Information & Meetings
	Conferences & Events
	Campaign "Dive in To Earth Day" invites participants
	New Coastal Publications

Organisations
	New hyperlinks to websites

Environment
	New IPCC report optimistic about ways of reducing greenhouse gases
	AAAS discussed environmental impact of aquaculture

Policy
	Workshop brought "Marine Science Frontiers for Europe" plan step closer
	New European Environmental Action Plan under fire
	Commission proposed directive for fighting environmental crime

Events recently announded

Campaign "Dive in To Earth Day" invites participants

Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) is coordinating an international campaign during the week proceeding Earth Day (22 April) of hundreds of underwater and shore activities throughout the world. "Dive In" events allow participants - e.g. scuba divers, travel companies, students, teachers, NGO - to take action to protect coral reefs, oceans, lakes, rivers, and beaches. Activities include beach and underwater clean-ups, fish and reef surveys, buoy installations, educational seminars, and artificial reef construction.
For more information: http://divein.coralreefalliance.org
Earth Day Network: http://www.earthday.net

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

 

Bodemkaart zoute kustwateren Zeeuwse & Hollandse kust / Waddengebied By M.Rabbers. RIKZ library (RIKZ/2000.029), P.O.Box 20907, 2500 EX den Haag, the Netherlands. Fax +70 534 07 72. Maps of salty coastal waters of Zeeland, Holland and Wadden sea coasts.

Het milieu van de natuur (with CD-ROM, in Dutch) By Rolf Roos et al. Publ. Stichting Natuur en Milieu, Donkerstraat 17, 3511 KB Utrecht, the Netherlands. Fax +30 233 13 11 (2000, 240 pp.). ISBN 90 70211 60 2. This publication (third edition) focuses on the three big environmental problems in the Netherlands: soil acidifying, over-fertilisation and drying up. It discusses in different chapters the ecology and management of forests, rivers, dunes, heath land, peat bogs, peat moors, dales, man-made landscapes and urban areas. The document contains also information about red-list species in the different habitats.

The Eurosite Management Planning Toolkit Eurosite, P.O.Box 1366, 5004 BJ Tilburg, The Netherlands. +31 13 463 41 29 (1999, 124 pp.) This publication discusses the needs of planning and training, gives guidance for making plans and auditing, and shows some examples of good practice. It contains the specification of the management planning format, which is applicable to the management of any natural site or area whatever the geographical context.

People and Ecosystems, the Fraying Web of Life By the World Resources Institute, Washington, D.C.20002, U.S.A. (2000, 388 pp.) ISBN 1 56973 443 7. Price UK £ 19.95. Distributed by The Eurospan Group, 3 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8LU, U.K. Fax +20 7379 0609. Available in English, French, Japanese and Spanish. The World Resources Series is a collaborative product of four organisations: the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Bank, and the World Resources Institute. The full report is available on line at www.wri.org/wr2000. It focuses on five critical ecosystems that have been shaped by the interaction of physical environment, biological conditions, and human intervention: croplands, forests, coastal zones, freshwater systems, and grasslands. The coastal ecosystems section gives details about coastal habitats, particularly about mangroves and coral reefs, and discusses the pressures on the ecosystem. Detailed information is given about wetlands restoration in South Florida.

Landschap Published by WLO, IBN-DLO, P.O. Box 23, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands. Tel: 0317 477986, fax: 0317 424988. This scientific journal (in Dutch with English abstracts) of the Dutch association for landscape ecology (WLO) appears four times per year. It contains articles on landscape ecological research in the Netherlands and Flanders (Belgium). "Landschap" no 95-3 is a special issue about ecological networks which includes analysis of the landscapes in Estonia and Lithuania.

Coastal Research Laboratory (Corelab) at the University of Kiel a research and teaching unit established to foster research in coastal environments

Morecambe Bay Partnership aims to bring everyone with an interest in Morecambe Bay together to exchange ideas and work for the good of the Bay

PISCES is a grouping of coastal initiatives located in the North West region of England. It includes the Dee, Duddon and Mersey Estuary Strategies; the Morecambe Bay, Solway Firth and Ribble Estuary Partnerships; Sefton Coast Management Scheme; the Solway Rural Initiative, the Lake District National Park Coast and the Cumbria Marine Litter Project

Check out the other Website Links on the Coastal Guide 
 

New IPCC report optimistic about ways of reducing greenhouse gases

The third assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was launched in Accra, Ghana on 5 March. The 1,000-page draft volume entitled "Climate Change 2001: Mitigation" reviews the many technologies and policies that are available for reducing or limiting greenhouse gas emissions in order to minimise future climate change. During the past several weeks, the IPCC had finalised the first two comprehensive assessments, one on observed and projected changes in climate, the other on climate change impacts, vulnerability, and adaptation (See Coastal Guide News 2001/02 and 2001/04). The choice of energy mix and associated investment will determine whether atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases can be stabilised, and if so at what level and cost. Currently most such investment is directed towards discovering and developing more fossil resources, including both conventional and unconventional. But the Summary also concludes that the progress since 1995 on developing technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions has been faster than anticipated. Important advances have included the market introduction of efficient hybrid engine cars and wind turbines, the demonstration of underground carbon dioxide storage, the advance of fuel cell technology and the rapid elimination of industrial gases such as N20 emissions. While a change in energy supply will play a central role, hundreds of technologies and practices for end-use energy efficiency in buildings, transport and manufacturing industry account for more than half of the potential for global emissions reductions from 2010 to 2020. Some studies also show that half of this potential can be realised through options that actually save money. However, governments will need to adopt more supportive policies if this potential is to be realised. The report further concludes that the costs to industrialised countries of achieving their Kyoto Protocol targets without the benefit of an international emissions trading system would be 0.2 - 2.0% of projected GDP in 2010. With full emissions trading amongst these countries, the cost would decline to 0.1 - 1.1%. If reduced air pollution and other benefits are included, as well as the removal of market imperfections and other factors, the costs can be reduced even further.

You can download the Summary for Policymakers from http://www.ipcc.ch/

AAAS discussed environmental impact of aquaculture

The annual conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) presented new findings on the unintended impact of fish farming that put both oceans and the aquaculture industry at risk. Aquaculture - fish farming - which is a fast growing sector of the world food economy, is believed to decrease the amount of wild fish caught and processed into meal and oil for fish feeds in farms. Overfishing of wild fish will thus impose a threat to the aquaculture industry itself. A new global study "Farming Up Marine Food Webs" released by the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre, revealed the fact that traditional aquaculture - farming fish that eat plants and bottom muck - is being replaced by modern intensive farming of large, carnivorous fish because overfishing has decimated these fish in the wild. The two trends - farming up and fishing down the food web - imply massive impacts on marine ecosystems that are clearly unsustainable. Dr. Hardy, director of the Hagerman Fish Culture Experiment Station at the University of Idaho, disagreed with the results of the new study. He noted that fish meals made from wild fish is used for many other industries as well, such as the pet food market and chicken farms. Hardy also noted that other ingredients such as soybean meal and corn gluten meal can easily replace between a third and a half of the fish meal in feeds for the primary aquaculture species salmon, trout and shrimps. Fishfarms can have negative impacts on surrounding ecosystems as well. Nils Kautsky from the Beijer International Institute of Ecological Economics at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences demonstrated how fish farms can affect surrounding areas by discarting excess fishmeal, transferring parasites to wild populations and introducing exotic fish into native ecosystems.
For more information, contact Dr. Ronald Hardy, rhardy@uidaho.edu. Mr. Nils Kautsky, nils@beijer.kva.se. Dr. Daniel Pauly, d.pauly@fisheries.ubc.ca.
More information on sustainable fisheries at: http://www.fao.org/fi/default.asp. See also Coastal Guide News 2000/17
 

Workshop brought "Marine Science Frontiers for Europe" plan step closer

At the University of Bremen, Germany, an international workshop related to the European Science Foundation (ESF) Marine Board took place in February as a first step towards the 'Marine Science Frontiers for Europe' science plan due in September 2001 (see Coastal Guide News 22/2000). The session "coastal and shelf processes, science for integrated management" identified the critical gaps in available scientific information required to reduce uncertainty in predicting the changes in large-scale environmental processes affecting coastal systems and identified objectives, such as: 1) Improve "experimental management", getting managers to adopt and implement research outcomes. 2) Improve the utilization of existing scientific knowledge. 3) Identify the potential role of different species, assemblages and habitats in desired coastal systems. 4) Identify the risks of human activity. 5) Establish tools, such as permanent integrated coastal observational systems. According to Dr. Lindeboom, Chairman of the session, the results of the workshop are currently being processed and a report is to be approved and issued shortly.

More in-depth information on the ESF on http://www.efs.org/marineboard, where the report on the workshop will be published soon

New European Environmental Action Plan under fire

On the 8th of March this year the Environment ministers of the EU launched a concerted attack on the European Commission's new proposal for a sixth Environmental Action Programme (6EAP), saying that it was disappointing and too vague. Earlier, environmental groups and other stakeholders also expressed their concerns about the 6EAP. According to them the plan shows a distinct lack of objectives and timetables. The criticism can be considered as a significant blow for the Swedish EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstroem's approach to the 6AEP. The Environmental Action Programme provides the environmental component for the European Union's upcoming strategy for sustainable development (see Coastal Guide News No 2001/02 and 2001/04).

The 6th EAP can be found on http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/newprg/6eap_xsum_en.pdf The European Environment Bureau's comments on the 6EAP are at http://www.eeb.org/publication/6th%20EAP%20Final.pdf

Commission proposed directive for fighting environmental crime

A new proposal was adopted by the European Commission for a Directive that for the first time introduces the use of legal sanctions for the fight against the most serious breaches of environmental law on a community level. Criminal offences which are considered to be serious breaches are: discharging waste oil or sewage sludge into water; discharge of waste on land into water; killing of or trading in protected wild animals and plants and seriously damaging a protected habitat. A few aspects of the proposal are that criminal offences have to be already expressly prohibited by existing EU environmental law and have to be committed intentionally or with serious negligence in order to ensure effective legal sanctions. The Member States themselves will decide the criminal penalties for breaches of environmental rules under their own systems of criminal law. The offenders, in many cases, currently only face civil sanctions or must pay compensation. Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Antonio Vitorino stressed that entrusting the task of imposing sanctions to judicial authorities gives responsibility for enforcing environmental regulations to different authorities, independent of those which grant exploitation licences and authorisations to pollute. It is therefore an additional guarantee of impartiality.

The European Commission Press Releases: http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/press/index.htm

Deadline for submitting contributions to Coastal Guide News No 07: Wednesday 04 April, 2001

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". For free subscriptions, comments or contributions to this newsletter, please contact news@coastalguide.org. 

© Articles may be reproduced free of charge with acknowledgement and citation of Coastal Guide News and the URL of the Coastal Guide (http://www.coastalguide.org). The articles of this and previous issues of Coastal Guide News can be found at http://www.coastalguide.org/news

Members of the Coastal Guide News editorial team: Ramon v. Barneveld, Erik Devilee, Irene Lucius, Hanneke Mesters, Guy Monod de Froideville, Albert Salman, Jolanda v.d. Sman, Josefien Wormgoor. 

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, POBox 11232, NL-2301 EE Leiden, the Netherlands, tel.: +31-71-5122900, internet: http://www.eucc.nl

© European Union for Coastal Conservation