AARHUS CONVENTION TO ENTER INTO FORCE OCT. 30
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
announced on Aug. 9 that the Convention on Access to Information,
Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in
Environmental Matters has been ratified by 17 countries, and will
therefore enter into force on Oct. 30. The so-called Aarhus Convention,
which binds its members to insure that the public is involved in
environmental decisions, was signed by 35 European governments
and the European Union in Aarhus, Denmark, June 1998. Signatories
include almost all the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, though
only a few have ratified it.

The latest countries to ratify the convention were Armenia and Estonia, the UNECE said. According to the UNECE,the convention has now been ratified by Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, FYR Macedonia, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Ukraine. The convention not only allows public involvement in environmental decisions, but also guarantees certain legal rights for redress of environmental wrongs or for litigation in environmental matters. See the full press release online at:
http://www.unece.org.
Contact: 
Magdi Toth at the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe, e-mail: mtoth@rec.org; 
or
 Jeremy Wates, Secretary to the Aarhus Convention, tel: (41-22) 917-2384; e-mail: jeremy.wates@unece.org

ROMANIA DENIES RESPONSIBILITY FOR NEW TISZA POLLUTION
Romania's Ministry of Waters and Environment denied claims by
Yugoslav officials that Romania was responsible for newly discovered
pollution in the Tisza River, according to an Aug. 7 report by the Balkan
Information Exchange Daily News. The Daily News cited Yugoslav
newspaper reports that a 40-kilometre band of heavy metal pollution
was detected in the Yugoslav part of the Tisza and that this pollution
allegedly came from Romania through Hungary. Romanian authorities
said their monitoring of pollution is even stricter than that in EU
countries, but added that they were ready to co-operate on preventive
measures for both the Tisza and the Danube rivers, according to the
Daily News. 
Contact: 
Dr. Dragan Veselinovic, deputy minister, Ministry of Environment of Republic of Serbia, tel: (381-11) 3616-368
or
Romanian Environment Ministry, tel: (40-1) 410-0246 or (40-1) 410-0215; e-mail: biodiv@mappm.ro

BULGARIAN NGO URGES LETTERS AGAINST SKI RESORT IN PIRIN
PARK
The Bulgarian Ministry of the Environment and Waters approved the
construction of three new ski runs and facilities in the heart of Pirin
National Park, making it very likely that construction that is harmful to a
pristine area will go ahead, according to an e-mail announcement
circulated by Za Zemiata! (For the Earth), a Bulgarian non-governmental
agency. Za Zemiata!'s announcement urged everyone to send e-mails
to officials to prevent the construction. According to the announcement,
"construction will lead to clear cutting of significant areas covered with
incredible century-old spruce trees, Macedonian pines and mountain
pines forests. 

Populations of animal and plant species in the area will be threatened, including species from the IUCN Red List and the Bern Convention. Steep slopes will be threatened by erosion. The new ski runs will have a very negative overall effect on the landscape of the biggest valley in the Park. The project is in violation of the Protected Areas Act and the Nature Protection Act." The announcement said the construction is meant to expand ski facilities that were illegally constructed in the 1980s. The announcement noted that Pirin Park is inscribed in the World Heritage List of UNESCO's World Heritage Convention. The group urged the public to send the letters they can find on the web page at: http://www.bluelink.net/pirin to the Bulgarian president, e-mail:
president@president.bg, and the Council of Ministers, e-mail: IPRD@government.bg. 
Contact:
 Za Zemiata!, tel: (359-2) 980-4109, e-mail: zemiata@iterra.net.

DANUBE NOT EXPECTED TO BE CLEARED FOR SHIPPING UNTIL
SPRING
Regular shipping on the Danube River though Serbia will not resume
before spring, because bombing debris left by NATO must be removed,
Hellmuth Strass, head of the Danube Commission said on Aug.8,
according to B92 news service. The bombing debris in the Danube,
from the bridges of Novi Sad, Yugoslavia, is among the worst
environmental damage from the war in Yugoslavia that still has not
been addressed. The interruption in shipping has also removed one of
the most environmentally friendly means of transporting goods in the
region, as barges are much more efficient and cleaner than large trucks. Strasser also noted that there are high economic costs, and estimated that the economies of countries using the lower Danube are losing more than USD 306 million a year due to the obstruction, B92 reported. 
Contact: Danube Programme Co-ordination Unit, tel: (43-1) 260-60-5616.

MACEDONIA FACES WORST DROUGHT IN 30 YEARS
Macedonia is facing a severe drought that threatens to leave parts of
the country without drinking water, according to an Aug. 7 article in the
Skopje daily "Dnevnik," which was carried by Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty. "Last year, we had the most serious drought in the past 30
years, but this year will be even worse," hydrologist Konstantin Ugrinski
was quoted as saying. "The level of lakes and rivers is very low, and it
is possible that we [will find ourselves] without drinking water. That is
why we call on people to use water extremely rationally, only for drinking
and washing." 
Contact: FYR Macedonia Environment Ministry, tel: (389-91) 366-930.

WILD FIRES RAGE ALONG CROATIA'S ADRIATIC COAST
An Aug. 7 fire destroyed 90 hectares of shrubbery in the area of Klis,
near Split on the Croatian coast, according to a report from the Daily
Bulletin of Croatia's Foreign Press Bureau. In all, 13 fires have been
reported in the Zadar region, and extremely high temperatures and a
lack of precipitation continue to qualify the entire Adriatic coast as a
huge fire hazard, the report said. The extremely hot, dry weather
apparently led to wild fires in Croatia last year, and many believe that
the situation will continue to get worse as the effects of climate change
have an increasingly strong impact on the region. 
Contact: Matija Frankovic, Croatian Environment Ministry, Division of Environmental Protection, tel: (385-1) 610-6555.

REReP TASK FORCE SETS NEXT MEETING FOR SEPT. 7 IN
SARAJEVO
The Task Force for Implementation of the Regional Environmental
Reconstruction Programme (REReP) for South Eastern Europe, under
the Stability Pact, has scheduled its third meeting in Sarajevo, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, for Sept. 7, according to Dragana Tar of the Task
Force Secretariat. REReP is the only component of the Stability Pact for
South Eastern Europe that was created by the countries of the region
themselves. Its goal is to assist in the revival of the region's
environment, which has been damaged by years of war and neglect.
According to Tar, the next meeting of the task force that oversees the
implementation of the REReP is likely to cover such topics as: a review
of the REReP mechanism, up-to-date progress in project
implementation and the new chairmanship of the task force. 
Contact: rerep@rec.org.

10 KILLED AS POLAND IS RAVAGED BY FLOODS
Flooding in Poland during the last weeks of July killed 10 people and
caused damage estimated at USD 200 million or more, according to
reports. Deadly floods in southern Poland were followed by July 30
flooding in the East, which continued despite the clear weather,
according to reports by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE) and
Reuters. 

Warsaw residents watched from bridges as a 100-kilometer-
long flood crest swept through the city late on July 30, but the city was
"mostly spared widespread damage as dikes along the Vistula River
held," RFE reported. On the same day, according to Reuters, "flood
defences - soaked by record river levels - collapsed early in the
morning near Kamien, two hours' drive southeast of Warsaw." As many
as 10,000 people were evacuated from the area around Kamien, RFE
reported. By July 31, experts were predicting that the waters would
subside, and the total cost of damages was expected to rise greatly,
once there was time for a full assessment, reports said. 
Contact: Anna Kalinowska, Polish Ministry of Environmental Protection, Natural Resources and Forestry, Bureau of Education and Public Relations, tel: (48-22) 825-2003; e-mail: info@mos.gov.pl.

SLOVAK FLOOD DAMAGE ESTIMATED AT MORE THAN USD 20M
Officials in Slovakia, which like Poland has seen intense flooding this
spring, estimate that the recent deluges have caused more than SLK 1
billion (USD 20 million) in damage, according to the Aug. 1 edition of
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE). The Agriculture Ministry's
Central Flood Commission said that approximately SLK 33 million
have already been spent to clean up damage caused to 20,000
hectares of farm land and 210 municipalities, RFE reported. Flooding
has also been a problem in the last two years: Total damage from
flooding in 2000 was SLK 1.3 billion, and in 1999 it was SLK 4.6 billion,
the report said. 
Contact: Slovak Ministry of Environment, tel: (421-7) 5956-2306.

LATVIAN STATE SUPPORT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SECTOR
SHRINKING
Latvian Environmental Protection and Regional Development Minister
Vladimirs Makarovs said at an Aug. 2 press conference that state
support for the environmental sector is shrinking, according to a report
from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE). In 2000 the government
spent LAL 7.4 million (USD 11.8 million) on the environmental sector,
Makarovs reportedly said. This support declined to LAL 5 million this
year and is expected to to fall to only LAL 3.7 million next year, Makarovs
was quoted as saying. But, according to RFE, Makarovs said that some
local governments are helping to pick up the slack and have become
more active in implementing environment projects with significant
European Union funding. Makarovs reportedly said that LAL 1.15 billion
must be invested in the Latvian environment by 2015, in order to fulfill
all EU requirements for the environment. 
Contact: Minister Makarovs, tel: (371-7) 026-400; web: http://www.varam.gov.lv

CZECHS PLAN NEW TESTS AT TEMELIN NUKE PLANT
Czech authorities said on Aug. 7 that they will go ahead with a new
series of tests at the Temelin nuclear power plant, which had been
closed since April 24 after a series of malfunctions, and they hope to
bring it online next week, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
(RFE). The German and Austrian governments, who are concerned
about the safety of the plant, had urged that the relaunch be
reconsidered. Meanwhile, on July 31, the European Commission gave
the Czech and Austrian governments a 250-page report giving its
assessment of the situation. Early indications are that the EC
investigators believe the Czechs have met their basic obligations to an
agreement on safety at the plant, according to reports. 
Contact: Czech Environment Ministry, Marta Novakova, director, Department of Public Relations, tel: (420-2) 6712-2040 or (420-2) 6731-1496; 
or
Greenpeace Austria, tel: (43-1) 545-4580.