In Denmark,
more than 700,000 dwellings are exposed to traffic
noise exceeding the threshold of 55 dB. This noise
is not merely a nuisance, but can also actually
be a health hazard.
Therefore the Danish EPA has
launched five new trials for 'noise partnerships'.
These are financial partnerships between the public
sector and private homeowners, and together they
pay for noise reduction. The five pilot projects
are being run in Copenhagen, Aarhus, Allerød
and Frederiksberg (two projects).
The projects cover all types
of owner-occupied dwelling and rented accommodation.
Similarly, all types of noise
reduction will be included, including noise-reducing
windows, road surfaces, lower speed and screens.
Funding for the five projects
is being shared by the Ministry of the Environment,
the municipalities and the homeowners, and amounts
to more than EUR 1.5 million over the next 1-1½
years.
The results of the projects
will be collated in a guide to be published in
spring 2007, and a Danish website has already
been set up at www.stojpartner.dk.
House-price survey
A survey of house prices by the Danish EPA in
2003 showed a clear relationship between noise
levels and house prices. House-prices rose by
about 1 per cent for each dB reduction, and a
similar study by AKF showed corresponding price
increases for flats of 0.5 per cent.
State and trends of the Danish
Aquatic and Terrestrial Environment in 2004
The report "Aquatic and
Terrestrial Environment 2004. State and trends
- technical summary" presents state and trends
of the environment, based on the results from
the National Monitoring Programme for the Aquatic
and Terrestrial Environments (NOVANA) in 2004.
In general, a decrease in nutrient
discharges has led to improvements, particularly
in the most polluted lakes and fjords, whereas
monitoring of the more open marine waters has
only revealed minor improvements. The environmental
status of watercourses has slowly but steadily
improved in recent years. In 2004, the relevant
quality objectives were fulfilled in just over
half of watercourses, in less than 1/3 of lakes
and, for marine waters, only in Skagerrak and
in the open parts of the North Sea.
Systematic monitoring of terrestrial
nature and environment began in 2004, and therefore
it is not possible to describe the trends for
the terrestrial natural habitats and species.
NOVANA replaced the former
exclusively aquatic monitoring programme NOVA-2003
on 1 January 2004. With NOVANA, Denmark initiated
integrated systematic monitoring of the aquatic
and terrestrial nature and environments.
