Information & Meetings
	Conferences & Events
	New Coastal Publications

Organisations
	New hyperlinks to websites

Environment
	WWF’s Mediterranean Marine Gap-Analysis

Development & Trends
	Another voice for fishing-free zones in the North Sea
	Pressure mounting to reach an agreement on Caspian legal status?
	Coastal defence versus conservation

Policy
	European court fines Greece for environmental pollution
	Community programme to improve evaluation of fishery resources

Funds
	Structural Funds: EC targets sustainable development  Coastal publications

Events recently announded

Please note:
The overview of the Coastal Guide conference and event  meeting list can be found at http://www.coastalguide.org/meetings/

New Coastal Publications
 
 

Sustainable Tourism Development and Recreational Use in de Wadden Sea Region By Netforum (2000, 81 pp.) Inter-regional Wadden Sea Cooperation. Available in English, Danish and German. The Netherlands: Khoji Wesselius, Fax: +31 58 2925220, e-mail: waddswp@fryslan.nl. Denmark: Anja Larsen, Fax: +45 75 423922, e-mail: anl@ribeamt.dk.  Germany: Klaus Koßmagk Stephan, Fax: +49 48 6161651, e-mail: npa.kossmagk-stephan@t-online.de The report presents the results of five workshops held by a so-called Netforum – consisting of 18 representatives from the tourism sector, environmental and recreational interest organisations, municipalities, counties and national authorities from Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands - which was established on the initiative of the Inter-regional Wadden Sea Cooperation. The aim was to develop a vision, policies and project proposals for a sustainable tourism development valid for the entire international Wadden Sea Region and carried out in a "bottom up process". The report is divided thematically in sections on IRWC information on cross-border co-operations, principles of ICZM, guiding principles for sustainable tourism, nature and recreational activities, culture and cultural tourism, accommodation facilities, accessibility and transport and follow-up activities.

Valuation of nature in coastal zones By Elisabeth C.M. Ruijgrok (1999, 236 pp.). Thesis Free University of Amsterdam. Available from E.C.M. Ruijgrok, Witteveen en Bos, P.O.Box 85948, 2508 CP Den Haag, the Netherlands, fax +31 70 3600098. ISBN 90 9013388 7. In this thesis, a parallel is drawn between theoretical concepts of sustainability and philosophical views on nature. This parallel is used to explain different strategies to value nature. A distinction is made between ecological valuation and socio-economic valuation. These different values are combined in a spatial decision support instrument. This instrument is aimed to support decisions on land use changes when both economic and ecological interests are at stake.

New hyperlinks to websites

Coastal Research Center for Environmental Conservation (CRCEC)
Affiliated to the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography. Promoting research and conservation of the coastal environment with special emphasis on the Romanian Black Sea coast, and providing education and training in coastal science. 

Contingency Planning for Pollution Combating in German Coastal Zones of the North Sea and Baltic Sea: 
A software-system that stores information on the German coast and makes this information available for quick and efficient response to pollution accidents. The system includes a database, GIS, electronic book and photo album in a multimedia user interface. 

Greenport North Sea: an Interreg IIC Project:
The project aims to develop a management system for the collection and disposal of ship waste generated in the North Sea region 
 
 

Check out the other Website Links on the Coastal Guide 

WWF’s Mediterranean Marine Gap-Analysis 

A new study published by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) identified important unprotected coastal marine areas in the Mediterranean sea. These so-called "gaps" should be filled through the establishment of new reserves and changes in coastal management practices, according to WWF. The results stem from statistical analysis of the sea-bed thus overcoming the lack of sound biological data in the region. This new information has been added to the existing data on the presence of flag-ship species like the monk seal, marine turtles, several species of whales and dolphins and the sea grass Posidonia oceanica. In addition, the main coastal pollution "hot spots" of the Mediterranean, recently identified by UNEP-MAP, have been included. The human impact on the coast has also been mapped, taking into consideration main harbours and coastal cities with more than 50.000 inhabitants. By analysing on the one hand, the areas with a high level of biodiversity, in terms of concentration and continuity, the significant presence of flag-ship species (and their habitat) and a pronounced fish species diversity - and, on the other, the presence of important threats from human pressure, WWF identified a total of 13 areas in the Mediterranean Sea that urgently need protection. Major threat to biodiversity in these 13 areas is the extensive land use by civil, industrial and tourist settlements. From a marine perspective, threats very common to all 13 areas are pollution from land based sources (organo-clorinated compounds found in fertilisers, pesticides used in agriculture, untreated sewage discharges) and over-fishing (in particular by bottom trawlers). 

Of the areas identified, those where the coastal impact from industries, ports and cities can be considered low or very low, are to be found in Libya and in the Aegean Sea. Several coastal and marine areas to be considered "lost" in terms of poor marine biodiversity, the virtual disappearance of flag-ship species, and the presence of heavy human activity on the coast are concentrated along the Italian Adriatic coast, the coast between Syria and the mouth of the Nile, the coast which links the mouth of the Rhône in France to Spain and on the Spanish coast from Barcelona to Valence. 

The whole study can be downloaded from 
http://www.panda.org/resources/publications/water/gap/mghome.htm
UNEP-MAP study from 1999 to be found at the download section (file code MTS124.zip) of http://www.unepmap.org
 

Another voice for fishing-free zones in the North Sea

WWF UK’s new Oceans Recovery Campaign (ORCA) is calling for the establishment of fishing-free zones and a stronger network of protected areas to regenerate the seas around the UK and give better protection for marine wildlife. According to WWF, the crisis in the fishing industry is as much due to poor management as over-fishing. The industry clings to inflexible quota and fails in managing the replenishment of fish stocks, thus jeopardising the jobs of many thousands fishermen. Creating fishing free zones and a stronger network of marine protected areas are investments in the future. Further information about ORCA can be found at the campaign website http://www.wwf-.org/news/news144.htm
Also Stichting De Noordzee (the North Sea Foundation), a Dutch NGO, has been lobbying to turn 25% of the North Sea into a no-fishing areas. Join the discussion at 
http://www.coastalguide.org/nofish/index.html. 
 

Pressure mounting to reach an agreement on Caspian legal status?

Three Russian companies joint forces and created the Caspian Oil Company aiming to explore for oil in Russia’s section of the north Caspian, according to a Financial Times article of 26 July. The new consortium might also take part in projects alongside other Caspian states. This could increase the much needed pressure on governments in the region to agree on a legal status of the Caspian, so far a stumbling block not only for the exploration of the sea’s resources but also for its protection. A legal status is the prerequisite for the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea to be drafted and signed in the framework of the Caspian Environment Programme. 
 

Coastal defence versus conservation

The small village Birling Gap in southern England is becoming the national test case for coastal management in response to coastal erosion or sea level rise. Erosion of the longest natural exposure of chalk cliffs in Europe is bringing the Birling Gap closer to the edge. To prevent the village from being engulfed by the sea, the Wealden District Council Planning Committee accepted a defence scheme involving a 30 metres wall at the base of the cliff. English Nature objects to the defences because it would obscure the geological and geomorphological features of the nationally important Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which rely on the existing dynamic and unspoilt coastline. Secondly, by preventing or slowing erosion at Birling Gap the wall would change the shape of the coastline as the remaining unprotected areas continued to erode. A public inquiry into the fate of Birling Gap is ongoing in the nearby village of Alfriston. What eventually happens there will have a wider national significance as well, because long stretches of the UK's coast are now at risk of erosion, or of simply disappearing under the encroaching waves. The problem is worsened by the prospect that sea-levels will rise as climate change takes hold: the sea in the English Channel could be up to 54 cm above its present level by the 2080s. 

Further information: http://www.english-nature.org.uk/birlinggap.htm
 

European court fines Greece for environmental pollution

For the first time the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg has fined an EU member state for refusing to comply with one of its judgements. The court ordered Greece to pay a daily fine of over 20,000 euro for refusing to shut down a waste-disposal plant on the island of Crete. About 100,000 tonnes of rubbish, including untreated waste from hospitals, light industry and military facilities in western Crete, was dumped last year in the Kouropitos ravine 200 metres from the Mediterranean Sea. The court first ordered Greece to act in 1992 after the European Commission claimed the disposal of toxic waste there presented a danger to the environment and human health. 
 

Community programme to improve evaluation of fishery resources

The European Council adopted Regulation (EC) No 1543/2000 establishing a Community framework for the collection and management of the data needed to conduct the common fisheries policy (CFP). The Commission shall draw up for six-year periods a minimum Community programme covering the information absolutely needed for scientific evaluations and an extended Community programme that shall include information likely to improve these scientific evaluations. In this framework the Member States are to establish multiannual aggregated and science-based datasets containing information on volume and composition of catches per stock and capacities (volume, value, jobs, equipment, power) and activities of fishing fleets and processing industry, with which an evaluation of the fishery resources and the fishing industry will be possible. Each Member State shall draw up for six-year periods a national programme, that will at least meet the needs of the minimum Commission programme. The Member States are responsible for the reliability and stability of data collection and processing procedures and provide the Commission with information needed to evaluate the means employed and the effectiveness of the procedures. In order to assist the collection and management of data in 2001, the Community shall organise calls for proposals and invitations to tender. 

The full Council Regulation can be seen at: 
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/oj/2000/l_17620000715en.html
 

Structural Funds: EC targets sustainable development

The European Commission (EC) adopted new guidelines for schemes supported by the European Union’s Structural Funds to promote innovation in the regions. Funding in the order of EUR 400 Mio will be made available in the 2000 to 2006 programming period for proposals aiming at three key areas of opportunity in the modern economy, one of which is "promoting regional identity and sustainable development". The regional authorities eligible will be invited to submit proposals by 31 May at the latest each year between 2001 and 2006. For further information visit the website http://inforegio.cec.eu.int
 

Deadline for submitting contributions to Coastal Guide News No 16:
Wednesday August 9,  2000

COASTAL GUIDE NEWS is a biweekly newsletter published by the European Union for Coastal Conservation (EUCC) with financial support of Stichting DOEN, the foundation of the Dutch lottery "Postcode Loterij" and the Department of International Nature Affairs of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries. For free subscriptions, comments or contributions to this newsletter, please contact news@coastalguide.org. 

Members of the Coastal Guide News editorial team: Erik Devilee, Levente Galambosi, Irene Lucius, Hanneke Mesters, René van Oers, and Albert Salman. 
 

Established in 1989, the European Union for Coastal Conservation (EUCC) is an association involving the largest coastal network in Europe with 750 members and member organisations in 40 countries. For more information please contact EUCC International Secretariat, POB 11232, NL-2301 EE Leiden, the Netherlands, tel.: +31-71-5122900, internet: http://www.eucc.nl
 

© European Union for Coastal Conservation