Information & Meetings
	Conferences & Events
	New Coastal Publications

Organisations
	New hyperlinks to websites

Environment
	EU subsidies for Italian fishing industry not sustainable
	Clean beaches and water on top of German tourists' wish list

Development & Trends
	Shipping channel project threatens Danube biosphere reserve
	European study highlights potential of environmental technology

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
 

Terra Viva! World Resources (CD-ROM) World Resources Institute, 10 G Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 USA. Fax 1 410 516 6998. E-mail: publications@wri.org, www.wri.org. ISBN 1 56973 487 9 (2001). Price $225.00. Shipping $10.00. This CD-ROM is deals with the earth's changes and connections between environment, economy, and world development. It compares hundreds of environmental, social, and economic variables from 150 countries. Modern trends in the global environment are dissected and visualised by maps, graphs, tables or text. More than 400 database variables also cover biodiversity, coastal and marine waters.

Nature in Northern Europe. Biodiversity in changing environment By Eeva Liisa Hallonaro and Marja Pylvänäinen (2002, 350 pp.). Nordic Council of Ministers, Store Strandstaede 18, DK-1255 Copenhagen K, Denmark. Fax +45 33 96 02 02. Home page: www.norden.org. ISBN 92 893 0635 1. The central theme of the book is biodiversity - the wide range of plants, animals and habitats in northern Europe - and the factors that have shaped it over years, especially recent trends and the role of people. The region covers the Nordic Countries, the Baltic Countries, Scotland and parts of North-West Russia. The book is illustrated with 200 plants, animals and fungi drawn by artists, and maps. It is available in English, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian and Russian.

New hyperlinks to websites

oneFish Community Directory
http://www.onefish.org
An online database and directory of fisheries and aquatic research and development information

Port Maritime Information Gateway
http://www.port.nmm.ac.uk/
Portal of maritime resources on the internet

SeaCompanion
http://www.seacompanion.com
Provides information on marine organisations, institutions and companies. Several databases are included, all searchable by free text, key-words and/or pre-defined categories

Thalassalink
http://www.thalassalink.gr
Online service of the Liaison Office of the Institute of Marine Biology of Crete, available in English and Greek

Check out the other Website Links on the Coastal Guide

EU subsidies for Italian fishing industry not sustainable

WWF launched a new report showing that at least one third of EU fishing subsidies to Italy have a negative impact on the environment. The report 'EU subsidies to Italian fisheries: analyzing the impact on marine resources and environment' demonstrates that EU subsidies cause environmental damage since Italian fishermen use their subsidies to fish in waters of developing countries where fish are more abundant, and thus increase the pressure on fish stocks in these areas. Moreover, some EU subsidies serve to finance the construction of new boats and radar, leading to 7 % annual increase in fishing effort in Italy. In its drive to comply with EU objectives to reduce fishing effort, rather than targeting industrial fishing, the Italian government is targeting small scale fisheries - a sector that provides extensive employment and is less damaging to the environment. WWF is urging the Italian government to eliminate over-capacity in the fishing fleet, create "fish districts" as zones exclusively for local fishermen as well as "no-take zones" to allow fish stock recovery. Those zones could be implemented with the installation of 'blue boxes' that would register the position of all Italian boats more than 12m long. Presently, Italy has the largest fishing industry in the Mediterranean and the 6th largest in Europe.
For further information, contact Julien Scola, Communications Manager, WWF European Fisheries Campaign, tel: +32 2 743 88 06

Clean beaches and water on top of German tourists' wish list

A new survey shows that German tourists value environmental quality. The survey was conducted by the international NGO Ecotrans, promoting sustainable tourism, in cooperation with F.U.R, a consulting group which specialises in statistical research of the tourism sector. When asked the question: "When thinking about your next holidays, which of the following environmental factors are most important for you?" 64 % answered "clean beaches and water", 59,1 % replied "no rubbish in the resort and surrounding area", 50,0 % said "no urbanization of rural areas", and 45,8 % demanded "good nature protection in the holiday destination".
For more information, contact Herbert.hamele@ecotrans.de
 

Shipping channel project threatens Danube biosphere reserve

The transport ministry of Ukraine plans to build a shipping channel through the Danube biosphere reserve, threatening 1.500 hectares of protected territory. The Kiev Environment & Culture Center expects that the migration paths of several millions of birds will be broken and that crucial breeding grounds of the Danube herring will be lost. The project violates Ukrainian and international law as the Danube delta is Europe's largest wetlands area of international importance and protected under the Ramsar Convention. The exit to the Black sea through the Danube is especially profitable for the Ukrainian Danube shipping company and its ports - Ishmael, Kiliya, Reny, and Ust-Dunaysk.
For more information, write to the Kiev Environment & Culture Center: kekz@carrier.kiev.ua.

European study highlights potential of environmental technology

On the eve of the European Council in Barcelona, the Commission has presented a report setting out how environmental technologies can contribute to sustainable development. Clean technologies can both boost European economies and protect the environment. They enable a "de-coupling" of environmental impacts from economic growth. Use of such technologies can create "win-win" situations, where economic benefits can be reaped without making the environment suffer as a result. However, market barriers and a number of other obstacles are preventing realisation of the full potential of environmental technologies. The Commission therefore intends to work with stakeholders to develop an action plan to promote environmental technology.
Press release and full text of the report: http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/docum/02122_en.htm

Deadline for submitting contributions to Coastal Guide News No 8: 17 April, 2002

COASTAL GUIDE NEWS is a biweekly newsletter published by the EUCC - The Coastal Union 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, Irene Lucius, Hanneke Mesters, Albert Salman, Virginie Terrier.
 

Established in 1989, the EUCC - The Coastal Union 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
 

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