Information & Meetings
	Conferences & Events
	New Coastal Publications

Organisations
	Spanish university leads European Topic Centre for Terrestrial Environment
	New web-based network for park managers
	PhD students involved in coastal studies found e-network
	New hyperlinks

Environment
	Commission promotes research into health risks of water pollutants
	New report of state of the Baltic Sea
	Oil spill in the Baltic Sea affected sea birds
	Bush says 'no' to Kyoto
	IMO approved convention on liability for oil pollution
	Factory effluents threathen endangered Mediterranean sea turtles

Policy
	Strategy to integrate environment into European Common Fisheries Policy

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

 

Effects of urban waste water treatment on quality of rivers, lakes & seas Presentation by Domingo Jimenéz Beltrán, Executive Director of the European Environment Agency, at the Second Forum on Implementation and Enforcement of Community Environmental Law "Intensifying our efforts to clean up wastewater" - Brussels, 19 March 2001 Download this presentation from http://org.eea.eu.int/documents/pressroom/documents/speeches/brussels.pdf

Spanish university leads European Topic Centre for Terrestrial Environment

The European Environment Agency (EEA) Management Board decided at its meeting on 20 March to designate a consortium headed by Spain's Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), a renowned centre of excellence in ecological sciences and active member of the EUCC network, as leader of the Agency's new European Topic Centre on terrestrial environment. The Topic Centre will focus on the issues of land cover and use, soils and coastal zones. It will pay particular attention to the most fragile ecosystems, which include coastal zones and mountain areas. European Topic Centres are consortia of institutes or organisations with particular expertise that operate as extensions of the EEA by undertaking work in specific areas on a contractual basis. The decision completes the designation of the lead organisations of the five new Topic Centres. The other four will cover water, air and climate change, nature and biodiversity, and waste and material flows. The EEA and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) joined forces in a recent report2 to warn that the degradation of Europe's land resources would continue and even accelerate in the absence of prompt action. UAB will work with seven partner organisations from the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, Romania and Spain. The terrestrial environment Topic Centre will innovate by developing an approach to monitoring and assessing the environment based on ecological regions instead of national or administrative boundaries. This will allow the EEA to link environmental information to specific geographical regions or units, such as river basins, mountain ecosystems or urban areas. A coordinated and joint work with DG Environment on integrated coastal zones management is envisioned. Moreover, there is a need to develop a wide network of experts to exchange information on different research programmes and applied initiatives in this field. In this context, organisations such as the EUCC will play a major role.
For further information, contact Françoise Breton, UAB, e-mail: Francoise.Breton@uab.es and visit http://org.eea.eu.int/documents/pressreleases/news20010322

New web-based network for park managers

The World Research Institute (WRI), the World Conservation Union (IUCN), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) announced the formation of a new network. In this web-based network nature park managers and scientists can find and exchange information on data, best practices and approaches on issues related to global changes caused by climate change, poverty and population growth. It is called 'Protected Areas Learning Network' and focuses on supporting site managers in developing countries.
For further information contact: Adlai J. Amor aamor@wri.org or visit http://www.wri.org/press/parks.html

PhD students involved in coastal studies found e-network

An information platform for a network of young scientists, mainly PhD students, involved in coastal zone studies has been established. One objective is to share information on conferences, literature, experts, and other issues. Another aim is to support each other in the process of working on the dissertation.
For further information, please contact Florian Ballnus, f.ballnus@kusogeo.uni-hannover.de

New hyperlinks

Institute of Marine Biology of Crete (IMBC) http://www.imbc.gr
Founded in 1987 as an independent research organisation by the then Greek Ministry of Industry, Energy, Research and Technology

Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN) http://www.marin.nl
An internationally recognised authority on hydrodynamics, involved in frontier breaking research programs for governments, the maritime and offshore industry, and navies

Check out the other Website Links on the Coastal Guide 

Commission promotes research into health risks of water pollutants

On March 22, the World Water Day, DG Research of the European Commission announced plans to intensify research on health risks from polluted water. They focus on chemical pollutants, such as antibiotics and endocrine disrupters, which are difficult to detect and endanger human resistance to antibitotics and can disturb hormone levels in both human and animal life. The Commission is launching a series of initiatives in order to tackle this problem, including a call for research proposals under its Fifth Framework Programme on endocrine disrupters, as part of two research programmes, "Environment and sustainable development" and "Quality of Life". The aim of this call is to maximise the impact of research efforts at the European level by concentrating on a limited number of priorities and encouraging integrated and multidisciplinary approaches by establishing a link between environment and human health implications. The EC also supports research activities on emerging problems, such as the increasing presence of pharmaceutical substances in (waste) water. Steps have been taken, such as the PHARMA project, to monitor and remove dangerous pharmaceuticals. The Commission has stated that research in these areas is necessary to carry out extensive and complete risk assessment, which is vital to EU policy making.
More information on the research plans can be found at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/press/2001/pr2203en.html Coastal Guide News contains more information on the World Water Day: http://www.coastalguide.org/news/2001-03.html#wwd, or: http://www.worldwaterday.org

New report of state of the Baltic Sea

On March 22 the "4th Periodic Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea, 1994-1998" was presented by HELCOM (Helsinki Commission) during its meeting in Helsinki. This report will be a scientific basis for future activities of the coastal states surrounding the Baltic Sea. Furthermore, four new recommendations on measures to protect the marine environment were adopted and decisions on future activities were made. The four recommendations concern pollution prevention from land and from sea, guidelines for onboard toilet retention systems, harmonised principles for waste delivery and management, and oil spills that call for mechanical combat. The status report mentiones that, amongst others, the water quality in coastal areas has improved since the end of 1980 due to international measures taken, in particular new wastewater treatment plants. The DDT pollution has been reduced and the levels of other contaminants like mercury and lead diminished. However, the water is generally less transparent than it was fifty years ago, which indicates eutrophication. The concentration of cadmium in, for instance, herring is increasing. Furthermore, a growing number of unknown chemical contaminants raise new concern. Baltic fish were found to produce two or three times more detoxifying enzymes than before. The fish populations are also strained by commercial fishing. Overfishing is a common practise, which leads to exploitations of the stocks beyond safe biological limits. The Baltic wild salmon faces extinction due to breeding with increased numbers of hatchery raised fish. The assessment shows that the endeavours already undertaken by the Baltic Sea states are going in the right direction. However, their efforts need to be continued and further intensified.
The document will be distributed in May 2001. The conclusions are available on http://www.helcom.fi

Oil spill in the Baltic Sea effected sea birds

Clean-up operations to limit the environmental damage of the most recent oil spill in the Baltic have been completed. On 29 March, the BALTIC CARRIER, a double-hulled chemical tanker with 30 000 tonnes of oil on board, collided with the TERN, a Cypriot bulk carrier, off the Danish coast, spilling approximately 2700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil. The oil drifted north-westwards from the collision point and started coming ashore. The heaviest concentrations were along the south shores of Faroe and Bogoe in the sound between the islands of Falster, Sjaelland and Moen. The island Bogoe is an important island for birds to stay during winter and more than 10 000 migratory ducks are resting in the areas of the Baltic now. The island of Moen also has a bird reserve area. The spilled oil has affected to various degrees the population of 20 000 sea birds in the area, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Measures to further enhance safety of maritime transport and prevent pollution from ships will be investigated at an international workshop of the Helsinki Commission, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the European Union in autumn of this year. For further information, visit: http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/press/index.htm - IP/01/489 Date: 2001-04-02
http://www.itopf.com/news.html, http://www.helcom.fi, contact Anne Christine Brusendorff, HELCOM, e-mail: anne.christine@helcom.fi, phone: +358 22 6220 2228, or Alfred Schumm, WWF-Germany, Stralsund Project Office, phone: +49 3831 280 701

Bush says "no" to Kyoto

After weeks of speculation, the final word came out from the White House: the United States of America would not implement the 1997 Kyoto protocol. President Bush stated on March 27 that he "has no intention of supporting any environmental initiatives that could harm the American economy and American workers". Furthermore he called the protocol not "sound or realistic enough to invest in." Additionally, he stated that "the US is currently facing an energy crisis, and therefore wants to rely on fossil fuels such as coal and oil, since the country does not have the infrastructure or budget to support environmentally friendly forms of energy". This statement has lead to tension between both sides of the Atlantic, as the EU considered this as a major blow to the international co-operation to halt the greenhouse effect. The US is believed to be responsible for 25% of the CO2 emissions every year, while it accounts for 4% of the global population. In reaction to the abandonment, the European Council of Ministers stated that "The Kyoto Protocol is still alive and that no individual country has the right to declare a multilateral agreement as dead." The members of the EU want to go through with the Protocol in any case. However, since the 1997 Kyoto convention of the 55 signatories only one country has ratified the pact. Moreover, since there was no treaty ratified by all attended, the possibility to walk away from the protocol was always open. Now that the US has openly stated it will not implement it, other countries might follow.
Further information: State of the Kyoto Convention: http://cop5.unfccc.de/convkp/index.html
U.S. Energy outlook by the Department of Energy: http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/

IMO approved convention on liability for oil pollution

At a diplomatic conference in London from 19-23 March, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) approved a convention that establishes rules on liability and compensation for pollution caused by oil carried in ship bunkers as fuel. Until now, IMO rules have only covered spills from tankers carrying oil as cargo. The new convention will thus close a significant gap in global oil spill compensation rules. The convention covers pollution damage only in the territory, territorial sea and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of a country that is a member of the IMO. It requires owners of ships over 1 000 gross tonnes to take out insurance against pollution from bunkers. Rules on compensation of victims are also set out, as well as resolutions promoting technical co-operation and legal protection for ship crewmembers who take measures to prevent or minimise the effects of a pollution incident. The convention has to be adopted by 18 countries before it will enter into force. Efforts to develop this convention are a result of IMO data in the early 1990s that showed that the number of oil spills from ships other than tankers was significantly greater than the number of tanker spills. Many general cargo ships carry more oil as bunkers than tankers carry as cargo, the IMO said in a statement. Moreover, bunker spills are considered to be more expensive to clean up.
International Maritime Organization website: http://www.imo.org/imo/briefing/2001/fax6.htm

Factory effluents threaten endangered Mediterranean sea turtles

Effluents from a soda-chrome factory in Kanzanli, Turkey, threaten the coastal environment and in particular one of only three surviving nesting populations in Turkey of the critically endangered Mediterranean green turtle Chelonia mydas. The apparently deliberate discharge of chromates containing waste water is against international laws. The Mediterranean Association to Save the Sea Turtles (MEDASSET) calls for international support in mounting pressure on the Turkish government to take measures. The full analytical report prepared by Umweltburo Wolf, together with some photographs and a press release, is available in pdf format from the MEDASSET website: http://www.ex.ac.uk/telematics/EuroTurtle/medas/kazanlirep.htm

Strategy to integrate environment into European Common Fisheries Policy

The European Commission has adopted a strategy to make environmental protection a more central part of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The integration of environmental policy entails the adoption of the adhering principles, the precautionary principle, the precedence of preventive action, the need to rectify environmental damage at source, and the 'polluter pays' principle. These principles should contribute to a sustainable fisheries sector, and their adoption implies extensive consultation to ascertain the implications of the complete application to fisheries management. On the basis of the outlined strategy, the Commission expects the Fisheries Council to adopt an integration strategy during the spring of 2001 for its presentation to the Gothenburg Summit. Additionally, the European Commission has adopted a Green Paper on the future of the CFP. The Paper puts forward new objectives and presents options on how to achieve them. The Commission has formulated four main objectives for the CFP: Improving the conservation and the protection of marine ecosystems, increasing the involvement of stakeholders in decision making, securing an economically viable and self-sufficient fisheries sector, and promoting sustainable fisheries beyond Community waters. One of the Green Paper's and the Strategy's main outcomes is the proposal to drastically cut European fishing fleets by 40 per cent, to save the dwindling fish stocks in the North Sea. EU Commissioner Fischler, in charge of Agriculture Rural Development and Fisheries, has launched a public debate and a public hearing is to be held on 5 to 7 June, after which the Commission will bring forward its proposals for a revised CFP which should enter into force on 1 January 2003. Ironically, according to the New Scientist magazine, the European Union has demanded an increase of up to 60 percent in the amount of fish its trawlers are allowed to catch off West Africa in the same week it adopted the Green Paper. These waters, one of the world's greatest fisheries, are already heavily over-fished, making the demanded large EU catches unsustainable. As a result, the validity of the Commission's objective to promote sustainable fisheries beyond community waters is being questioned by the international community.
The Green Paper can be accessed at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/fisheries/policy_en.htm

Deadline for submitting contributions to Coastal Guide News No 08: Wednesday 18 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

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