergey Moroz, Freshwater Policy Officer, WWF European Policy Office, mob: +32 499 539734, email: smoroz@wwfepo.org

Hungary could take lead on tackling ticking toxic time bombs from mining

2010-10-11

Kolontàr, Hungary: Hungary, about to take on the EU presidency, could use its position to mount a major push on reducing the human and natural risks of large stockpiles of poorly maintained and regulated mining wastes across eastern Europe, WWF said.

The call comes as emergency operations continue to head off an increasing risk of further large scale flows of toxic aluminium processing sludge from the broken reservoir above the town of Kolontàr. The initial breach of the reservoir walls a week ago killed at least seven, inundated six villages and sent a caustic alkaline plume towards the Danube.

WWF on Friday issued a photograph showing that the reservoir wall was clearly degraded and leaking more than three months prior to the disaster. Work has nearly finished on a secondary dyke, 1500 m long, 30 m wide and 8 m high through and alongside Kolontàr, to reduce damage from any further spills.

"The human and ecological disaster at Kolontàr – the greatest chemical disaster in Hungary's history – has made clear the need to re-assess current regulation of such mine waste sites and begs the question how many other ticking time bombs there are in Central and Eastern Europe," said Gabor Figeczky, interim CEO of WWF-Hungary.

Mining and mineral processing tailings dams – presumably including the Kolontàr reservoir – were listed as a priority concerns in a 2004 comprehensive study on mainly eastern European hazardous and toxic waste sites from the European Commission's Joint Research Center.

Overall, however, it is clear that information on sites, on the risks they present and on what is being done to reduce risks is extremely poor. WWF released a list of recent Danube releases of toxic wastes and some of the major hazard areas last week.

"WWF's list gives an indication of some other possibly dangerous sites in the region but it is by no means provides the kind of exhaustive analysis that is needed," said Andreas Beckmann, Director of WWF's Danube-Carpathian Programme.

From disaster driven policy to risk driven policy

Specifically, WWF is calling on the European Commission and the Hungarian government to complement the work package on sustainable water management with development of an Action Plan for the effective implementation of the EU Mining Waste Directive during Hungary's upcoming Presidency of the European Union, which begins in January 2011.

"This directive is good in that it marks the transition from disaster driven policy on mining wastes to risk driven policy," said Sergey Moroz, policy expert at the WWF-European Policy Office.

"The impetus for the EU's 2006 Mining Waste Directive were major toxic spills at Baia Mare and Baia Borsa in Romania in 2000 and in Donana in southern Spain in 1998. But the new rules introduced by the directive in 2006 failed to treat the Kolantar reservoir's wastes as posing risk to humans and environment."

"Other provisions which may have made a difference to Kolantàr in 2010 - such as third party inspection, monitoring, and reviewing of permits - aren't due to come substantially into effect until 2012."

The Action Plan which Hungary will shortly be ideally placed to push should focus on sites in the new EU Member States in Central and Eastern Europe and include an assessment of risks in neighbouring countries with a potential impact on the European Union, including Croatia, Serbia, Ukraine and Moldova, Moroz said.
.
The Action Plan should include an assessment of risks to humans and environment from all critical mining waste sites; screen all licenses issued for on-going and planned new mining operations with regard to the hazardous substances and their classification, defining immediate measures during the transition period with clear responsibilities for the operators, the respective Governments and the European Commission.

WWF particularly calls for review and amendment of the EU Mining Waste Directive concerning safety, in particular for dams of open tailings. In addition, the European Commission should screen whether the respective EU Directives have been transcribed into national laws and regulations and assess to what extent they have been put into practice.

The Action Plan could be implemented in part as a flagship project within the framework of the new EU Danube Strategy, which is currently being developed by the European Commission and expected to be formally adopted during the Hungary's EU Presidency next spring.

Further information
On the EU Mining Waste Directive and Action Plan:
•Sergey Moroz, Policy Expert, WWF-European Policy Office, +32 499 5397 34
•Andreas Beckmann, Director, WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme, +49 1511 88 54910
On the Hungarian disaster:
•Gabor Figeczky, interim CEO, WWF-Hungary, +36 3067 85 398

About WWF
WWF is one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with more than 5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

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Hungary toxic mud disaster could have been avoided

2010-10-08

Kolontàr, Hungary: An aerial photograph taken in June showing a damaged and clearly leaking sludge pond wall shows that the toxic mud disaster in Hungary and subsequent pollution of rivers including the Danube could have been avoided, WWF-Hungary said today.

The sludge pond dam wall burst Monday flooding six villages with toxic red mud. Another victim succumbed to injuries in hospital yesterday and two bodies were found during clean up operations today, taking the death toll to seven with one person still missing.

"This new evidence of the degraded state of the walls and significant leakage more than three months before the incident should be cause for an urgent investigation, not just of this disaster but of the state of Hungary's other toxic sludge ponds," said Gábor Figeczky, the Acting Director of WWF-Hungary.

"This points to neglect and a failure of regulation as a prime contributing factor to this disaster."

The photograph was taken by a team from the company Interspect, who were engaged in taking photographs of sludge pools, open-cast mining, and other potentially dangerous, unhealthy industrial sites.

Company representatives told WWF that the state of the Kolontár reservoir was particularly worrying to them because of its close location to family houses.

Fast investigation of other sludge ponds needed

"It is clearly visible on the photos made in June 2010 that the sludge is leaking and part of the wall of this 10th pool was weakened," Figeczky said. "Ultimately, the wall broke in another place, but what you have here is a very clear signal that it was failing and needed inspection and attention over its full length.

"Red sludge is visible in the havaria channels surrounding the factory, which clearly refers to leakage. The red color is generally from iron oxides not soluble in water – so it doesn't fully indicate the presence and extent of leachate containing other toxic substances in movement in the ditch."

"Since the sludge pools are located very close to houses, and natural values, the state of these pools should have been expected regularly with particularly strict measures. WWF is waiting for an explanation of this failure."

WWF-Hungary urged a fast investigation of remaining reservoirs in the area and others around Hungary, along with an urgent aerial mapping of Hungary's Danube banks..

"Now is the time to assess any hazardous areas in the country that could be a possible threats to human life and the environment" said Figeczky. "These photos show that there are technologies available even in Hungary to detect potential hazards within a couple of weeks.

"We are particularly concerned about the much larger reservoirs at Almásfüzitő, built over earthquake prone swamp land right on the river bank just 80 km upstream from Budapest, where all sorts of other materials seem to have been tipped into the alumina processing waste ponds."

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Toxic plume reaches Danube, raises questions about safety in multitude of other sites

2010-10-07

Kolontar, Hungary: As the mixture of red sludge and alkaline water from Monday's breach of a waste dam at a Hungarian alumina plant reached the Danube this morning, the river's second major similar disaster in just over a decade is shifting attention to a multitude of other sites storing bulk liquid wastes in close proximity.

Hungary alone has two other sludge ponds storing similarly toxic and highly alkaline red muds from bauxite processing – one, at Almásfüzitő right on the river bank just 80 km upstream from Budapest, stores around 12 million tones of sludge in seven pools covering around 200 hectares.

WWF-Hungary acting CEO Gábor Figeczky witnessed the anger of villagers in Kolontar yesterday as company representatives under police escort explained that water limits in the dam had not been exceeded before a corner wall breached Monday, unleashing a wall of water and sludge that inundated six villages, killed four, left six missing, injured around a hundred and left hundreds homeless.

"We still don't know what caused this accident and what was in the waste," said Figeczky. "And while we are assured the dam has stopped leaking, authorities have closed the airspace over the site to any but official and company flights."

WWF's Danube Carpathian programme produced a map and list this morning of toxic sites between Hungary and the Danube Delta, itself in the shadow of a steel plant's mountains of abandoned drums with peaks reaching over 100 metres high and the Tulcea aluminum plant's 20 hectare dump of red sludge leaking into the environment through wind and water.

"While the European Union can lay some claim to being relatively advanced in river and water policy, the fact that the company behind this spill is hiding in the fine print of EU definitions of hazard suggests we still have some way to go," said Andreas Beckmann, head of WWF's Danube-Carpathian program.

The EU Mining Waste Directive, which was introduced following major toxic spills at Baia Mare in Romania in 2000 and at Donana in southern Spain in 1998, was meant to prevent exactly this kind of disaster from happening.

"Unfortunately, the EU Mining Waste Directive – which WWF was substantially involved in developing – was significantly weakened as the result of industry lobbying," said Beckmann.

"There are a string of disasters waiting to happen at sites across the Danube basin. A spill from Hungary's Almasfuzito residue reservoir would seriously impact drinking water drinking water supplies and the fragile ecosystems of the middle Danube.

A spill from the facility in Tulcea in Romania, which has already experienced some leaks in the past, would have a devastating impact on the Danube Delta, an area of global importance for flora and fauna."

Acid dump tempers alkalinity, raises its own questions

According to information solicited yesterday and today by WWF-Hungary from the State Representative for Environment Protection, acid dumping in around five locations has reduced alkalinity of waters and sludge from a caustic 13 to around nine in nearby areas.

Plume alkalinity is reported to be under 10 in a side arm of the Danube, near the entry point at Győr, compared too a usual near neutral 7.5.

"There is a chance that at these levels the alkalinity won't kill all fish, as happened in the Marcal River, the tributary bearing the first brunt of the outflow," said Figeczky.

Meanwhile, groundwater readings around Kolontar, the worst hit community, are near normal – although the speed of percolation may mean the main impacts are yet to materialize.

"It is important to handle acids carefully during the neutralization because of the presence of the heavy metals," said Figeczky. "As the alkalinity is reduced, the heavy metals are becoming more soluble and more likely to end up in groundwaters and river flows."

On other hand as the sludge dries, its toxic contents become more likely to reemerge in airborne dust.

Risks multiply down Danube

Almásfüzitő's reservioirs, built over earthquake prone swampland by the river, contain the red sludge byproducts of bauxite refining between 1945 and 1995 mixed with other chemicals, industrial wastewater, communal wastes and oil, according to local NGO's affiliated into the Environmental Culture Association of Esztergom.

The heavy metals ingredient is estimated at about 120.000 tonnes, and the toxic materials are not only mixed with the red sludge but are also mixed into the reservoir dykes. The facility's pools were inadequately or hardly sealed with clay, meaning there is the possibility of extensive flows between ground water and less directly, with the river – a possibility confirmed by multiple high readings for toxic metals and fluorides in monitoring wells recently.

In Serbia, numerous heavy industrial facilities are located close to the river, including the Pancevo complex of oil refineries, fertilizer and vinyl chloride manufacturing plant and associated storages. Surveys following NATO bombing in 1999 "showed the presence of notable quantities of mercury, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), ethylene dichloride (EDC), and other highly toxic substances, including dioxins".

In 2006, a punctured fuel tank at the Serbian port city of Prahavo sent a slick 50-100 m long and 300 metres wide down the river as far as Romania.

Close to 20 tailings dams, some decommissioned but with heavy metals still buried underground, litter Bulgaria..

Romania, site of the massive cyanide contaminated gold processing waste spill into Danube tributaries in 2000, is currently witnessing large protests over a government decision to go ahead with a controversial new mining project at Roşia Montană.

The ArcelorMittal Galati plant was found in September 2009 to be illegally storing thousands of tonnes of waste, much of it in an old dump, described as „a 40 year old mountain of garbage covering one million square meters with "peaks" over 100 meters in height."

Also notorious is the Alum Tulcea alumium producing plant with its 20 hectare landfill of red sludge linked to caustic dust clouds and numerous leaks into waterways that have killed fish and birds in the heritage listed delta.

Alexa Antal, WWF-Hungary, +36 306552407, alexa.antal@wwf.hu

Olga Apostolova, WWF Danube Carpathian program, +359 885 727 862, oapostolova@wwfdcp.bg

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Toxic mud effects likely to be long term in Hungary

2010-10-06

Kolontar, Hungary: As toxic mud polluted waters flow towards the Danuber from Monday's breach of an alumina plant residue dam, WWF-Hungary has warned the environmental impacts could be longer lasting than the 2000 cyanide spill into the Danube basin.

"Currently it is impossible to do any sort of estimate of the magnitude of the damage done to nature," said Gábor Figeczky, Acting CEO of WWF-Hungary from Kolontar – one of six villages flooded by around one million cubic meters (35 million cubic feet) of red mud and highly alkaline water when the corner-walls of the toxic waste reservoir at the Ajka Aluminia Company broke through.

"The red sludge is going down the riverbed of Torna stream. The volume is considerable because it came through at about two meters high, this is known because all the houses and trees are red up to two meters.

"It came with a high pressure because trees and fences have been knocked out. The sludge is going down. I have come from a house in which the red sludge is waist high. Everybody is wearing masks and gloves as they are shoveling the red sludge. The air is poisoned as well. It is very irritating to breath in."

The red stain on Hungary's landscape covers about 40 square kilometers (16 square-miles), with Figeczky noting that "Locals constantly collect the surviving animals, the red, opalescent eyed pets are being carried around in barrows, because their injuries unable them to move. The case is just as bad with the livestock too.

"The damage in the wildlife can not even be appraised – certainly hunters are collecting dead and injured animals including deers, foxes, rabbits and wild boars"

It is certain that the contaminated water would pass through the Danube with a smaller concentration, large and interconnected parts of Europe's Natura 2000 protected areas.

"This puts the conservation related damages very substantial - even at international scale," said Figeczky
.
"We expect further damages to fauna and flora, as the materials used in rescue operations and to neutralise alkaline are toxic as well. Some animals and plants die instantly, some will face the consequences of serious poisoning in the longer term as the heavy metals of the red mud accumulate in their bodies, however there is still no information about the concentration of heavy metals in the red mud of this reservoir."

The situation is being actively compared to that of 2000, after cyanide contaminated gold-processing waste spilled from a Romanian waste dam into the Tisza River, a Danube tributaries flowing through the other side of Hungary.

"Ten years ago the cyanide reached Tisza in two waves, first the contaminated water broke out from the Baia Mare water basin, then the sludge full with cyanide and heavy metals flooded into the river," said Figeczky .

The cyanide and the heavy metal have different types of effects. The cyanide immediately destroys the animals, and flows away with the flood.
At the same time the heavy metals soak into the ground and are taken up by the plants and this has a longer-term effect on the environment.
The heavy metal could remain in the ground for decades, and can cause serious effects, like growing disorders. Because of these negative attributes the heavy metal content of this red mud poison is a key issue.

In 2000 the cyanide disaster on the river Tisza, destroyed all of the aquatic animals except the vertebrates.

The river Marcal's dead fish stock can forecast that likely the most of the aquatic animals will die due to the pollution. Similarly to the cyanide pollution these animals can return, and survivors can recolonise areas. But the experts cannot forecast how much time it will take.

While speculation mounts on the natural damage, the human tragedy continues. Four died, six remain missing, more than one hundred were injured and hundreds were forced from their homes.

In the early afternoon people were able to enter the scene of the slurry's outburst.

Aid packages arrive constantly. Locals mostly need rubber boots, clothes, diapers, citric and vinegar acid but any other type of material donation can not be used in this phase.

Locals try to save their belongings but many are bereft of hope. Most of them say they never want to move back to their previous homes.

For further details

Please contact Mr. Gabor Figeczky (acting CEO, WWF-Hungary) for further details at:
gabor.figeczky@wwf.hu
+36 30 678 53 98

WWF fears environmental impact of toxic mud disaster in Hungary

2010-10-05

Budapest, Hungary: WWF is fearful of the long term environmental impacts of the toxic mud disaster in Hungary, following the breach of the residue reservoir of the Ajkai Aluminia Refinery about 160 kilometres south west of Budapest.

Four died, six are still missing and 113 were injured as about one million cubic metres of red mud erupted over six villages at 12:25 Monday after the dam broke. The possibly slightly radioactive and highly corrosive material contains toxic heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, arsenic and chromium and has so far covered around 40 square kilometers.

A third degree alert to be called on the Marcal River, where, according to experts practically the total amount of fish stock of the upper river has already been destroyed. The toll of domestic animals suggests that wildlife would be similarly affected.

The mud has a pH level of up to 13 and acids are being poured into the Marcal to neutralize the alkaline stream before it reaches the Raba and the Danube. Red mud was this morning still flooding from the reserves covering Kolontár, Devecser and Somlóvásárhely. About 500-600 tonnes of cluster have been transported to the river to collect the slightly radioactive material.

"This is an unprecedented incident that effects deeply the ecosystem, wetlands and surface water bodies of the region as well as pointing out the fragility of our drinking water reserves," said Gabor Figeczky, the Deputy CO of WWF-Hungary

According to Dr. Zoltan Illes, Hungary's State Secretary of Environmental Protection, the country only in the beginning of eliminating the damages. First they have to collect the toxic mud, then neutralize it to reduce the harm before it reaches the Danube – predicted to be in about five days from now.

For Danube communities, the spill has reignited memories of the the Baia Mare cyanide spill in Romania In January 2000, a retaining wall failed at the Aurul gold processing plant, releasing a wave of cyanide and heavy metals that would moved quickly from one river to the next through Romania, Hungary, Serbia, and Bulgaria, killing fish and other wildlife and poisoning drinking water.

"I hope that the Kolontar incident will not have the same degree of far reaching consequences as the Baia Mare spill," said Andreas Beckmann, Director, WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme

"From the information I can gather, the escaped sludge would not normally be a direct threat to the Danube River, but unfortunately we are in the midst of the rainy season and it has rained especially hard in Hungary. This means that the sludge will spread faster and further and it is likely inevitable that some sludge will escape into the Danube.

"It's hard for us to know how this will affect the environment. Heavy metals are known for their longevity, they don't disappear overnight.

"This is a good occasion to remind ourselves that such depots – some currently in use, some abandoned – are common place in the Danube region. Some contain heavy metals, some radioactive elements. None of these are safe and the current incident has shown us this."

Hungary has two other such refineries with an estimated 50 million cubic metres of similarly toxic red mud in highly sensitive areas close to rivers (like the one in Almasfuzito on the bank of the Danube), and karst water reservoires threatening wildlife, wetlands and safe drinking water.

For further details

Please contact Mr. Gabor Figeczky (deputy CO, WWF-Hungary) for further details at:
gabor.figeczky@wwf.hu
+36 30 678 53 98

Plenty to celebrate but more to do as 19 nations mark Danube Day

2010-06-29

Vienna, Austria: The waltz might have celebrated a Blue Danube, but for those who lived on its banks it was the polluted and often smelly Danube.

But now, as the 83 million people in the basin of the world's most international river prepare to celebrate Danube Day, there is plenty to celebrate - the Blue Danube is on the way back, thanks to an impressive display of multilateral cooperation by the 19 Danube basin nations.

And while the water is becoming more blue, the banks are becoming more green, with world leading programs to restore wetlands and floodplains that keep the river healthy, provide natural and more effective flood mitigation, boost recreational use of the river and are playing a big part in bringing back threatened wildlife.

While the Danube boasts one of the world's key examples of river basin cooperation and some of the leading global projects in river restoration, there is still some way to go on the path to a healthy river able to face the full challenges posed by development and the looming threats of climate change.

Phillip Weller, former head of WWF's Green Danube programme and now executive secretary for the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River, is excited about the possibilities that the Danube Strateg y of the European Union offers to further create political attention and support for measures needed to restore and protect the Danube.

"I am an optimist," he said.

Read WWF's Danube Day feature, including interviews with people who have seen the oil slicks disappear, have swum the length of the river and those now restoring its living natural character..

EU Danube Strategy to promote basin-wide development

2010-03-05

WWF welcomes the EU's initiative to develop a Danube Strategy, which can help bring together and implement existing policies and legislation to achieve long-term sustainable development across the Danube basin.

Development of the Strategy comes at a time when the Danube region faces a series of unprecedented crises: financial, economic and -- even more ominously -- from climate change and loss of biodiversity and related ecosystem services.

"The EU Danube Strategy presents an opportunity for the countries of the Danube region to get ahead of the development curve -- to pull themselves together and put themselves on a path toward a long-term and prosperous future, including a green, carbon-free and resource-efficient economy," said Andreas Beckmann, director of the WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme.

Baltic inspiration

The initiative has been inspired by the Baltic Strategy, which was officially adopted last year and is now focusing efforts of Baltic countries from Sweden to Estonia to address issues including marine pollution and transportation.

A five-month public consultation process for the Danube Strategy got under way on February 2 with a kick-off conference that took place in Ulm in Germany. Follow-up events are planned to take place through June in Budapest, Vienna, Ruse (Bulgaria) and Constanta (Romania), providing input for a draft to be developed by the European Commission in the summer that is expected to be officially adopted under the Hungarian EU Presidency in spring 2011.

WWF has published a discussion paper (see download to the right) related to the Danube Strategy; an official position will follow in early April.

European Commission officials have been clear that the Strategy will bring no new funding, no new legislation and no new institutions – i.e. it can thus only focus and coordinate efforts on issues of common interest to countries in the Danube basin. Nevertheless, the Strategy can influence the allocation of existing funds, and shape priorities for the EU's next financial period, 2014-21.

Danube basin

The Danube is the most international river basin in the world, including all or parts of the territories of 19 countries and home to some 83 million people. The region includes some of the economically poorest and richest countries in Europe, as well as a major portion of the continent's natural wealth.

The key challenge and opportunity for the future of the Danube basin is to find ways to enhance livelihoods while preserving and even enhancing the ecosystems that provide essential goods and services for people and nature – and addressing through this significant differences in socioeconomic development between countries such as Austria and Germany on the one hand, and Bulgaria and Romania on the other.

The EU and Danube countries already have most if not all of the tools they need to achieve this objective, from progressive legislation such as the EU Water Framework Directive to funding programmes that in theory can provide financing for investments in a green economy, including investments in e.g. wetland restoration or nature conservation.

The problem in most cases has been putting what is required or possible on paper into actual practice. The Danube Strategy may help in focusing and integrating efforts to implement relevant policies, both across sectors and national borders, and including with those Danube countries like Ukraine or Serbia that are not presently members of the Union. It can also help address specific environmental challenges, including nutrient pollution, e.g. from agriculture and household detergents; networking protected areas; or promoting energy efficiency.

In addition, the Strategy can also complement and build on existing initiatives and achievements, including the Carpathian Convention and the recently adopted Danube River Basin Management Plan – the first comprehensive, cross-sectoral plan for the region, which has been developed and adopted by all countries in the Danube river basin, including both EU and non-EU member states.

Déjà vu?

But the Danube Strategy may have gotten off on the wrong foot in terms of addressing the key challenge of integrating environment and development.

In its current form, the Strategy envisions three pillars, including environment, socio-economic development and connectivity, especially related to transport and energy. The approach risks repeating the present major challenge of treating the issues separately and in isolation -- an approach that has many efforts working at cross-purposes, e.g. on the lower Danube, where current approaches to developing navigation risk unnecessarily cutting sturgeon migration routes, possibly pushing the ancient Danube species to extinction.

Interventions planned through the Danube Strategy must maintain and enhance the region's natural and social capital as the foundations for long-term development in the region.

"The unprecedented crises that we are facing are ample proof that business as usual is simply not an option", Beckmann said. "We need a paradigm shift, and with a bit of imagination and courage, the Danube Strategy can provide this by painting and helping to realise a bold and long-term vision for sustainable development in the region."

Contact:
Irene Lucius, Senior Policy Coordinator, WWF-DCPO

A decade on, Lower Danube exceeds green corridor targets

2010-02-17

Vienna - A decade after four governments agreed to work together to establish a "green corridor" along the entire length of the Lower Danube River, Europe's most ambitious wetland protection and restoration programme is well ahead of targets for creating protected areas.

The Lower Danube Green Corridor Declaration, signed by environment ministers of Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Moldova in 2000, pledged to boost protection for 775,000 ha of existing protected areas and bring another 160,000 ha under protection along the river's final 1000 kilometres.

The level of achievement however was much higher with some 1.4 million ha has been brought under protection to the benefit of some of Europe's most outstanding wildlife and in enhancing water security, flood control and recreational opportunities for the area's 29 million people.

Running behind target however is the task of wetlands restoration with the countries slightly more than a quarter of the way to their target of restoring 224,000 ha of former wetlands.

It is calculated that over the past couple of centuries, some 80% of the Danube's original floodplains, including important wetland areas, have been lost mostly due to drainage for agriculture and industry as well as flood prevention and navigation.

Wetlands protection and restoration key to a healthy river

"Wetlands protection and restoration is the key to a healthy river able to better deal with both droughts and floods," said Andreas Beckman, Director of WWF's Danube-Carpathian Programme. "Wetlands are not only cheap to maintain, but also save money and this is why we are taking steps not only to protect what remains, but actually to regain at least some of what has disappeared."

The wide array of benefits provided by wetlands include flood and drought management through holding and slowly releasing water and water purification through filtration. Wetlands are also areas rich in resources such as fish and reeds.

€500 per hectare a year in wetland benefits

The value of the various benefits from Danube floodplains is estimated to be at least €500 per hectare a year.

But while WWF would like to see more work on wetlands restoration, Beckman said it was still appropriate to pay tribute to the protected area achievements of the four countries.

"The Lower Danube Green Corridor was and still is the most ambitious wetland protection and restoration initiative in Europe," he said.

"We are looking forward to more ambitious targets for the next phase of developing the green corridor – and hopefully to celebrating again that the river is better protected than we had expected."

Ministers of the environment and their deputies from the four nations gathered in Vienna this week to celebrate the ten year anniversary of the Lower Danube Green Corridor and affirmed their commitment to continue working together to develop the corridor. The celebration was a side event at a ministerial meeting of all 14 Danube nations to adopt a five year management plan for the river, one of the world's most international waterways.

Key topics in the plan, which will also benefit the efforts in the lower Danube and its outstanding delta area include reducing pollution, offsetting the impacts of structural changes to the river, improving urban wastewater systems, bringing phosphate free detergents to all markets and better managing pollution accidents.

WWF research around the world has also shown that rivers and basins functioning naturally will be those best able to cope with challenges of climate change such as more frequent and severe floods and longer and deeper dry spells.

"WWF is calling on all countries of the Danube basin to set qualitative and ambitious targets for each country for wetland protection and restoration as a cost-effective means for securing a host of essential ecosystem services including flood management, clean drinking water and better protection from climate impacts," said Andreas Beckman.

"Let us continue giving life to the Danube, so that the Danube can continue giving life to us."

Along the Lower Danube Green Corridor

After squeezing through the Iron Gates gorge and dams between Serbia and Romania, the Danube flows free for 1,000 kilometers through Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine before emptying into the Black Sea. The Lower Danube is one of the last free-flowing stretches of river in Europe.

Dependent on this part of the river are not only Europe's greatest natural treasures, but also the 29 million people who live in the Lower Danube River basin – people who directly benefit from the many services that the river provides, from drinking water to natural resources and recreation.

In the Lower Danube the natural dynamics of the river have formed and re-formed nearly 200 islands that are home to rich floodplain ecosystems. The islands are important elements of the Danube migration corridor – stepping stones for fish, fowl and other fauna as well as flora on their journeys up and down the river.

The Danube's greatest jewel is its delta, Europe's largest remaining natural wetland area and, as regarded by WWF, among the 200 most valuable ecological areas on earth. A total of 5,137 species have been identified along the lower stretch of the river, including 42 different species of mammals, and 85 species of fish.

The Lower Danube and Danube Delta are especially important as breeding and resting places for some 331 species of birds, including the rare Dalmatian pelican, the white-tailed eagle, as well as 90% of the world population of red-breasted geese.

Beluga sturgeon, which can grow to a length of 6 meters – the size of a large dolphin - are famous for their caviar. They spawn in the gravel banks of the Lower Danube and migrate downstream to spend the rest of the year in the Black Sea.

Bulgaria

The most ecologically-important areas along the Lower Danube Green Corridor in Bulgaria are the Islands of Belene and Kalimok Marshes. There, former floodplain forests and wetlands are being restored, reconnecting them with the river, creating rich feeding, breeding and spawning grounds for fish, flora and fauna. This has provided opportunities for fishing, and economic benefits from grasslands and wetland resources, along with the survival of the riverine floodplain forest as an ecologic benefit. These model projects are the first of its type in Bulgaria.

Romania

The Danube Delta is one of the world's most important eco-regions for biodiversity. In Romania, dry and unproductive land on the major islands of Babina and Cernovca has been returned to the river. The islands have been turned into a mosaic of habitats that offer shelter and food for many species, including rare birds and valuable fish species. The economic benefits of the restoration works (3,680 ha), in terms of increased natural resources productivity (fish, reed, grasslands) and tourism, is about €140,000 per year. Progress with restoration is also moving forward on the Lower Danube islands from Calarasi to Braila.

Moldova

In Moldova, large sections of the Lower Prut River have been brought under protection and management plans are being prepared. With the support of the local community, a new management plan will be implemented at the Lake Beleu Scientific Reserve. This first attempt for an integrated management of wetlands will be expanded in the Lower Prut area as part of a Trilateral Biosphere Reserve between Moldova, Romania and Ukraine.

Ukraine

On the Ukrainian side of the Danube Delta, authorities and NGOs are working hand in hand to develop a vision for the protection and restoration of the wetland areas – and have taken steps toward its realisation. Bulldozers have breached dikes on Tataru and Ermakov Islands, restoring natural flooding to 800 ha. This has allowed for the re-establishment of natural flooding conditions, creating rich feeding, breeding and spawning grounds for fish, flora and fauna. Today amazing rare birds, such as white-tailed eagles, pygmy cormorants and ferruginous ducks, thrive on Tataru Island, while inner lakes serve as spawning places for young fish from the Danube.

Danube management plan a big step forward

2010-02-16

The official adoption of the Danube River Basin Management Plan marks an important step for the management of the Danube, the most international river basin in the world. The plan, which has been officially adopted by all Danube countries, including both EU and non-EU member states, outlines concrete measures to be implemented by the year 2015 to improve the environmental condition of the Danube and its tributaries. It is the first such comprehensive management plan for the Danube, seeking to improve not only water quality but also the ecological health of the river.

Measures include the reduction of organic and nutrient pollution, offsetting environmentally detrimental effects of man-made structural changes to the river, improvements to urban wastewater systems, the introduction of phosphate-free detergents in all markets and effective risk management of accidental pollution. Other measures include efforts to restore migration of fish, such as the giant beluga sturgeon, across dams as well as to reconnect former floodplain wetlands to the river. The plan takes a source-to-sea approach and addresses key requirements of the European Union Water Framework Directive.

The plan was adopted by ministers and high-level representatives responsible for water in the Danube basin from Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Montenegro, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine and the European Commission at a Ministerial Meeting organised by the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) in Vienna on 16 February 2010.

WWF, speaking at the Ministerial Meeting on behalf of the 5 NGO observers at the ICPDR, warmly welcomed adoption of the Danube River Basin Management Plan, but raised a number of concerns regarding its implementation, including ongoing plans to develop inland navigation as well as hydropower on the Danube. The NGOs also called on the ministers to support an EU-wide ban of phosphates in detergents.

Before the Ministerial Meeting, WWF, Bund fuer Naturschutz (Friends of the Earth Germany) and LBV (BirdLife Germany) presented the president of the ICPDR with 100,000 signatures of a petition calling on Danube governments to protect the Danube as a living river and to avoid damage from infrastructure development connected to navigation.

The Ministers at the ICPDR meeting also evaluated the progress towards the protection and sustainable use of water and other ecological resources and reaffirmed and strengthened their commitment to transboundary cooperation in the Danube River Basin.

Flood action plans for the 17 sub-basins in the Danube catchment area were also officially adopted at the meeting. The sub-basin plans contain hundreds of concrete measures the Danube countries will take to protect their populations from floods and to mitigate the flood damage and losses, such as those caused by the massive floods in the years 2002, 2005 and 2006.

The ICPDR ministerial meeting was followed by a short event organised by WWF to celebrate the 10th year anniversary of the Lower Danube Green Corridor.

Link to OTS photos from the ICPDR Ministerial Meeting

100,000 Danube citizens sign petition for a living river

2010-02-16

Vienna, Austria - Today, ministers and their deputies from 14 countries of the Danube River basin - Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Montenegro, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine - officially adopted the Danube River Basin Management Plan for the coming five years. The plan outlines concrete measures to be implemented by the year 2015 to bring the Danube and its tributaries to ecological health and achieve sustainable water use in the Danube Basin. Seven years in the making, the plan offers real hope to revive Europe's lifeline, yet several growing pressures such as planned infrastructure projects to improve navigation, threaten to undermine this ambition.

Many infrastructure projects that governments are planning are not integrated in the Danube River Basin Management Plan, and could seriously impact the river and the ecosystem services that it provides if they go ahead as planned. Navigation projects in Hungary can aggravate the river bed incision and reduce groundwater level, while similar projects planned in the Lower Danube could push the highly threatened Danube sturgeon to extinction. Along the Upper Danube between Straubing and Vilshofen river regulation work involving the construction of a dam and a canal would destroy the last remaining free flowing section of the Danube in Germany with severe impacts on biodiversity and the water balance in the region.

"More than 100,000 citizens from Danube countries have signed our petition for balanced navigation projects" said Hubert Weiger, President of Bund Naturschutz (Friends of the Earth Germany). "This morning, we handed over this impressive proof of public concern to Danube Ministers and called upon them to step up their efforts for a living Danube."

Pressure to construct new hydropower plants also threatens the Danube. While providing a renewable source of energy, hydropower plants of all sizes, including small ones, can upset fragile river systems. Hydropower therefore needs to be planned carefully, and within a broader energy strategy that emphasises energy conservation.

The Danube River Basin Management Plan is a requirement of the European Union Water Framework Directive, the EU's ambitious water legislation that aims to achieve "good status" of Europe's freshwater ecosystems.

"The novelty of the Danube River Basin Management Plan is that it considers all impacts and goes beyond traditional water quality objectives and the pledge of constructing new water treatment plants or implementing good agricultural practices" said Andreas Beckmann, Director of WWF's Danube-Carpathian Programme. "For the first time, the tremendous impact of water infrastructure on river health is not only acknowledged but there is a real demand for action and proper integration."

Hydropower dams, flood protection dikes or groynes built to improve navigability of the river interfere with natural river dynamics and thereby reduce the diversity of habitats that river organisms need to thrive. The Plan therefore sets targets how their impacts are to be avoided or minimised through practical measures such as the construction of fish passes at hydropower plants to permit fish free movement up and down the river. Amongst a variety of recommended measures is reconnecting former side arms of the river or decommissioning flood protection dikes at certain points to recreate wetlands. The restored wetlands provide a wide array of benefits, including flood and drought management by holding and slowly releasing water, water purification through filtration, production of natural resources (e.g. fish and reeds), and they are important spawning, feeding and nesting sites.

WWF and Friends of the Earth will carefully monitor implementation of the Danube River Basin Management Plan by the Danube countries. At the same time, they will also call on EU lawmakers to continue improving the legal framework which will enable the objectives of the plan to be achieved. One of the immediate actions is the EU-wide ban on phosphates from detergents. While Danube Ministers have agreed that the phasing out of phosphates from detergents is economically feasible and would be of immediate benefit to water quality, only an EU-wide ban would have the necessary impact.

Such an iniative could become part of the EU Danube Strategy currently under development. "We hope the Danube Strategy will become the road map towards a sustainable future of the Basin," said Andreas Beckmann. "We regard the Danube River Basin Management Plan as the foundation for the Strategy. It can serve as basis for visions and activities for a green economy in the region."

Ski area plans threaten Europe's last untouched forests

2009-12-17

Plans for new skiing areas in the region around the Carpathian Mountains and the Balkans threaten to harm major protected areas that house some of Europe's last remaining untouched wilderness.

New developments and expansion plans for existing facilities for downhill skiing are in the works across many parts of the region, particularly in Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Ukraine.

In theory, potential conflicts between nature conservation and development – including for ski tourism – should be mediated by procedures such as Environmental Impact Assessments and the European Union's Article 6 of the Habitats Directive, which provide a system for evaluating potential impacts on nature and identifying solutions and measures to mitigate negative impacts.

In practice, however, these safeguards are of limited effect, and in the face of intense pressure from economic and political forces, nature conservation is often given short shrift.

The Carpathian Mountains are Europe's last great wilderness area – a bastion for large carnivores, with some two-thirds of the continent's populations of brown bears, wolves and lynx. They are also home to the greatest remaining reserves of old growth forests outside of Russia.

Meanwhile, the Balkan Mountains and the Rila-Rodope Mountain Range in Bulgaria contain outstanding natural features that are of global importance, including the Rila and Pirin National Parks, which have been recognised, respectively, as a certified PAN Parks wilderness area and a UNESCO World Heritage Park.

"It is striking how little climate change and sustainability appear to be entering calculations for many of the new ski area," said Andreas Beckman, Director of WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme. "Already, rising temperatures and decreased precipitation and snow cover is causing problems for many facilities, with some poor recent ski seasons."

A glance at the Alps should raise questions about the wisdom of pouring investments into ski areas in the Carpathians. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, as many as two-thirds of Alpine ski areas could go out of business according to current projections for climate change, while Alpine areas lower than 1,500 m are facing a very uncertain future. In fact, a 2004 report concludes that alpine ski regions in Slovakia at 1,150-1,500 meters above sea level may be uneconomic by 2030.

Ski resorts being developed across the Carpathians and Bulgarian mountain ranges are already including adaptation measures to climate change in the form of snow cannons. But ironically, through their huge consumption of energy snow cannons only contribute to accelerating the rise in temperatures. The estimated 3,100 snow cannons in Europe consume per year and hectare roughly 1 million litres of water and 260,000 kWh of electricity – i.e. roughly as much energy per year as a city of 150,000 inhabitants and as much water as a city the size of Hamburg.

Construction of ski facilities of course can have very significant impact on habitats and species, not only due to removal of forest cover and other vegetation to make way for ski runs, access roads and infrastructure, but also due to fragmentation of habitats and wildlife avoidance. Secondary effects such as the abstraction of water for artificial snow production and deterioration of environmental conditions due to heavy tourist flow concentration can also have heavy impacts for biodiversity and nature values.

"EU support must not be given for any problematic developments, including those that clearly contravene EU and national legislation as well as projects that are likely to be unviable over the medium-term, e.g. as the result of climate change," Beckmann said. "In addition relevant authorities must be pressured to fully apply EU legislation in their countries, including especially Strategic and Environmental Impacts Assessments as well as the EU's Habitats and Birds Directives, for projects at the planning stage."

"Ski developments must not be permitted in protected areas, especially in national parks and core areas of any other protected area, in High Conservation Value Forests and High Nature Value Farmlands," said Erika Stanciu, WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme, Forest and Protected Areas Team Leader. Careful consideration should be given to valuable natural and traditional landscapes. Developments in Natura 2000 sites must respect provisions of EU's Article 6 of the Habitats Directive."

"In the meantime we can all avoid ski areas that do not comply with basic criteria for environmental safeguards and legislation", she adds.

For example, Bansko, in the heart of Pirin National Park in Bulgaria, is a popular ski destination that has become infamous for being the first of a series of illegal ski developments in Bulgarian protected areas. The project received approval from authorities in 2000 and was built in subsequent years. Half of the ski runs in Bansko have no environmental permits, while those ski runs which do have permits have violated each requirement of the Environmental Impact Assessment decision. These violations include for example the width of ski runs - instead of the permitted 30 m they actually are 60 to 100 m wide. The European Commission has initiated penalty procedures against Bulgaria because of violations of environmental law in the case of Bansko.

The development has caused significant environmental problems, including landslides in Pirin National Park, but has also had social and economic implications. Bansko was once a popular summer resort, but visitor numbers have dropped in recent years due to higher prices and over-development of the once picturesque town. And as if this is not enough, earlier this year the Consultative Council of Pirin National Park submitted to the Ministry of the Environment a proposal to alter the park management plan in order to permit the construction of two huge new ski zones inside the park.

The epidemic nature of the problem is also in Slovakia where authorities have essentially opened the Tatras National Park to development – a marked change as the area has been relatively strictly protected for the past thirty years.

As a result, the country's flagship protected area is facing intense pressure. Five ski areas are being developed around the park, including development of ski runs and expansion of tourist facilities, with little if any state control or proper assessments. As a result, the area could lose its international recognition as a national park by IUCN, the world conservation union. The European Commission has also begun investigating impacts of the developments on Natura 2000 protected areas.

Despite international recommendations and pressure, Slovak authorities have yet to adopt clear zoning and management plans for communities in the area. Zoning and planning could guide development and management of the area, ensuring opportunities for development while maintaining the natural values that are the area's chief attraction. The lack of any planning or guidelines, together with the hands-off attitude of relevant authorities, has essentially given developers free rein to develop the area.

In Ukraine, one of the 20 largest ski areas in the world has been stamped out of the ground in the Ukrainian Carpathians, not far from the city of Ivano-Frankivsk. Development of the Bukovel area is continuing, with total investment in the area reportedly planned eventually to reach €3 billion.

A total of 66 lifts, 400 km of ski runs, and 100,000 beds, an airport and 15 million annual visitors are planned overall. The development counts on significant artificial snow production, including 500 snow production sites, 300 snow lances, 40 mobile propeller snow cannon and a 100,000 m3 artificial lake to provide water for snow production. The Ukrainian government weighed in behind the project as a site to host the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, although in the end it did not make the bid.

Unfortunately, many of the existing and planned ski developments in Romania are also in areas of high natural value, including within existing protected areas and often in areas included in the Natura 2000 network of specially protected sites. Many of these areas are of outstanding natural value, not only of national, but also EU and even global importance.

Some 40 percent of the 45 areas with proposed ski facilities that have been identified in a Romanian country study are inside or next to proposed Natura 2000 sites and 17.8 percent will be located in the strictly protected areas from nature and national parks.The most striking examples are the planned ski resorts Pestera Padina, in the Bucegi Nature Park and Padis – 12 km of ski pistes in the strictly protected area of Apuseni Nature Park. The parks are not only flagship parks for Romania and indeed Europe, but also contain key Natura 2000 areas.

These projects enjoy very considerable public sector support, both in terms of legislation and approvals as well as direct support for investment. Development of ski tourism is given priority in many planning documents for regional and local development. Many of the projects in EU countries, e.g. Slovakia and Romania, expect to receive very significant support from the EU, especially through co-financing from regional development funds.

The €772 million in EU Structural Funds that Slovakia will receive in the period 2007-13 for supporting "Competitiveness and Economic Growth" will include substantial investment in constructing, modernizing and extending ski centres. But for many of the projects, the long-term profitability and public interest is questionable.

G20 finance ministers fail to reach green on climate financing

2009-11-07

St Andrews, Scotland – Finance ministers of the world's dominant economies failed to reach agreement on the financing required for a global agreement to stave off catastrophic climate change, WWF said today as the G20 finance ministers meeting here broke up with no resolution to issues dividing developed and emerging economies.

The lack of progress made by the G20 in St. Andrews, follows another week of inconclusive negotiations in UN climate talks in Barcelona as the world heads towards the crucial UN climate conference in Copenhagen in a month's time.

With the G20 now having considered the climate financing issue three times without reaching common ground, WWF remains sceptical about today's promise to make further progress before Copenhagen.

"The G20 Finance Ministers meeting turned out to be a mostly irrelevant sideshow on the way to the talks in Copenhagen in a months' time," said Dr Richard Dixon, Director of WWF Scotland.

"Failure to come to agreement here is a major disappointment.

"This is a group that can throw money at collapsing banks but cannot find adequate figures for the far worse challenge to the global economy of a collapsing climate system."

In detail, the G20 ministers acknowledged the need to increase significantly and urgently the scale of funding but failed to make any reference to the sums required, estimated to be around $160bn a year of public financing.

They also failed to agree on new sources of funding for a climate deal, such as auctioning emissions credits and levies on aviation and shipping.

"Talk of a financial transaction tax which has the potential to raise hundreds of billions in new funding every year turned out to be a red herring without solid political support," Dr Dixon said.

The G20 agreed some principals on a mechanism to administer and distribute these funds but failed to turn these into concrete proposals and - despite last week's pledges from Europe - no new money was put on the table to help the most vulnerable countries adapt to a changing climate.

It is estimated the immediate need for the most vulnerable nations is around $10bn a year.

WWF endorsed the G20s continuing professed interest in winding back fossil fuel use subsidies, but said the group needed to focus its main attention on getting an effective global deal on climate.

"If we are to keep the planet below the danger threshold of a 2ºC temperature rise, the rich nations of the world are going to have to help developing countries follow a low-carbon development path and help them cope with the impacts of current and future climate change," Dr Dixon said.

"We wanted to see solid proposals on how the money would be raised, managed and distributed and an indication of how soon the countries most vulnerable to climate change will receive assistance. The G20 has failed to deliver and the real work will now have to be done at Copenhagen."

Evropske škole za prirodu

2009-10-25

Beč/Illmitz, 23. oktobar 2009 – Juče je dat signal za početak drugog kruga kampanje za međunarodno školsko okruženje koju su pokrenuli WWF i ERSTE fondacija. Učenici i nastavnici iz deset evropskih zemalja su pod nazivom "Evropske škole za život planete - preduzimanje zajedničke akcije za životnu sredinu Evrope" učestvovali na otvaranju koje je održano u Austriji i tom prilikom predstavili svoje ideje za projekat očuvanja prirode baveći se temama "Ekološki trag" i "Dunav". Cilj je da đaci realizuju svoje ideje do kraja školske godine kada će se vršiti izbor za najbolji projekat. "Tokom protekle školske godine održane su značajne aktivnosti poput kampanje pod nazivom "đaci uče đake", zatim pozorišne predstave, izložbe i ulični događaji", izjavio je Ulrike Petschacher, vođa programa ekološkog obrazovanja u WWF Austrija. "Jedva čekamo da vidimo koje će ideje biti realizovane tokom druge runde ove kampanje."

Trideset timova, koje čine đaci i nastavnici iz Austrije, Bugarske, Hrvatske, Češke, Mađarske, Rumunije, Srbije, Slovačke, Slovenije i Ukrajine, učestvovalo je na jednonedeljnom otvaranju koje je održano u Nacionalnom parku u Illmitz-u u austrijskoj regiji Seewinkel. Kroz radionice i aktivnosti na otvorenom, stručnjaci iz WWF-a upoznali su đake, uzrasta od 12 do 17 godina, i njihove nastavnike sa temama projekta 'Dunav – Evropska linija života' i 'Ekološki trag – Globalne posledice potrošnje'.

"Glavni cilj ovogodišnjeg kruga projekta jeste 'Aktivno građanstvo'," rekao je Petschacher. "Želimo da pokažemo đacima kako da aktivno učestvuju, izraze svoje mišljenje u javnosti i motivišu druge na učešće." I uloga nastavnika je ove godine nešto izmenjena. Oni će pružati podršku đacima samo kao instruktori projekta, dok je sprovođenje ideja isključivo stvar đačke kreativnosti.

Napredak projekata za očuvanje prirode moći će da se prati preko javno dostupnog interaktivnog weblog-a na kojem će đaci razmenjivati iskustva i čuvati svoje dnevnike projekata, fotografije i video zapise. Đaci, nastavnici i svaki posetilac ovog sajta moći će da da svoj komentar na bilo koju projektnu aktivnost.

"ERSTE fondacija učestvuje u kampanji 'Evropske škole za život planete' u cilju obogaćivanja prekograničnih obrazovnih projekata sa akcentom na očuvanju životne sredine", izjavio je Boris Marte, član Odbora ERSTE fondacije. "Podrška obrazovanju znači ozbiljno shvatanje evropske budućnosti. Razmena osećanja po pitanju ekoloških problema u okviru jednog međunarodnog projekta jeste iskustvo od trajnog značaja za omladinu i njihove nastavnike.

Iz Republike Srbije učestvovali su đaci i nastavnici iz sledećih škola:

"Ivo Andrić" - Beograd
"Drinka Pavlović" - Beograd
"Milan Rakić" - Medoševac

Za detaljnije informacije posetite www.foralivingplanet.eu

Kontakt:
Mag. (FH) Lisa Simon, WWF predstavnik za štampu, Tel.: +43-1-488 17 215, mob.: +43 676 83 488 215, e-mail: lisa.simon@wwf.at
Mag. Maribel Königer, ERSTE fondacija, Tel.: +43-50100-15453, mob.: +43-50100-615453,
e-mail: maribel.koeniger@erstestiftung.org

NGOs join forces to save a living Danube threatened by inland navigation plans

2009-10-09

"Inland navigation can be considered as a viable alternative to road freight only if both global CO2 emissions and local impacts on river ecosystems are considered equally", says Orieta Hulea, Head of Freshwater at the WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme. "Navigation projects that require regulation of the river bed and bank impede the multitude of services, free flowing rivers provide to society, such as drinking water supply, flood control, acting as a natural filter for pollutants or support of healthy fisheries. These aspects must be considered when discussing transport plans and projects. Otherwise in areas like the Danube environmental damages risks are higher than benefits".

As part of the European TEN-T programme, infrastructure projects are planned for the Danube on a combined length of 1000 km including the last free-flowing stretches in Germany, the Danube National Park between Vienna and Bratislava, and large stretches of the middle and lower Danube in Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.

Current plans in Hungary would affect groundwater supply and natural areas protected under national and international law. Proposed dredging works and closing of lateral arms on the Danube in Romania will endanger the fish population due to the loss of the main spawning grounds especially for sturgeons, which are already on the brink of extinction as a direct consequence of previous river regulation.

With more than 80 million people depending directly on the economic value of its river basin natural systems, the Danube is the lifeline of Europe. "In every village and town along the Danube farmers, fishermen and small companies are depending on the natural river eco-system," reminds Harald Kutzenberger, IAD General Secretary. "We should not easily risk thousands of local jobs along the Danube as a result of gaps in the Environmental Impact Assessments – and loose the strong potential for eco-tourism and rural development."

NGOs are calling for the EU and national governments to guarantee and regain functioning ecosystem processes, respect socio-economic needs of regional and local economies, and prove that navigation projects meet all legal requirements, in particular compliance with the non-deterioration clause of the European Union's Water Framework Directive (hereafter WFD) as well as achievement of the environmental objectives of the Danube River Basin Management Plan and Natura 2000 sites.

For further information:
Orieta Hulea, Head of Freshwater, WWF Danube Carpathian Programme, Tel. + 40 21 3174996,
E-mail: ohulea(at)wwfdcp.ro

Harald Kutzenberger, General Secretary, International Association for Danube Research, Tel. +43 676 328 33 12, e-mail: kutzenberger(at)iad.gs

Danube Day -- fears amidst the celebrations

2009-06-28

Amidst the celebrations of this year's Danube Day on June 29, WWF is concerned about persisting threats to the Danube as a living river. Government and EU plans to remove "bottlenecks" for navigation could impact up to 1,000 km of the river's most natural sections, and threaten to violate the non-deterioration clause of the EU Water Framework Directive.

Plans by the Romanian government to improve navigation between Calarasi and Braila on the Lower Danube could severely impact sturgeon migration routes, possibly pushing the already threatened fish species into extinction. WWF has tabled alternative solutions that would facilitate navigation while limiting negative impacts.

EU plans for developing the Danube as a major shipping corridor have called for the removal of "bottlenecks" on up to 1,000 km of the river's length. Traditional approaches to improving navigation involving damming, diking and dredging could have disastrous effects on the river, its natural goods and services.

WWF will present these and other concerns at public consultations on the Danube River Basin Management Plan that is being organized by the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River in Bratislava on June 29-30.

The consultations are taking place within the framework of the EU Water Framework Directive, which calls for all rivers, lakes and coasts to achieve 'good ecological status' by 2015. European citizens have a key role to play in implementing the directive, which calls for the public to be informed and involved in the preparation of river basin management plans.

WWF has developed alternatives for promoting shipping while limiting damage to the Danube as a living river. The focus should first be on measures such as improved ship technology and logistics that do not require major changes to the river. Only after such alternatives are exhausted should much more expensive and non-reversible river modifications come into consideration.

WWF is also calling for increased attention to floodplain restoration in the Danube basin as a key measure for addressing climate change and securing ecosystem services, such as flood protection, drinking water provisioning and biodiversity.

According to a WWF commissioned study, the potential for floodplain restoration is much higher than countries have indicated in the draft river basin managment plan. Floodplains provide multiple benefits for humans and nature, securing a range of ecosystem services from flood protection to replenishing drinking water. Protecting and restoring floodplains can make a major and cost-effective contribution to addressing the challenge of climate change.

Romania has ambitious plans to restore over 400,000 ha of Danube floodplains, but work toward this ambitious goal is not planned before 2015.

Contact:
Andreas Beckmann, WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme, +43 676 84 27 28 216

River managers plan a bleak water future for Europe

2009-05-29

Brussels, Belgium: An ambitious European scheme to fix and safeguard its rivers and secure its water future is at risk of being undermined by poor and inadequate plans for water management prepared by EU countries, a new study by WWF and European Environment Bureau (EEB) has found.

The analysis has found none of the draft plans rates well across a range of water safety, conservation and management measures.

"The European Water Framework Directive when adopted in 2000 was far from perfect but it had the makings of a world-leading vision to change the ways we manage, use and value water at a time when the worlds water future looked much more secure than it does today ," said Sergey Moroz, Water Policy Officer at WWF.

Despite increasing water challenges exacerbated by climate change, draft plans developed so far by Member States are generally putting off major and necessary decisions, providing few mechanisms and little funding to achieve good status for water bodies.

"in the interests of agriculture and industry to become less vulnerable"

"These plans dont create an impression that we are finally departing from the unsustainable practices that led us to the current water crisis," said Pieter de Pous, EEB Water Policy Officer." For example, it is in the interests of agriculture and industry to become less vulnerable to increasingly insecure water supplies but there is very little in the plans when it comes to reducing their water consumption."

What future for EUs water? expresses particular concerns with increasingly water scarce Italy and Greece where it is unclear whether they are actually planning to finalise plans even remotely comparable to what the rest of Europe is doing.

Some countries like the Netherlands that have lost much of their natural rivers and waters in the past, are now starting initiatives to give rivers more space for flooding and thus improving their ability to face future climate change impacts. The Netherlands also managed to secure funding for river restoration, although the amounts are still inadequate.

Worrying diverging trends now emerge from Eastern and Southern Europe, like in Czech Republic and Portugal, where rivers continue to be poured into concrete straightjackets for the purpose of navigation, flood defence or hydropower, said de Pous.

In Portugal up to 10 new dams for hydropower are currently proposed for construction without any adequate consideration of the likelihood that there may not be enough water to run them.

"need to be visionary to tackle lasting food and energy security, public health and climate challenges"

Water pollution remains a serious issue also not sufficiently addressed in the majority of plans and large portions of Europes waters remain at risk of becoming unavailable or in need of expensive treatment.

Water efficiency measures were particularly poor in most draft plans. A partial exception was France's Loire Bretagne basin where a water efficiency objective is proposed for drinking water supply for rural and urban areas.

"To tackle Europes water challenges, Member States plans need to be visionary, abandoning a minimalist approach to implementation and becoming the central plank of efforts to tackle lasting food and energy security, public health and climate challenges," said Moroz.

Public consultation on the draft river plans is set to close at the end of June. EU Member States will have to finalise their water plans by the end of the year and send them to the European Commission.