• 1991: The first Pan-European Conference of Environment Ministers (Dobris) resulting in the Dobris Assessment which devoted a separate chapter to Loss of Biodiversity;
• 1992: The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, Rio de Janeiro);
• 1993: The Lucerne Conference which adopted the concept of Environmental Action Programme (EAP) for the CEE countries;
• 1995: The Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (PEBLDS, Sofia);
• 1998: The serious expectations and preparations being recently made by different governments, NGOs and international organizations to make the next Ministerial Conference (Aarhus, 1998) a new milestone.

At the very beginning of the process, the Dobris Assessment stated as one of the Sustainable Goals in the Biodiversity Chapter:

"A well managed system of internationally and nationally protected areas established in each country, including representative ecosystems and the widest possible range of the country's biological diversity, taking into account Europe's role in global biodiversity."

The CBD (Rio, 1992) gave a valuable comprehensive approach highlighting the complexity of the biodiversity problem and indicating the limits in implementation caused by the considerable differences in the conditions for implementation in different regions of the World.

PEBLDS was a remarkable step towards the realization of the general ideas of CBDS. As its Executive Summary reads:

"The Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy presents an innovative and proactive approach to stop and reverse the degradation of biological and landscape diversity values in Europe. Innovative, because it addresses all biological and landscape initiatives under one European approach. Pro-active, because it promotes the integration of biological and landscape diversity considerations into social and economic sectors. The Strategy reinforces the implementation of existing measures and identifies additional actions that need to be taken over the next two decades. The Strategy also provides a framework to promote a consistent approach and common objectives for national and regional action to implement the Convention on Biological Diversity."

Although this programme shows real potentials and interest in the special problems that the CEE countries have to face (like: "integration of biological and landscape diversity considerations into social and economic sectors"), still, it seems to be dominated by the idea of "addressing all biological and landscape initiatives under one European approach" which is not necessarily the only "innovative" way. There are some environmentalists in the CEE region who could present other alternatives placing more emphasis upon the specialties of the countries in transition, the way they can join the European Community and the assistance they need to proceed on this way.

The Strategic Action Plan of PEBLDS specified eleven Action Themes, two of them being directly related to the Sofia Initiative on Biodiversity:

No 1.: Establishing the Pan-European Ecological Network;

No 2.: Integration of biological and landscape diversity considerations into sectors.

The main activities of the project are representing different approaches to the above delineated principles and goals.

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