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Services for Environmental Journalists from South Eastern Europe

CHEMICAL SPILL AT HUNGARIAN BORDER

HORGOS, 30. September (Radio B92) - A tanker overturned this morning on Hungarian territory less than a kilometer from the Horgos border crossing to Serbia spilling toluol sulphonic acid, Radio B92 learnt this afternoon.

The Serbian prime minister's ecology advisor, Srdjan Popovic, told B92 that the substance, which is an irritant, was probably intended for the production of detergent.

The German-registered tanker probably overturned because it was speeding and the driver is in a serious condition in hospital, he added.

Popovic said that the chemical is a third-degree poison and poses no threat to public health, as it is not volatile and thus not spread by wind.

The border crossing reopened at about 12.30 p.m. after a three-hour closure

In the meantime, a helicopter being used to extract the trapped driver from the truck crashed during the rescue operation.

Hungarian border service spokesman Sandor Orodan said that there were no casualties in the incident.

Source: Radio B92 - Serbia and Montenegro

BULGARIAN PARLAMENT RATIFIED THE AARHUS CONVENTION

SOFIA, 2 October, 2003 - After a 5 years delay, Bulgarian Parliament ratified the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters.

The Convention was adopted on 25th June 1998 in the Danish city of Aarhus at the Fourth Ministerial Conference in the "Environment for Europe" process. Bulgaria signed the document, but the ratification deferred, as the country was not ready to fulfill the obligations related to its implementation.

The Aarhus Convention is a new kind of environmental agreement. It links environmental rights and human rights. It establishes that sustainable development can be achieved only through the involvement of all stakeholders. It links government accountability and environmental protection.

The Convention focuses on interactions between the public and public authorities in a democratic context and it is forging a new process for public participation in the negotiation and implementation of international agreements.

Source: BlueLink, Bulgaria.

MACEDONIA WILL GET THE BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY NATIONAL STRATEGY

Skopje, September 26 - The Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning promoted on Friday "The First National Report on Biological Diversity in Macedonia".

Deputy Minister of Environment, Dragoljub Matovski, pointed out that the report was part of Biological Diversity national Strategy Project, financed by the Global Ecological Fund (GEF), through the World Bank.

"Macedonia has ratified the Convention on Bio-Diversity in 1997, and therefore has legal obligations in this area' environment counselor Menka Spirovska said.

The Project started in 2001 and special office was established for its implementation. This study is the first step of the Ministry of Environment to preparation of the bio-diversity strategy and presents an analysis of the situation in the country in regard to species diversity, their domination and endangerment.

According to analyses of such natural treasury in some European countries, Macedonia in one of the leading countries marked as "European hotspot"

Vegetation diversity of cormophyta plants is presented by 30 classes and according to current information there are 1580 alga of talophyta plant in Macedonia.

According to fauna palette, 9339 species exist in Macedonia, while 7% are Macedonian endemic species. The most endangered species are fishes, while 30 of 58 autochthonous species are included in this category.

"Special web-page on biological diversity in Macedonia will be opened and up-date with information on the level of endangerment of some species till the end of this year", Matovski underlined

Source: moe.gov.mk, FYR Macedonia.

PAN-Parks Conference to be held in Bulgaria

Europe's Wilderness Days

Sofia, October 1 - Europe's Wilderness Days - PAN Parks Conference is organized by the PAN Parks. It will be held in Hotel Ljuljaci near Gabrovo, Bulgaria, 4-9 October 2003.

Over 60 participants from all over Europe will discuss possibilities for sustainable tourism development in and around protected areas. These areas like the Central Balkan National Park can be seen as the last reserves of European wilderness, which renders their conservation a real international task and duty.

One of the highlights of the conference will be when the Prime Minister of Bulgaria will hand over the PAN Parks certificate to the newly certified PAN Park, CentralBalkan.

PAN Parks is a WWF International initiative and it aims to create a European network of wilderness-protected areas, to improve nature protection by sustainable tourism development and to provide a reliable trademark, which guarantees nature protection and is recognised by all Europeans.

Source: BlueLink, Bulgaria.

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