07
Oct 2008 - Slovak authorities have essentially
opened the Tatras National Park to development.
The country's flagship protected area is
facing intense pressure, including development
of ski runs and expansion of tourist facilities,
with little if any state control or proper
assessments. As a result, the area could
lose its international recognition as a
national park by IUCN, the World Conservation
Union. The European Commission has also
begun investigating impacts of the developments
on Natura 2000 areas.
Free rein for developers
According to the Slovak daily SME, in addition
to ongoing construction of ski runs stretching
into the protected area as well as renovation
of hotels, 7,000 apartments are planned
to be constructed in the area of Tatranska
Lomnice. The influx of further tourists
would add to existing pressures on the area.
Despite international
recommendations and pressure, Slovak authorities
have yet to adopt clear zonation and management
plans for Tatras National Park nor development
plans for communities in the area. Zonation
and planning could guide development and
management of the area, ensuring opportunities
for development while maintaining the natural
values that are the area's chief attraction.
The lack of any planning
or guidelines, together with the hands-off
attitude of relevant authorities, has essentially
given developers free rein to develop the
area.
Warnings
The developments have provoked IUCN, the
World Conservation Union, to send a letter
to the Slovak authorities warning them of
the possible downgrading of international
recognition of Tatras National Park to merely
a protected landscape area. According to
IUCN, Slovak authorities have failed to
take action and limit the development pressures
on the park.
The developments have
also attracted the attention of the European
Commission, which is reportedly studying
possible impacts on areas protected within
the EU's Natura 2000 network of specially
protected sites.
No concern
Slovak authorities have expressed little
concern over the developments. Losing international
recognition as a national park "would
not be good for public relations and would
be a shame, but life in Tatras National
Park would go on," Peter Visvader,
spokesperson for the Slovak Ministry of
Environment was reported by SME as saying.
Official environmental
protection in Slovakia has been stood on
its head since the takeover of the Ministry
of Environment by the Slovak National Party
since the last national elections. Most
of the directors of the country's national
parks, including those most respected for
their commitment and professionalism, as
well as professional staff of the State
Agency for Nature Conservation have either
been made redundant or have resigned, and
measures for nature protection weakened.
+ More
REACH candidate list
and the SIN List 1.0
08 Oct 2008 - On October
8th 2008, the Member State Committee of
the European Chemicals Agency agreed on
15 chemicals of very high concern which
will be placed on the first official REACH
candidate list later this month.
WWF welcomes that the
process has started but critised the list
as much too short.. Most importantly, the
list includes three plasticisers (phthalates)
which are toxic to reproduction and the
flame retardant HBCDD which is persistent,
bioaccumulative and toxic.
WWF now calls on ECHA
to bring the 15 chemicals several of which
still contained in daily products quickly
under regulatory controls and make a strong
effort together with EU Member States to
extend the list.
To highlight the need
for better progress on the implementation
of the REACH legislation and to present
chemicals in need of substitution, an NGO
coalition, led by the International Chemical
Secretariat (Chemsec) has launched the SIN
list 1.0 (SIN=Substitute It Now). WWF has
contributed in the project’s advisory committee
and will use the results in the further
work in the REACH implementation process.
The SIN list 1.0 contains
over 267 substances. It includes e.g. cancer
causing chemicals, endocrine disruptors
and substances that are longliving and accumulate
in wildlife and people. Several substances
on the SIN list 1.0 have been found during
WWF’s bloodtesting studies of the general
population.
WWF believes that REACH
needs to adress these substances, build
on all the existing knowledge available
and take recent science into account in
order to encourage replacement of these
hazardous chemicals.
On October 10th, the
European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) will hold
its first stakeholder day in Helsinki.
WWF has been invited
to present the public interest organisations’s
point of view on the involvement in ECHA’s
work.
+ More
Connect2earth Prize
Awarded
06 Oct 2008 - Barcelona,
Spain - Sofia Mateus, a 29-year-old Swiss/Portuguese,
is the grand prize winner of an international
youth competition running on connect2earth,
the green on-line community where young
people can have their say about the environment
by uploading videos, pictures and comments.
Connect2earth was launched
earlier this year by WWF and IUCN, and is
powered by Nokia. There were over 3,300
submissions from more than 190 countries,
and they can be seen by going to the connect2earth
website. Sofia's video, entitled "Why",
depicts the impact of overpopulation on
the planet.
"connect2earth
gave me the opportunity to express myself.
I thought of a concept, I created the video
and it was successful. connect2earth is
an excellent way to reach people",
says Sofia Mateus. "We all want more
money and better lives, but the earth is
already overpopulated, and look where this
is leading us. How are we going to deal
with this situation? The title 'Why' is
meant to engage people".
The video, which can
be seen below, took the top award from the
campaign. However, others winners included
Chiel Maas, 28, from the Netherlands, with
an image called “Can man and animal live
aside?”. The best text message prize was
won by Prajwal Bhattarai, 18, from Nepal,
with a poem entitled “I Don’t Need Wheels;
Just Don’t Break Nature’s Feet”. The best
video award went to Dean Omori, 40, from
the UK, with a video based on a self-composed
song and entitled “How can you sleep?”
After the entries were
ranked by the connect2earth community, the
grand prize winner was selected by a panel
of prominent conservationists, including
broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough,
Otesha Project Founding Director Jessica
Lax, Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder
of the Green Belt Movement Wangari Maathai,
TERI Executive Director Dr Leena Srivastava
and UN Environment Programme Executive Director
Achim Steiner.
Sofia was invited to
participate in the IUCN World Conservation
Congress in Barcelona and present her ideas
directly to political, environmental and
business leaders from around the world.
The congress takes place every four years
and serves as a platform for the world’s
leading decision-makers in sustainable development
to debate, exchange ideas, explore solutions
and vote on actions for a diverse and sustainable
world. Over 8,000 experts take part in this
10-day event, representing governments,
NGOs, academia, and the private sector.
“The environmental problems
that we face today are global and their
effects will fall hardest on the younger
generation”, says James Leape, Director
General of WWF International. “The connect2earth
competition demonstrates that if we can
find innovative ways to engage with young
people, they are equally concerned and more
than ready to respond with possible solutions.”
The site, which can
also be used on mobile phones (www.connect2earth.mobi),
will continue to inspire dialogue among
young people on a variety of topical environmental
issues and a new competition concept will
be announced soon.
