Information & Meetings
	Conferences & Events
	Coastal Publications
	Vacancies
	Global Terrestrial Observing System's coastal database needs your input

Organisations
	New hyperlinks to websites

Environment
	HELCOM appreciates St. Petersburg's reduction in galvanic wastes

Policy
	Sustainable tourism conference stressed importance of ICZM
	European Council endorsed sustainable development strategy
	Fisheries Council adopted conclusions on biodiversity plan
	Caspian countries sign CITES agreement on sturgeon protection

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

Vacancies

Fisheries Committee searches Environment Officer

The North Western & North Wales Sea Fisheries Committee has a vacancy for the permanent post of the Environment Officer. The NW&NWSFC is responsible for the management of inshore fisheries. The Environment Officer is responsible for providing advice on statutory obligations and liaising with country agencies, local fishermen, and Government. The Officer will also provide scientific support for fisheries survey work. Applicants for this post should have a degree in a biological science and at least 3 years' work experience in fisheries and/or conservation issues. The ability to speak Welsh, or a willingness to learn, would be an advantage. The post will be based in Lancaster, but will involve travel throughout the Committee's District. A full driving licence is essential. Leave entitlement is 20 days per year, plus public holidays. Salary Range £19,101 - £20,364 (optional pension scheme). The closing date for applications is 13th July 2001. Application information can be obtained from Mrs I.V. Andrews, NW&NWSFC, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YY.

Global Terrestrial Observing System's coastal database needs your input

The Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS), a programme sponsored by four UN organizations and the International Council for Science (Icsu), has developed the Terrestrial Ecosystem Monitoring Sites (TEMS) database as an interactive online catalogue of sites that conduct long-term ecological monitoring. (Find info on GTOS and TEMS at http://www.fao.org/gtos.) GTOS is now developing a Coastal module for TEMS, which will intensify data coverage for coastal and wetland areas. Initially, the module will focus on two issues: nutrient/sediment fluxes from inland sources into coastal waters and natural habitat loss/conversion in the context of rising socio-economic pressure in coastal regions. Several features are planned to provide easily searchable metadata for coastal environmental monitoring:

• Interactive maps: TEMS already provides an active map feature. In the module, the user will be able to activate predefined boundaries along the world's coasts. They can be used to easily select sites that fall within a certain distance from the shore. The map section will also provide new thematic maps of interest for the module's purpose.
• Database registry: Besides a list of monitoring sites, the module will also comprise a registry of databases and database directories that will broaden its scope by including data generated by timely limited projects.
• Search engine: The user will be able to search the contents of the module by country and eco-region. All coastal sites will also be searchable from a selected list of environmental and socio-economic variables they measure.

You can help to make the Coastal module a success! The GTOS team is grateful for any monitoring/research site or other data source that is brought to their attention. So, if you know of a site or database that deserve better visibility in the web and that should be a member of TEMS, let them know by contacting GTOS GTOS@fao.org!

New hyperlinks

Black Sea NGO Network
http://www.bseanetwork.org
A regional association of NGOs from all Black Sea countries

EURREPAS EURopean network of Regional and municipal Environmental Protection AgencieS
http://www.eurrepas.net
Pan-European network of regional and local environmental protection departments, agencies, inspectorates and committees

marinescienceandtechnology.com
Portal site dedicated to professionals working in marine science and technology

Paralia Nature
http://www.imiparalianature.org
A multidisciplinary project that includes governments, ports, universities and expertise centres and is focussed on the proper implementation of habitat directive requirements

The Blue Plan
http://www.planbleu.org/indexa.htm
Environment and development in the Mediterranean Region

Check out the other Website Links on the Coastal Guide

HELCOM appreciates St. Petersburg's reduction in galvanic wastes

A recent regional Project Implementation Task Force (PITF) workshop of the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM) reviewed ongoing pollution form nine environmental hot spots in St Petersburg and Leningrad Region, Russia, and concluded that a lot has changed to the better since 1992. For example, the discharges from the metal plating industry has been cut down by up to 90 percent for lead, chromium and copper. Although the major reason for the reduction in discharge is reduced industrial production since that time, a HELCOM report by the Department of Environmental Protection of St. Petersburg's City Administration lists several measures that the city has taken over the past years to reduce pollution such as the development of better industrial waste water treatment facilities, albeit on a pilot level. However, the industrial hazardous waste deposit "Krasny Bor" is still posing a serious environmental and health risk. Around 800.000 tones of unprocessed industrial hazardous waste are improperly stored in open pits. With the help of international funding institutions and bilateral donors first steps have been taken to tackle the problem and a new treatment facility is planned for 2004. A new municipal wastewater treatment plant to be finalised by 2004 shall reduce the pollution load of today's half a million cubic meters of untreated industrial municipal and industrial wastewater washed into the Gulf of Finland every day. For further information and the St. Petersburg report, contact Leonid Korovin (who by the way will be awarded the 2001 Swedish Baltic Sea Award at the Swedish World Water Week in August for his commitment to improving the water environment of the Baltic Sea): korovinl@sovintel.spb.ru.

Sustainable tourism conference stressed importance of ICZM

The International Conference on Sustainable Tourism in Rimini, Italy, ended on 30 June with the endorsement of a charter which refers to the European Commission's ICZM strategy and encourages EU member states to adopt the Recommendations annexed to it and develop national strategies. The charter furthermore promotes crucial ICZM elements such as public participation as a fundamental success factor of sustainable management and treating the coast as a whole, not splitting it into land and sea territory. A workshop entitled "Integrated planning for a sustainable land use policy" analysed the success factors and stumbling blocks of ICZM projects and some of the available tools. These include the importance of involving all stakeholders from the beginning and maintaining their motivation by embedding results from public participation processes into existing democratic structures in order to ensure that personal engagement leads to political impact. In this context, it must be ensured that the tourism sector - industry, tourism boards etc - and tourists themselves are represented well enough. Equally important is to maintain coordination of the process beyond the lifetime of limited ICZM projects. Policy tools such as assessing the tourism carrying capacity of coastal and other areas have been developed and application should start, although further research need to be done in cooperation with local actors.
For more information, contact turismosostenibile@provinicia.rimini.it or visit http://www.provincia.rimini.it

European Council endorsed sustainable development strategy

The European Council agreed the European Union's first sustainable development strategy at the summit in Gothenburg on 17 June, thereby "putting the environmental dimension of sustainable development on the same footing as economic and social development", as the Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstroem gladly remarked. Policies will consequently be prepared in a much more integrated manner and member states will have to develop national sustainability plans. However, the Council did not include all proposals and recommendations prepared the European Commission, although they remain on the table for future discussions. The Commissioner stated her disappointment that the European leaders were not more specific on concrete actions to promote sustainable development and that for example the Commission's proposal for a greenhouse gas reduction target post-Kyoto of an annual 1 percent emission reduction over 1990 levels up to 2020 was not endorsed. The heads of government only reaffirmed the EU's commitment to the Kyoto protocol. Margot Wallstroems's speech "The results of the Goeteborg European Council with respect to sustainable development and climate change" can be accessed via http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh (choose "all documents", "environment", and the date 18/06/01). The Commission's proposal is on http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/cnc/2001/com2001_0264en01.pdf

Fisheries Council adopted conclusions on biodiversity plan

On 18 June, the European Fisheries Council held a policy debate on the Commission's Green Paper on the future of the Common Fisheries Policy (see Coastal Guide News No 12). The Council adopted conclusions on the biodiversity plan for fisheries and aquaculture presented by the Commission in the context of the European Community Biodiversity Strategy of 1998. The plan includes measures such as establishing marine protected areas, real-time closures, taking the precautionary approach to non-target species, the development of indicators, and the use of environmental impact assessment for decision-making on fisheries and aquaculture. Several days later, the European Union and Norway agreed on recovery measures for cod in the North Sea, e.g. the increase in mesh size and the use of selective fishing devices to prevent the capture of young fish.
Full press release at http://europa.eu.int/comm/fisheries/news_corner/press/inf01_43_en.htm

Caspian countries sign CITES agreement on sturgeon protection

Three caviar-producing states agreed to halt sturgeon fishing in the Caspian Sea for the remainder of the year and have committed themselves to a series of urgent measures aimed at addressing alarm over plummeting sturgeon stocks. The agreement was announced on 21 June at the end of a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Paris end of June. Four Caspian Sea range states - Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan - faced the prospect of a full suspension of their caviar exports if the committee was not satisfied with the conservation measures agreed to by the four nations. Under the agreement, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia have until 20 July to provide the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) with a detailed inventory of the caviar now in storage from the spring 2001 harvest. Only this caviar may be exported. Russia, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan agreed to, within the next six months, conduct a comprehensive survey of sturgeon stocks, jointly set catch and export quotas, and assess the illegal trade and enforcement needs, with assistance of international agencies such the CITES Secretariat, Interpol and World Customs Organization. By June 2002, the countries are also committed to developing a regional fisheries management system, significantly enhance efforts to combat illegal harvesting, regulate domestic trade and implement a caviar labeling system. Turkmenistan, which was not represented at the meeting, will need to confirm in writing that it will adhere to the agreement or face a complete ban on its caviar exports. The fifth Caspian Sea state, Iran, already has a functioning sturgeon management system. TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring programme of the conservation organization WWF and the World Conservation Union IUCN, applauds the countries concerned and the CITES Standing Committee for coming to an agreement that will give the nations of the Caspian Sea the opportunity to undertake these crucial initiatives, while ensuring that conservation action is taken immediately. However, at a meeting organised by the Caspian Environment Programme (CEP) on 3 and 4 July to establish a commission for the joint management of sturgeon stocks, the Russian delegation did not participate and consequently cast doubts on their willingness to comply to the CITES decisions.
For more information, visit http://www.cites.org/eng/news/press_release.shtml or contact Sabri Zain, e-mail: sabri.zain@trafficint.org, TRAFFIC International, http://www.traffic.org, Stuart Gunn, team leader CEP stuartgunn@caspian.in-baku.com

Deadline for submitting contributions to Coastal Guide News No 14: July 18, 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: Erik Devilee, Irene Lucius, Hanneke Mesters, 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, POBox 11232, NL-2301 EE Leiden, the Netherlands, tel.: +31-71-5122900, internet: http://www.eucc.nl

© EUCC, 2001