| No 12, 15 June 2001 |
| Information & Meetings | |
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What's new in the website |
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Conferences & Events |
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Coastal Publications |
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Vacancies |
| Organisations | |
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EarthTrend portal provides acces to coastal information |
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New hyperlinks to websites |
| Environment | |
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Reduction of green house gasses feasible but EU directive blocked |
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Rapid industrialisation threatens the Arctic |
| Biodiversity | |
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United Nations launches extensive study of earth's ecosystems |
| Development & Trends | |
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German government promotes cautious offshore windmill development |
| Policy | |
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Public debate on future of Common Fisheries Policy launched |
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New strategies to eliminate illegal oil discharges in the Baltic Sea |
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Candidate countries receive extra funds for environmental investments |
| Information & Meetings |
What's new in the website
ICZM Project Matrix
The EUCC International Secretariat is building a database of ICZM Projects
in Europe and neighbouring regions. As a first step a matrix summarising
many recent and ongoing ICZM projects in Europe has just been published
in the Coastal Guide. It provides project titles and main issues and aspects
such as participation, information and sectors such as tourism and recreation.
Project titles link to pdf files with more detailed information, including
the project area, objectives and results. Please note: the matrix is not
yet complete. http://www.coastalguide/icm/projects.html
Anybody who is willing to contribute to this effort is kindly invited
to contact the Coastal Guide Editors: jolanda@coastalguide.org
2001
| August 13-16 | 11th Stockholm Water Symposium "Water Security for the 21st Century - Building Bridges Through Dialogue", Stockholm, Sweden. Info: fax: +46 8 522 139 61, e-mail: sympos@siwi.org, Website: http://www.siwi.org/sws2001/sws2001.html |
| October 15-19 | IWA World Water Congress "Efficient Water Management - Making it happen", Berlin, Germany. Info: tel: +49-212-2606-369, fax: +49-212-2606-207, Website: http://www.iwa-world-water-congress.de |
| November 13-16 | 11th NSW Coastal Management Conference "Making Waves - Exploring gaps and exploring solutions, Newcastle, Australia. Info: fax 02 4984 2755 e-mail: coastal@pco.com.au, Website: http://www.pco.com.au/coastal/ |
Please note:
The overview of the Coastal Guide conference and event meeting list
can be found at http://www.coastalguide.org/meetings/
| Integrated Management Plan for the Kavala Prefecture Coastal Zone Published by Euroconsultants S.A., February 2001. Copy of the report: A.E.N.A.K AE, Nomarxia Kavalas, Kavala 65110, tel: 0030-51-291285, fax: 0030-51-291286, e-mail: aenak@otenet.gr This report was prepared within the framework of the European Community Programme TERRA CZM by Euroconsultants S.A. on behalf of the Development Agency of the Prefectural Administration of Kavala (A.E.N.A.K). The report describes the current situation on the coastal areas of the Kavala Prefecture in Greece and proposes actions for Integrated Coastal Zone Management. It describes the establishment of a Coast Observatory Office - Geographical Information System as the objective of the EU Demonstration Project in the Prefecture of Kavala. For further information on the TERRA CZM Network visit http://www.terraczm.gr. |
| Ecology of Dunes, Salt Marsh and Shingle By J.R. Packham and A.J. Willis (1997, 335 pp.). Kluwer Academic Publishers, P.O.Box 322, 3300 AH Dordrecht, the Netherlands. Fax +78 6392 254. ISBN 0 412 57980 4. By describing the interactions of coastal organisms with the physical processes shaping the granular deposits within and on which they live, the authors illuminate many aspects of adaptation, population dynamics, community ecology, succession, zonation and ecophysiology. Well chosen examples and case sudies have been drawn from coastal systems around the world, particulary those of the British Isles, continental Europe and North America. |
| Coastal Defences. Processes, problems and solutions By Peter W. French (2001, 366 pp.). Taylor and Francis Books Ltd, Cheriton House, North Way, Andover, Hampshire SP10 5BE U.K. Fax 01256 354663. ISBN 0 415 19845 3. Price UK £ 29.99. This book presents the broad spectrum of methods that engineers use to protect the coastline and investigates the sort of issues that can arise as a result. It examines "traditional" hard techniques and the more recent trend of using techniques more sympathetic to nature. The book explores the rationale for using each method and the consequent management issues, presenting a case for and against each of the techniques. |
| Salzwiesenschutz im schleswig-holsteinischen Wattenmeer By Martin Stock et al. (1997, 46 pp.). ISBN 3 8042 0691 3. Price DM 14.80. |
| Die Salzwiesen der Hamburger Hallig By Martin Stock and Kathrin Kiehl (2000, 88 pp.). ISBN 3 8042 0701 4. Price DM 19.80. |
| Trischen - Perle im Nationalpark By N. Kempf et al. (2000, 39 pp.). ISBN 3 8042 0699 9. Price DM 12.80. Publ.by Boyens & Co, Wulf Isebrand Platz, 25746 Heide, Germany. Fax +481 68 86 467. These volumes 7, 11 and 13 (in German) in the series "Nationalparks schleswig-holsteinisches Wattenmeer" deal with the protection and conservation of salt meadows along the North Sea coast (vol.7) and near Hamburg (vol.11), and with nature protection of Trischen Island in the Wadden Sea (vol.13). |
NGO "Seas at Risk" looking for coordinator
Seas At Risk, an independent non-governmental federation of national
and international environmental organisations, is looking for a Coordinator
to help it strengthen its organisational foundations, expand and deepen
its participant base and further develop its marine environmental campaigning
work. The successful candidate will be skilled at fundraising and organisational
development and be looking for a substantial new challenge. Salary: up
to Euro 34,850 per annum for a 32 hour week. Experience, character and
enthusiasm are more important than formal qualifications. Ideally the
candidate will have a track record of similar work in an international
or national context. The post is based in Utrecht.
To apply, send your CV and a covering letter by 12 July to Hans Revier,
Chairman Seas At Risk, Drieharingstraat 25, NL-3511 BH Utrecht, Fax: +31
30 670 1292, e-mail: secretariat@seas-at-risk.org,
Url: www.seas-at-risk.org
| Organisations |
EarthTrends portal provides access to coastal information
The World Resources Institute (WRI) has launched its free, interactive
website EarthTrends: The Environmental Information Portal. It provides
current data, maps, articles, and country profiles about the environment
and sustainable development - many of them related to the coastal environment.
Its searchable database with over 400 variables for 210 countries is spanning
recent decades, data tables, and country profiles. Information is grouped
in ten topic areas. They are: coastal and marine ecosystems; forests and
grasslands; water resources and freshwater systems; agriculture and food;
climate and atmosphere; population, health, and human well-being; economics
and business; energy; biodiversity and protected areas; and environmental
governance.
The website is located at http://earthtrends.wri.org.
CoastCare / South African Coastal Information Centre
http://sacoast.uwc.ac.za/
To assist in the education and exchange of information about coastal issues.
Wave Climate (National Institute for Coastal and Marine Management/RIKZ)
http://www.golfklimaat.nl/golfklimaat/engels/index.html
Information about wave climates in the Dutch part of the North Sea. This
can vary from something simple, such as the average wave height somewhere
off the coast, to a more complex simultaneous probability distribution
of a number of wave parameters
Check out the other Website
Links on the Coastal Guide
| Environment |
Reduction of green house gases feasible but EU directive blocked
A proposal for an EU directive to fight global warming by doubling the
use of green energy by 2010 may be delayed after the Netherlands blocked
a deal in the final round of negotiations. The directive states that the
share of green energy should increase from 6 percent of today to 12 percent
of the EU's energy demand by 2010. The EU renewables directive, which
covers wind, wave, solar and bio-mass energy, does not classify municipal
waste as green energy, while the Netherlands takes 50 percent of its green
energy from waste incineration. Nevertheless, a new report issued by the
European Climate Change Program states that it should be no problem for
the EU to find affordable ways for meeting its commitments on global climate
change. A deadlock in EU negotiations on how to tackle global warming
weakens the EU's position in negotiations with President Bush at the EU
summit in Gothenburg. After having been heavily criticized for the withdrawal
from the Kyoto protocol, Bush promised a science-based response to the
question of global warming.
More information on the EU green energy plan can be found at: http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11120,
the report by the European Climate Change Program can be downloaded at:
http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/01/816|0|RAPID&lg=EN
Rapid industrialisation threatens the Arctic
This week UNEP published an extensive report based on a new method of
mapping the true extent of environmental impacts of human activity on
one of the world's last wilderness - the Arctic. According to the study,
up to 80% of the Artic will be affected by industrial activities, infrastructure
and settlements by 2050, if development continues at current rates. The
report also mentions the plans to open up a vast new seaway: the Northern
Sea route from the Barents Sea in the west to the Bering Strait in the
east. It is meant to reduce sailing time from Europe, Scandinavia and
Russia to the Far East. This route would open up possibilities for new
development by companies that want to exploit the rich oil, gas and mineral
resources of Siberia. It is clear that this will seriously threaten the
vulnerable key ecosystem, not the least because it is poorly protected.
The UNEP news release can be found on http://www.unep.org/Documents/Default.asp?DocumentID=204&ArticleID=2870.
For more information contact Nick Nuttall, UNEP, e-mail: nick.nuttall@unep.org
| Biodiversity |
United Nations launches extensive study of earth's ecosystems
On June 5, 2001, World Environment Day, the United Nations, scientific
groups, governments, foundations, and other international agencies, launched
the most extensive study of the state of the world's ecosystems so far.
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) will examine the processes that
support life world-wide in coasts and oceans, grasslands, forests, rivers
and lakes, and farmlands. The $21 million, four-year effort will involve
1,500 of the world's leading scientists. The MA was designed over the
past three years by the UN Development Programme, UN Environment Programme,
the World Bank, the World Resources Institute, and other partners. During
this period, WRI and its partners undertook a study - the Pilot Analysis
of Global Ecosystems (PAGE) - to demonstrate the feasibility of the MA.
The results were published in a five-volume series over the past six months.
Further info on Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA): http://www.millenniumassessment.org,
the Pilot Analysis of Coast (PAGE): http://www.wri.org/wr2000/coast_page.html.
Coastal Guide News article on WRI report on coastal ecosystems at http://www.coastalguide.org/news/2001-08.html#env1
| Development & Trends |
German government promotes cautious offshore windmill development
The German Ministry of Environment (BMU) has issued its position on offshore
wind-energy turbines, in which it states that it will not allow windmill
parks in important bird areas and select areas for development with great
scrutiny in order to avoid negative impacts on biodiversity. Both in the
North Sea and the Baltic Sea coastal zones, a large number of proposals
involving the construction of windmill parks have been filed. The German
nature conservation organisation NABU warmly welcomed the position.
The BMU position is published at http://www.bmu.de/download/dateien/offshore01.pdf
More information on NABU's reaction can be found at: http://www.presse-service.de/Static/239157.html
| Policy |
Public debate on future of Common Fisheries Policy launched
At a public hearing from 5 to 7 June related to the Green Paper on the
future of the Common Fisheries Policy, European Commissioner Franz Fischler
made a plea for multi-annual, multi-species and ecosystem-oriented Total
Allowable Catches. He also stressed the need to ensure that public aid
(at present 1.1 billion euro per year) concentrates on reducing overcapacity
- benefiting both the stocks and the sector - and helping fishermen find
alternative employment. The Commission furthermore proposes the establishment
of Regional Advisory Committees and regional conservation measures as
a move towards more transparency and better management.
The German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) is very much in
line with the ideas of the Green Paper. It plans to develop guidelines
for ecologically sustainable fishery practices and to improve the management
of marine living resources.
More information on the Green Paper can be found in Coastal Guide News
No 7 (http://www.coastalguide.org/news/2001-07.html).
The Commission appreciates comments on its Green Paper until 30 September
2001 to be sent to fisheries-greenpaper@cec.eu.int.
The ideas of the BfN can be read in a press release (in German), archived
under http://www.bfn.de/07/0701_2000.htm,
for more information contact pbox-presse@bfn.de.
New strategies to eliminate illegal oil discharges in the Baltic Sea
Despite the Baltic Strategy, which obliges captains to dispose of all
their wastes in Baltic ports before sailing, illegal oil discharges keep
burdening the marine environment. In order to fight these spills, maritime
experts of the Baltic countries have agreed on new strategies during a
meeting of the Sea-based Pollution Group of the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM
SEA) held 30-31 May in Helsinki. They decided on a Recommendation to support
some of HELCOM's Contracting Parties in their attempt to boost aerial
surveillance programmes by closer co-operation and technical assistance.
HELCOM SEA will make guidelines how to collect evidence of illegal discharges,
whereas the Prosecutor Generals Expert Group will be in charge of advising
the investigation and prosecution of suspected offenders.
For further information, contact: Ms. Anne Christine Brusenhoff (HELCOM
SEA), e-mail: anne.christine@helcom.fi,
Ms. Barbro Jönsson (The Office of the Prosecutor-General, The environmental
Crime Unit), e-mail: barbro.jonsson@aklagare.se
Candidate countries receive extra funds for environmental investments
On 8 June, the European Commission adopted a Communication on environmental
financing in the Candidate Countries. It consists of strategic objectives
and looks at ways of enhancing and leveraging available finance. This
is necessary since the candidate countries will meet considerable financial
challenges to comply with EU environmental legislation. The Communication
is a follow up to the Commission's 1998 paper on Accession Strategies
for the Environment and compliments the Commission's Enlargement Strategy
Paper of October 2000. Already in 1998, the Commission urged the candidate
countries to develop investment strategies for the implementation of the
EU legislation. Now that the investment planning is finished, the Communication
was the next step in order to succeed in fulfilling the objectives. Recent
estimates show that the EU expansion will cost between 79 and 110 billion
euros, considerably less than initially expected. However, extra funds
remain crucial, since the new legislation of 2000 contains costly laws,
e.g. the one on power plants. The candidate countries will therefor receive
500 million euros a year in the period 2000-2006 through the Structural
Policies for Pre-Accession (ISPA) fund.
The Communication can be read at http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/pdf/2001/com2001_0304en01.pdf
Deadline for submitting contributions to Coastal Guide News No 13: July 3, 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
© EUCC, 2001