Newsletter of CEEweb for Biodiversity · Newsletter of CEEweb for Biodiversity Volume 2, ... petrol contains 4.4% bioethanol also in ... on biodiesel would require oilseed rape

DiversityNewsletter of CEEweb for Biodiversity

Volume 2, Issue 7: SPRING / SUMMER 2008

CAP Health Check Symptoms and Therapies

Find out about reform proposals on the Common

Agricultural Policy of the EU.

Page 20

Right of way on the fields

Growing doubts about biomass

Biodiversity conference in Bonn Meeting the target or missing the chance?

Page 27

Building Relationships for Sustainability

Read about how you can become a pro in recruiting and keeping volunteers.

Page 12

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Contents

D I V E R S I T Y · SPRING / SUMMER 2008 Newsletter of CEEweb for Biodiversity

Agrofuels Growing Doubts

Supporting Business for Biodiversity Biodiversity Technical Assistance Units

Linking Business to Biodiversity Bringing People Together

Interview with Miklós Hulényi The Role of Banks in Supporting Pro-biodiversity Business

Building Relationships for Sustainability

Recognition for Volunteering

“My soul is richer, my knowledge is deeper.” Summer Camps in Nature’s Prettiest Places

Nature with No Borders Mainstreaming our Values

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Not Just Bugs and Butterflies New CEEweb Publication on Ecosystem Services and Natura 2000 in Ten Languages

Ten Swans Released at the Ovcharitsa Reservoir

CAP Health Check Symptoms and Therapies

Nature Conservation through Sound Tourism Development

Biodiversity Conference in Bonn Meeting the Target or Missing the Chance?

Shall we Protect Cultural Heritage that Disappeared from the Practice?

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The rescue of an Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca) fallen out of its nest.

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Cover Story


Based upon this belief, the EU approved the target to substitute 5.75% of liquid fuels with agrofuels by 2010. For this aim, the EU provides subsidies and tax exemptions. Since the summer of 2007 petrol contains 4.4% bioethanol also in Hungary, and new agrofuel projects are announced one after the other.

As a result of climate change, the rise of oil prices and the European and US subsidies, more and more companies join the agrofuel business. Car companies are members of interest groups lobbying for agrofuel subsidies on both continents. They hope for longer-term markets for their petrol-hungry SUVs, off-road vehicles and other big cars. They also hope that with agrofuels they do not need to reduce the fuel demand of the cars they produce. The genetic engineering giants also want to ride this new wave, since they can find new market for the genetically engineered maize, soy and oilseed rape (canola seed). Agrofuel producers have a special interest in this, since Europe does not want from GM food—but they receive subsidies from the US government if they want to get rid of GM corn as a raw material for agrofuels. With the spread of agrofuels on a global level, the voices calling the attention to the social and environmental risks of agrofuels are getting stronger[1].

The issue entered into the centre of wide interest three years ago when George Monbiot, a columnist of The Guardian made a heated speech at the European Social Forum in London. He emphasized that agrofuels cannot solve the fuel-hunger of cars, since the agriculture lands available on this planet cannot provide enough crops. For example running the road transport of the United Kingdom on biodiesel would require oilseed rape plantations 4.5 times bigger than all agriculture lands in the UK. Even the more modest EU target of 20% in fuel use by 2020 would consume almost all our cropland—and we have not produced food yet. This is why Monbiot raised the question: “Feeding cars or people?”[2]

Efficiency, energy density, and limits of land size

The origin of problems with agrofuels lies in the fact that during photosynthesis plants utilize only 1% of the energy content of sunlight. As a result, the energy density of biomass is much smaller than other energy sources. Fossil energy sources provide much more energy because the plant biomass accumulated during millions of years within the biogeochemical cycles was transformed into easily usable forms, such as crude oil, gas and coal. Now human civilization wastes these valuable energy sources

Agrofuels—Growing Doubts

Some years ago almost everyone believed that declining oil reserves—with skyrocketing prices—can be substituted with agrofuels (also known as biofuels). People also believed that by using agrofuels we could fight climate change at the same time, since burning bioethanol and biodiesel emits the same amount of carbon-dioxide into the atmosphere as it was absorbed by the plants during their growth.

by Róbert Fidrich

4D I V E R S I T Y · SPRING / SUMMER 2008 Newsletter of CEEweb for Biodiversity

Cover Storyduring a few centuries—and seriously pollutes the environment.

This low efficiency of photosynthesis results in territorial limits. Today several researchers state that at the current level of technological knowledge even the whole agricultural production of starch, sugar and oilseed can only replace 10% of gasoline or diesel demand[3]. In other words, our planet does not have enough arable land which could satisfy the demand of automobiles and trucks through agrofuel production.

Increasing prices on the food and forage markets

In the last years the demand for bioethanol and biodiesel has been growing by leaps and bounds so the prices of foods and forages have increased significantly.

In the last months several surveys have warned us. According to a study for OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, a well-known international organization) agrofuels cause significant growth in food prices and their environmental impact can be even bigger than that of gasoline or diesel oil[4]. The connection between the growing agrofuel production and increasing food prices was emphasized by two studies which were recently compiled by the Ministry of Finance of Hungary and the Hungarian National Bank[5,6]. In October Jean Ziegler, United Nations rapporteur on agrofuels called the use of plants for fuels a crime against humanity, and urged a five-year moratorium[7]. In December we could read a document on the International Monetary Fund’s website that according to experts of the organization

Dung pellets—the fuel of the poor. Dry dung (solid waste of cows) pellets have been tradi-tional forms of biomass for centuries. They are still widely used together with firewood as fuel where kerosene or cooking gas is not available.

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Cover Story


there is a connection between the quickly increasing food prices and the support of agrofuel production[8]. Recently several organizations have warned about hunger rioting as well.

Riots are not only a theoretical possibility—they have already happened. At the beginning of 2007 people in Mexico went to the streets in protest because the price of corn doubled due to the American agrofuel demand. However, meals made from corn—such as the tortilla—are national dishes. Therefore, the price growth hit the population hard.

Are agrofuels really a solution to climate problems?

Nowadays the positive impact of agrofuels on climate change is also questioned. According to some authors, when taking

into consideration the used amount of energy of intensive farming, transport and processing or the direct or indirect emissions, more green house gases are emitted into the air during the whole lifecycle of biodiesel than what the plant has bound during growth.

A survey lead by Paul Crutzen, a Nobel-prize winner chemist also underpinned this[9]. According to the study twice as much dinitrogen-oxide is emitted into the air during plant growth for biodiesel production than it was thought before. Besides, we should consider the green house potential of dinitrogen-oxide which is 300 times higher than the potential of carbon-dioxide. So the warming impact of this is already the same—or even bigger—than the cooling impact of the carbon-dioxide absorbed by the plant during its growth.

Mowing of energy grass crops. Intensive cultivation of certain non-wood biomass crops seem like a solution to many to the current problems of energy needed for transportation. However, our planet does not have enough arable land, which could satisfy the growing demand of auto-mobiles and trucks through agrofuels production.

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�D I V E R S I T Y · SPRING / SUMMER 2008 Newsletter of CEEweb for Biodiversity

Cover StoryMoreover, since in Europe we do not have enough raw materials (crops), demand for agrofuels is satisfied mainly through the destruction of rainforests and the setting up of soy and oil palm plantations in South-America and South-East Asia. Hence valuable natural habitats and forests, which are also important from a climate change point of view, are being destroyed. Today Indonesia is the third biggest green house gas emitter in the world: draining peatbogs, deforestation and subsequent forest fires to transform land into oil palm plantations result in huge carbon-dioxide emissions. According to calculations, the production of one ton palm oil entails 10-30 tons of carbon-dioxide emission. This amount is 3.6 or 10.9 times higher than burning one ton of diesel. Furthermore, destroying the Indonesian rainforests accelerates the extinction of the threatened orangutan[10].

Conclusion

‘Agrofuel’ or ‘biofuel’?

Some people argue there is a contradiction in terms when we say ‘biofuels’. ‘Bio’ in many languages has the meaning of something organic, biologically irreproachable, impeccable, clean, and honest (e.g. biofood, bioeggs, biofruit, biocoffee, etc.). There are doubts whether it is ethical to mislead people by calling a product ‘bio’ when we know that both the environment and the locals had to pay a high price for it. Burned forests and poverty of the local population are often behind these products so that mainstream multinational companies can realize more profit. For this reason, more and more people want to avoid this ambiguity and replace ‘bio’ with ‘agro’ (‘agricultural’) as in ‘agrofuel’.

If we come to think about it, producing and using agrofuels can cause much more damage than we had previously thought. Instead of focusing on agrofuels it would be better to support developments which aim at energy saving and efficiency. The cleanest and cheapest energy is what we do not use.

National Society of Conservationists, Hungary

Notes: [1] Gyulai Iván: Biomassza-dilemma: http://www.mtvsz.hu/dynamic/biomassza-dilemma2.pdf [2] George Monbiot: Ki lakjon jól: az autó vagy az ember? http://indy.media.hu/cikk.shtml?x=20369 [3] Gyulai Iván: Biomassza óvatosság http://lmv.hu/files/GM-kerekasztal13.pdf [4] Round Table on Sustainable Development: BIOFUELS: IS THE CURE WORSE THAN THE DISEASE?

http://www.foeeurope.org/publications/2007/OECD_Biofuels_Cure_Worse_Than_Disease_Sept07.pdf [5] Report on inflation (2007).

http://www.mnb.hu/Engine.aspx?page=mnbhu_inflacio_hu&ContentID=10043 [6] Tájékoztató a gazdasági és pénzügyi folyamatokról, http://www1.pm.gov.hu/ [7] http://hvg.hu/Tudomany/20071029_ensz_biouzemanyag_buncselekmeny.aspx [8] Simon Johnson: The (Food) Price of Success,

http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2007/12/straight.htm [9] Chemistry World, 2007 September. Összefoglaló: http://www.physorg.com/news109581631.html [10] The oil for ape scandal - full research report,

http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/oil_for_ape_full.pdf

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Insight


In Hungary there are approximately 700 thousand of SMEs. Out of them 55 thousand are connected to agriculture, forestry, and tourism. According to the estimation of BTAU Hungary nearly 45 thousand of SMEs are connected to Natura 2000 areas from these sectors. An additional 50 thousand are connected indirectly to biodiversity and Natura 2000 from other sectors (relevant activities of

mining, manufacture, trade, etc.). This is the potential market which commercial banks should address.

Our Biodiversity Technical Assistance Units (BTAU) project started at the beginning of 2007 in order to facilitate the creation of a new pro-biodiversity investment market for SMEs. The focus of the project was Natura 2000 sites or their surroundings.

Supporting Business for Biodiversity—Biodiversity Technical Assistance Units

Sustainable agriculture, eco-tourism and sustainable forestry have strong common similarities: these business opportunities are all based on biodiversity. In these sectors micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the most dependent on services of nature—and biodiversity is similarly highly dependent on their activities. If public policy manages this issue properly, markets can work for biodiversity and sustainable use of resources. Thus, markets may act as a good mechanism for managing scarce resources and improving livelihoods. The challenge of biodiversity conservation is simply too important—we have to involve the business and banking community actively in it.

by Dénes Nagy

Supporting local organic products is one important territory connecting business and biodiversity.

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�D I V E R S I T Y · SPRING / SUMMER 2008 Newsletter of CEEweb for Biodiversity

InsightThe project was funded by the Directorate-General for Environment of the European Commission through the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

The countries selected for the project were Bulgaria, Hungary, and Poland. The main aim was to create local financial and technical instruments that apply a public-private partnership approach in exploring business opportunities. And above all: we wanted to safeguard biodiversity.

The central part of the project was the establishment of local Units. These Units create a pipeline of bankable projects for future investment loans for the benefit of biodiversity—from the investment idea of SMEs, through finding biodiversity opportunities and financial instruments supporting the given project, until the delivery and monitoring. Their aim is to highlight the opportunities and constraints faced by SMEs in managing biodiversity in a sustainable way—while achieving commercial viability. In particular, the Units will test the following points:

Can SMEs conserve biodiversity?�Can they use biological resources in a sustainable way?�Do they have positive financial returns? �Do they share the benefits arising from the use of biological resources equitably?

In order to achieve these aims, Birdlife partners of the selected countries provide an overview of biodiversity investment opportunities for SMEs. They establish operational networks of biodiversity and finance expertise on national and local levels. They create operational communication platforms (website,

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brochures, and seminars) and identify, in a pro-active manner, a pipeline of bankable biodiversity-related projects.

The Units also develop country-specific toolkits and operational guidelines for assessing pro-biodiversity businesses and supporting project concepts in biodiversity investment. To facilitate similar initiatives of EU member states, a handbook is produced in order to identify, develop, and implement pro-biodiversity projects in a general way. Although the financial instrument itself can be different from country to country, the support of EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) and EIB (European Investment Bank)—as steering committee members of the project—can be significant, especially at the beginning.

Contacts

Project Leadership & CoordinationRSPB Royal Society for the Protection of

Birds

Project Delivery BSPB Bulgarian Society for the

Protection of Birds

MME Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Association

OTOP Polish Society for the Protection of Birds

ECNC European Centre for Nature Conservation

Webpage http://www.smeforbiodiversity.eu

MME BirdLife, Hungary

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Insight


Changing some of the EU legislation and the current national approach of EU funding could also contribute to the boom of pro-biodiversity business. This is one of the conclusions of the conference which convened fifty participants from the governmental, NGO and financial sectors, as well as from small- and medium sized enterprises.

Linking Business to Biodiversity—Bringing People Together

Convincing business people about the importance of nature conservation in their strategic decisions and everyday activities is a significant task. Understanding this, CEEweb for Biodiversity organized a conference on 29 February, 2008 in Budapest.

by Veronika Kiss and Klára Hajdu

This abovementioned problem is related to the current practice: the usual EU funding schemes rather favour the larger enterprises, although many small and medium ones could have a big share in the upswing of pro-biodiversity business. With the involvement of gestor organisations—which could further distribute the EU support to smaller ones—these companies could gain the opportunity to receive funding for their activities. They would contribute to the public goods through conserving biodiversity and making business at the same time.

National governments could also have a special role in this: state guarantee and

interest subsidies could be crucial incentives for many companies when they apply for bank loans for pro-biodiversity business investments. The conference participants identified many other proposals which target banks, governments, enterprises, and NGOs alike. They could also share their experiences which inspire others in their everyday activities.

Of course even when speaking about the pro-biodiversity business, the central issue remains the same: how the economy can transform so that it becomes interested in the sustainable use of natural resources, as well as biodiversity. Possibly economic growth will not be the way to achieve this. We need to set a regulatory framework which ensures that this will happen indeed, and in the meantime we need to clearly define criteria so that pro-biodiversity business is not a mere greenwashing campaign for companies.

For further information about the conference please contact Veronika Kiss at [email protected] and visit the conference website at www.ceeweb.org.

Zoltán Kovács is explaining how SMEs can act as pro-biodiversity business, as in the case of organic wine production.

The fifty participants exchanged their expe-riences and formulated suggestions.

Photo by Zoltán Toplák

Photo by Zoltán Toplák

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Opinion


Interview with Miklós HulényiThe Role of Banks in Supporting Pro-biodiversity Business

Last autumn the European Portuguese Presidency launched its “Business and Biodiversity” initiative to convince more businesses to get involved in nature conservation. Clearly, without involving the companies themselves there will be hardly any result in the practices that harm nature. Banks can also contribute to this process through developing specially targeted loan schemes. We asked Miklós Hulényi, financial bank consultant at the HB-COP Limited Partnership about the reasons and possibilities behind such initiatives.

Q: Business investments have a great impact on natural processes. What could be the role of banks in the birth of more nature-friendly developments?

MH: The primary role of banks is to effectively manage the money that was entrusted to them by the owners. However, banks also take part in many different developments with their resources and other services. Among others, such developments can be about environmental protection, nature conservation, agriculture, and land use.

There are countless rules of different professions and authorities, aspects and requirements to consider regarding any given field or activity. Developers or investors should correspond to these rules, if they want to realize their developments. Also, it is the responsibility of banks as loan-providers to expect and control these requirements and make sure they are met by their clients. Which means that banks themselves also need to be aware of these rules and requirements…

Q: The state and state-owned banks could play an important role in linking business and biodiversity. What kind of bank loan schemes exist currently that inspire nature friendly developments?

MH: The Hungarian Development Bank Private Limited Company is the only state owned financial institution at the moment. It realizes and mediates important investments and intended developments of the government. One of these intentions is rural development.

In the framework of BTAU (Business Technical Assistance Unit) project, together with BirdLife Hungary we worked out a survey. We found that neither the protection of environmental values nor the conservation of natural resources have been counted so far as separate fields among financed activities and businesses of rural development investments. This is the reason why we did not find any national financial institution offering bank loan schemes especially developed for this purpose on the market.

Q: What would be needed in your opinion for SMEs to have more access to nature-friendly bank loans?

MH: SMEs are significant players in the for-profit sector. Their economic activity, their role in employment growth, and their competitiveness have a great impact on the output of the whole economy. State-owned financial institutions and national banks involved in rural development see

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Opinion


it a good business opportunity to finance SMEs. For realizing business opportunities, the following important investment strategy is necessary:

Growth in the SME sector’s economic output. The gross added value produced by SMEs was 52% in 2005, which should be run up to 55% by 2013. The internal and external resources of SMEs should be extended proportionally and in a sustainable way. Several of them are under-capitalized and the accumulation of their internal resources is not quick enough. At the same time, many of them do not have access to external financial resources. SMEs should invest a bigger part of their increasing incomes into accumulation. The accumulation growth of enterprises—and thus the growth of investment inspiration—should be supported by the government through control tools. This means that SMEs are encouraged to increase their resources returned from their incomes. The liquidity of SMEs should be improved. This will lead to fewer obstacles to their growth. In order to increase the liquidity of SMEs it is necessary that the state be more disciplined in its financing mechanisms. Another important point is to have more effective demand-handling processes. SMEs should have more chance to get loans. This should happen by the application of guarantee tools.

Q: How can it be guaranteed that financial support goes to truly nature-friendly developments instead of “greenwashing”?

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MH: According to experts, the financing of the SME sector will keep on being dynamic in the years to follow. The experience of the past few years shows that banks are capable to react to the demands of the market and aim their new products at groups which have less access to loans.

Banks could do a number of things to help business initiatives find financial solutions which support and pay attention to biological diversity and nature conservation. These actions are the following:

Banks with contributor institutions and authorities could select the right financial opportunities that directly or indirectly serve the enterprise. They can directly adapt schemes which have already been developed by other banks; or they can develop new loan schemes as necessary. This latter solution is especially useful in the case of large projects or special professional activities. Banks together with contributor institutions and authorities can reallocate resources. For example, alongside with grants they can find other interested fiscal institutions and local support. Banks and contributor institutions and authorities need professional support for the supervision and their financing from control tools of central (state) regulations. They need support and guidance to integrate in their projects, investments and granting systems on all levels, including planning, authorizing and operation/implementation.

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Volunteering


by Chris Worman

Building Relationships for Sustainability Most environmentalists could use more funding and volunteers. However, asking for support is daunting for most of us but it doesn’t have to be. This article offers tips that may help you increase support for your programs using a process similar to the one that turned you into an environmentalist.

Why did you start caring about the environment? Chances are you became an environmentalist because of some person or event. Perhaps someone took your hand, placed an earthworm in it, and explained the creature’s role in the ecosystem… But this was only the first step. Then you continued to explore and develop your relationship with the environment—either with a mentor, or on your own.

So today you are an environmentalist with your own projects that could use more funding or volunteers. Still, you may find it to difficult ask for support. At this point, you might find it useful to think back of your own first steps. Remember the earthworm. This is how most support-raising begins. Not necessarily with an earthworm but with an organization directly involving beneficiaries. You may

already do this through volunteer events, workshops or newsletters. The key is to build relationships through ongoing opportunities for active participation and/or communication.

Remember: ongoing opportunities must address the needs and interests of beneficiaries. Think about it. Have you ever left a workshop grumbling, “I got nothing out of that”? Chances are the leaders promoted their agenda and did not address your needs. Fitting programs to the interests of beneficiaries allows us to develop a relationship. If program providers do this successfully, they establish trust. This is the first step towards successful support-raising.

Once you establish a relationship, you may begin asking for support. Some points to consider:

Ask in a culturally appropriate manner Simply consider “How would I like to be asked?”

Always be clear Use the basic marketing rule of “give, get, do.” What do you need from these people? What will they get in return? And what do you want them to do? Addressing these questions makes your request clear and strong.

Agora cultivates the next generation of environmentalists.

Photo by Christopher Worman

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Volunteering


Start lightly—ask for opinions People, in general, like to speak about what they think. If you listen, you will learn how to tailor your programs to their interests. Furthermore, when individuals share their opinions, they begin to think of themselves in terms of your organization. Here is an example: “How could CEEweb programs improve?” As you, the reader, form your answer, you think about CEEweb in your terms and as it relates to you. In doing so, you take partial ownership of any resulting ideas. This in turn opens the door for further follow-up questions—and further involvement based on your interests.

The key here is good listening skills. You must be professional in the face of unexpected or critical answers, and you must be willing to follow up. When you ask beneficiaries to give you input and to teach you, you show trust and respect, which strengthens your relationship.

So you’ve established your relationship, solicited opinions and asked for involvement. Now you can ask for anything! Some minor exceptions: it may not be feasible to ask for donations of money from villagers. Also, I advise you

not to ask kids for cash. But money is not everything. For instance, right now we are building an education center at Agora. The first thing we needed was a building permit. If we had not built a good relationship with the Mayor, our project could not have even started.

So a quick reminder: Build relationships though direct involvement and communication. Ask for opinions. Listen. Then ask for what you might realistically receive. Ask in an appropriate manner.

You may notice that you already do many of these things. Consider giving the rest a try! You may not create an ecotopia at once—but you will increase support for your projects. And perhaps awaken the next generation of environmentalists. This may be our most important objective…

Christopher Worman is Peace Corps Volunteer serving with CEEweb member Agora-Working Group for Sustainable Development. Before joining Peace Corps Chris worked for NGOs in the United States managing fund and awareness raising programs. Since 2006 he has developed several internationally recognized local fundraising programs in Romania.

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For the future


More and more people—mainly youth—take part in nature conservation activities through volunteering. Despite this growing popularity, volunteering gets little or no recognition. This is true even though informal learning proves to be the most efficient and attractive alternative to formal education. In a nature conservation project volunteers acquire practical skills and motivation to enhance their competence.

There is an increasing need for validation and recognition of skills and qualifications gained through voluntary work. This need was developed into a project called “Environments for Learning—Validation

Recognition for Volunteering

Nature conservation projects have a strong learning element so the environmental sector is an important provider of informal learning and training. However, individuals involved in such work rarely get recognition for the skills they acquired.

by Krasimira Peneva

and Accreditation”. It was launched in the autumn of 2006 and was set to deal with issues of accreditation of volunteering. The project is funded by the European Commission under the Leonardo Da Vinci Programme and is implemented in partnership with the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV, UK), Green Balkans (BG), ELF Estonian fund for Nature, UST Umhverfisstofnun (IS), CVG Conservation Volunteers Greece, KESSA DIMITRA – Centre of Strategic Planning and Development (GR), and Hólar College (IS). These organizations come from two separate backgrounds: environmental issues and learning validation and accreditation.

Partners’ meeting in Munich, December 2007.

Photo by Stephanie Lotz

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Awareness-raising


The main aim of the project is to research practices and collect experience in validating informal learning in the

environmental sector. Thus our efforts will be the basis for the development of a common European

framework for assessment criteria and learning outcomes for five key areas of informal learning through volunteering. The framework will be tested by each of the organizations involved. After testing, results will be made available to partners and other NGOs.

The test for Bulgaria happened in December 2007 in the form of a two-day training course implemented by Green Balkans under the title “Project Planning and Management”. We gave lectures and organized discussions on the main mechanisms and approaches of project planning and management. We also introduced participants to EU funding opportunities and programs. We are glad to say that volunteers from many parts of the country took part in the training. The most objective evaluation of the skills and knowledge gained by the participants will be the result of the future project applications they are going to prepare and submit to various funding agencies. Volunteers of Green Balkans, who took part in our previous courses, have already developed successful project proposals. This is an example of efficient and beneficial use of qualifications acquired in such training events. We are truly proud of them!

Green Balkans, Bulgaria

“My soul is richer, my knowledge is deeper.” Summer Camps in Nature’s Prettiest Places

When I hear, I forget. When I see, I remember. When I do, I understand. (Chinese proverb)

Protected areas are valuable for all of us. Yet, lakes, forests, and meadows are often mistreated and left without care. The Voluntary Service of Serbia—a division of Young Researchers of Serbia—has been organizing volunteer camps in such areas for years. Their aim is to help people understand biological diversity and the means required for the conservation of nature.

In 1997 Young Researchers of Serbia organized their first joint volunteer camp in the protected area of Obedska bara. Since then the idea became a yearly event. Among their locations were rivers, oxbow lakes, and mountains—precious pieces of land in need of human attention and care. The aim of the camps is to help people understand biological diversity and to educate participants on how they can conserve nature.

One of the strengths of the camps is the active participation of international volunteers from all over the world. The other source of support is of course local communities themselves. The camps are mostly organized during the summer and usually last 10–15 days. Apart from the obvious work, they also provide volunteer participants with a chance to take part in

by Milka Gvozdenović

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For the future


environmental workshops and to observe nature and traditional ways of living.

Some of the places where volunteer camps have taken place:

Zasavica Special Nature Reserve This is a marvelous river ecosystem surrounded by fragments of marshes, hygrophilous (moisture-loving) forests and meadows. It contains rare and endemic animal species such as the Umbra krameri (fish). At the camp volunteers clean the reserve of Zasavica of plastic bottles and other waste thrown in the waters. They also row boats collecting floating waste and help building birdhouses.

Obedska Bara This is an oxbow lake surrounded by marsh and forest habitats. The place is a famous ornithological reserve. This wetland has been gravely degraded—the biggest problem is that wet meadows are overgrowing and disappearing.

Volunteers here joined in our project called “wet meadows revitalization.” They removed tree branches and cleared the area of other vegetation. Because of their activities several bird species have returned to this wonderful site. Presently the working site of the camps has the richest bird fauna in the reserve!

Stara planina This is the biggest and most beautiful mountain in the eastern part of Serbia. It is also protected as an area of extraordinary natural values. Unfortunately, it is generally neglected—most of the natural and touristic potentials are unrecognized or unused. The 2007 summer camp was organized here to highlight the values and possibilities of this area for sustainable tourism. Volunteers reconstructed tracking paths, created tourist signs and prepared an exhibition with their opinions on potential tourism developments.

For the future

Volunteers collect reed for local production at Ludas lake.

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For the future


Some thoughts from participants

I’ve come to understand more about how environmental organizations work…

There are lots of natural areas in need of protection—more action should be taken…

I learned that working in a team makes everything easier…

I understood that I could be useful to society…

I learned more about environmental issues…

My soul is richer, my knowledge is deeper…

I feel more concern for the environment now…

Deliblatska pescara A hundred and fifty years ago this place was a small desert. Then most of its area (about 300 km2) was afforested to prevent sand from being spread by the wind. Some of its habitats, however, are still untouched and are now under protection as special nature reserves. Its precious natural resources have not been used sufficiently for educational purposes. Here volunteers constructed an information point at the entrance to this protected area and renovated many forest paths.

How can you get involved? Such camps are organized in every country. They are easy to find and fun to participate in! You can also find a network of volunteer-based organizations in your own country in the CEE region. Check the websites of SCI, YAP, or ALLIANCE for details. And one more thing: such summer camps are also an excellent way to create your perfect “sustainable summer holiday”.

Young Researchers of Serbia

by László Stoll

Nature with No Borders—Mainstreaming our Values

The Slovakian-Hungarian border area is full of treasures, such as the Zemplén region in the triangle of the valleys of Bodrog and Hernád rivers. In 2006–2007 Holocén Nature Conservation Association was part of a project that entailed a twenty-part film series about this jewel of nature.

Today, when it is much easier to get informed about the nature of faraway places on documentary channels than learning about our own natural surroundings, there is a growing challenge in reaching out to people. Especially the younger generation is getting more disconnected with nature, which also shapes their values in an unfavourable way. For these reasons we were more than happy to join an awareness-raising project focusing on this part of our region.

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Awareness-raising


The results of this project are twenty thematic films on three DVDs, a multimedia CD, three brochures, a website and several conferences and roundtables. The project was part of the Interreg III. Neighbourhood Programme. This was a truly joint effort lead by Zemplén Television—local NGOs like Sosna (Slovakia), Bokartisz, and Holocén (Hungary) along with the Aggtelek National Park (Hungary) and individual experts also took part.

We wanted people to see all the natural beauty and cultural richness of this area with their own eyes. With the use of modern technology we wanted to make sure that our materials would be also watched by the younger generation. Needless to say, it’s been two busy years! With the leader and project partners we spent about a thousand hours on the field in total and collected more than 800 gigabytes of information on photos and videos! Then many people spent hundreds of hours editing, cutting, translating, and narrating...

We believed that with the help of such visual materials we can uncover the beauty of these areas—many of which are certified as Landscape Protected Areas, Natura 2000, Econet, Ramsar and World Heritage sites. In our films we tried to present these habitats, endangered species, as well as the connection of nature and people. We also showed the fruitful cooperation of Slovakian and Hungarian stakeholders. And most of all we wanted to show that nature knows no borders.

The multimedia materials were sent to all schools, libraries, NGOs, and authorities in the region and certainly the films were aired by Zemplén Television. We realized one more time that mainstream media can be a great ally in our everyday work.

Website about the films in Hungarian and Slovakian: www.hatartalan.film.hu

We are studying the early spring Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysa-etos) in the Zemplén Mountains.

In springtime the Iris (Iris pumila) is an eye-catching beauty of the rock grassland.

Photo by Tamás Becse

Photo by Tamás Becse

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Awareness-raising


Not Just Bugs and Butterflies—New CEEweb Publication on Ecosystem Services and Natura 2000 in Ten Languages

Ecosystem services are goods and services of nature which humans utilise for themselves. The food we eat, the clean water we drink, fuel, fibre are direct “presents” of nature. But we also utilise “nature’s services”, which are a result of complex processes and interactions. The formation of soil, the natural decomposition of waste, protection from disasters like floods and storms, or the maintaining of a stable climate on earth are all indispensable services for us.

As the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment shows, there is a clear link between ecosystem services and human wellbeing. Consequently, any biodiversity conservation efforts indirectly contribute to wellbeing—and the public should also realize these links. This is the motivation behind our new publication entitled Services of nature—How Natura 2000 contributes to the provision of ecosystem services for human wellbeing. This publication is an introduction for non-experts into the topic, which tries to answer the following questions:

�What is the connection between the protection of animals and plants and the welfare of people?�What is the EU doing to preserve nature and ecosystem services? �How can we keep ecosystems functioning through active management?�What good examples exist at EU level?

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With the outstanding help of CEEweb members we could translate the publication into nine languages: Polish, Slovakian, Czech, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Serbian, Macedonian, and Ukrainian. We also distributed the brochure to local municipalities in all these countries. You can look at the appealing pdf versions on the “Publications” page of our website. We hope you can also use it in your professional work!

For more information about the publica-tion contact Sarolta Tripolszky ([email protected]).

The cover of the publication.

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Programs around CEEweb


Ten Swans Released at the Ovcharitsa Reservoir

Mute swans (Cygnus olor) are beautiful large birds that live in Bulgaria. Because of illegal hunting and cold weather their lives are sometimes in danger. The Wildlife Rehabilitation and Breeding Centre of Green Balkans helped ten of these magnificent creatures. The event happened on just one day before Valentine’s, on 13 February.

by Hristina Hristova

A juvenile and an adult mute swan (Cygnus olor) being released by the Wildlife Reha-bilitation and Breeding Centre of Green Balkans one day before Valentine’s, on 13 February.

Photo by Petar Petrov (AP Photo)

The winter of 2007 came with a severe cold spell in the beginning of the New Year. This threatened the lives of many swans. In the hope of helping them survive staff and volunteers of Green Balkans captured and took ten birds to the Wildlife Rehabilitation and Breeding Centre. The birds came from all over the country. Some of them were even victims of illegal hunting.

For more than a month the birds were treated in the centre. They were also tested for bird flu with negative results. In the middle of February they were released back into the wild in the Ovcharitsa Reservoir, South-East from the town of Stara Zagora.

The event was a joint effort: representatives of the Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Waters (Stara Zagora), local people as well as Green Balkans’ staff and volunteers all wanted to see the swans enter their new habitat. We are very grateful to all who took part in the rescue of these great birds. And we wish the swans good luck in adapting to their new home!

For more information visit www.greenbalkans.org/index_en.html

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Directions


CAP Health Check—Symptoms and Therapies

The Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union does not only dispose over a significant part of the EU budget, but also largely shapes the rural countryside. Therefore, the outcomes of any reform processes are crucial for people and nature alike.

Last November, Mariann Fischer Boel, the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development launched a debate generally known as the Health Check of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP HC). The aim of the initiative is to give viable answers on how EU farm policy should adapt to the challenges that European farmers face in the 21st century. These challenges may well be all too familiar to many of us: tackling climate change, improving water management, the protection of biodiversity, and the growing interest in agricultural bio-energy production…

The Commission proposed several areas to examine. The most important were: simplification of the EU payment scheme, reviewing cross-compliance measures, the compulsory modulation of pillar one direct payments to rural development measures,

by Gyula Kiss

adjusting the market support system (including the abolition of set-aside), and responding to new challenges.

A public consultation also took place to discuss the proposed reforms. Two public seminars were organised in Brussels and an on-line questionnaire was also released. Among many environmental NGOs CEEweb for Biodiversity also contributed to this process. The Rural Development Working Group sent in a joint position paper on the Commission’s ideas.

We expressed our strong belief that the cross-compliance system contributes to the maintenance of ecosystem services in agricultural lands—for which farmers shall be fairly compensated by society. “Public money for public goods” as NGOs argue. For this reason, cross-compliance

A small farm near the Slovenian–Hungarian border. Less intensive farming—which helps preserve the natural heritage of an area—should be one of the main priorities of the CAP in the future.

Photo by Gyula Kiss

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measures should be extended and reinforced to enhance their environmental effectiveness. The positive environmental effects of the set-aside—taken for granted that it is intended to be abolished—should be preserved by creating special biodiversity ‘reservoirs’ on a defined proportion of agricultural lands. On these designated fields limited mowing, grazing, and cultivation would provide an improved level of biodiversity. CEEweb for Biodiversity also supports the highest possible level of compulsory modulation from pillar one (direct payments) to pillar

two (rural development). Financing better targeted rural development measures instead of direct payments to farmers shall be the direction to follow.

The next step now is to be taken by the Commission, which is supposed to come out with a legislative proposal on future CAP ‘refining’ in May 2008. It can be already foreseen that this proposal will not cure all the problems surrounding agriculture. Still, it remains to be seen whether it relieves at least some of the symptoms.

by Kristina Vilimaite and Judit Fülöp

Nature Conservation through Sound Tourism Development

The most original products from Šumava

Tourism for Nature supported the introduction of a regional certification program for high quality products and services relating to sustainable tourism in Šumava Biosphere Reserve, the Czech Republic. The first product certified there was “Šumavská holubička”, a wooden dove as a symbol of the spirit of the region. Today more and more producers ask for the trademark “Šumava original product”.

Certified products help to raise the awareness of local people about their

Tourism can either be an opportunity or a threat to biodiversity and to local communities. For three years a project called Tourism for Nature worked in Central and Eastern European biosphere reserves to develop tools for enhancing the benefits of tourism.

A wood carver from Šumava working at the Gömör-Torna marketplace. The Biosphere Re-serves from three countries closely cooperated during the implementation of the project.

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cultural heritage. Regional branding schemes provide local artisans with additional income and offer cultural aspects of the area to visitors. More than twenty products have been certified to date in Šumava including a wide range of traditional goods from local honey to ceramics.

Similar regional brands exist in other regions of the Czech Republic. The website of the certification scheme shows how to make a design for a regional marketing brand right (www.domaci-vyrobky.cz).

Say “cheese”

For centuries people pastured their sheep within the area of Babia Góra Biosphere

There are over 480 biosphere reserves in over 100 countries around the world. They are established within UNESCO Man and Biosphere programme. In biosphere reserves solutions to reconcile the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use are promoted.

Reserve in Poland. The disappearance of pastoralism caused progressive forest succession, thus destroying meadows and even leading to a loss of habitats and plant species. The Tourism for Nature project built a shepherds hut in order to revitalise the tradition of sheep breeding and herding, and preserve the natural values in this way.

With the support of the regional union of sheep breeders a traditional shepherd hut was built on a meadow near the main road in Babia GĂłra Biosphere Reserve, Poland. A shepherd family started to use it for cheese production according to the EU standards in 2007.

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A shepherd’s hut (or Bacówka in Polish) was created using traditional elements of the local architecture. It hosts a collection of old historical tools and objects that were used by shepherds and functions as a “living museum” on pastoralism. Visitors can see how these tools are used. A shepherd family lives there with 300 sheep in the summer season and produces cheese in line with EU food safety standards. The cheese is sold at the hut and at other two locations in the biosphere reserve.

This project activity demonstrates that shepherds can still make a living by herding sheep in a traditional way and they do not need subsidies to continue. It is expected that such results will stimulate similar activities in the biosphere reserve.

Celebration creates partnerships

The Aggtelek Biosphere Reserve is situated on the Hungarian part of a unique Karst area in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. The job opportunities in the area are scarce, but forestry, agriculture, and livestock rising are among the options—and recently also tourism.

With the support of the Tourism for Nature project Gömör-Torna Festival has developed into a true cross-border regional program since its start in 2001. Now this 14-day-long event has nearly a hundred programs and involves almost forty locations in Hungary and Slovakia. It takes place yearly in the second half of July, in the high tourism season, providing

“Green Island” at the Gömör-Torna Festival at Jósvafő. This event was supposed to let people know about the work of Aggtelek National Reserve and the Slovakian Karst Reserve. The bilingual poster exhibition attracted vivid interest—people talked to colleagues from the Aggtelek nature reserve. Children also had their share of fun: they had a “Trail of Goblins” starting from this site following the wonders of nature like the power of waters, a snail’s home to rest.

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opportunities to sustain and revive folk art, music and dance, traditional handicrafts, local cuisine, and to market products on the tourism market.

The festival is organised in partnership among the National Parks, municipalities, NGOs, congregations and businesses in Hungary and Slovakia. It can be considered as a pilot project to bring stakeholders in the tourism sector under one umbrella event.

Tourism 4 Nature

The overall goal of the project was the protection of ecosystems in selected Biosphere Reserves of Central and Eastern Europe through the sustainable use of natural resources which benefits both local people and nature protection. The project was implemented in three Biosphere Reserves: Aggtelek in Hungary, Babia Góra in Poland, and Šumava in

the Czech Republic. Each of the three participating sites developed cooperation with protected areas across the border in the neighbouring countries.

The project was launched in April 2005 and lasted for three years. The activities were co-financed by the Global Environment Facility / United Nations Environment Program (GEF/UNEP) and managed by Ecological Tourism in Europe, a member of CEEweb.

The results of the project are ready for use in other protected areas. Methodologies for tourism management plan development and for trail planning, training of trainers in sustainable tourism are just a few to mention. The website of the project (www.tourism4nature.org) can be a source of inspiration for managers of protected areas and NGOs. It contains descriptions of all the activities of the project and provides many project outputs for download.

Organic milk produced in the Babia Góra Reserve. The experience of the first season showed that the activity is economically viable and will not need subsidies to be continued in the next years.

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Case study


Call for case studies on tourism impacts

We are looking for new case studies on positive or negative impacts of tourism in Central and Eastern Europe, and on potential locations for the development of tourism in a sustainable way. The case studies will be added to our current collection. Photo illustrations are welcome.

You can find a database of case studies on our website at www.ceeweb.org/workingroups/sustainabletourism/impacts/

For more information, please contact Kristina Vilimaite at [email protected].

Eco-tourism in the area of Piatra Craiului National Park—An Example of Local Services Development in Brasov/Zarnesti

Originally targeting large carnivore protection in the Northern area of the Piatra Craiului National Park, the Carpathian Large Carnivore Project supported the development of sustainable tourism in the commune of Zarnesti (Romania). Large carnivores represent one of the main tourist attractions in this region. This type of tourism lead to an enormous economic upswing in and around Zarnesti. It comprised all kinds of businesses in the region—from guides to accommodation providers and handicraft sellers. In return, the economic advantage derived from tourism served as the best argument for large carnivore conservation.

One of the most important characteristics of eco-tourism in the Zarnesti area was that a large portion of the revenues remained at the local level. The income was high enough for the local market to represent an attractive economic alternative to unsustainable land-use practices.

In 2001–2002 the local portion of the total revenue generated by the eco-tourism program was about 46.5 percent. This demonstrates that a substantial amount of money (400,000 Euros) remained at the local community level. In 2001–2002 the average income in Zarnesti did not exceed 1,800 Euros per year. Thus the local money generated through eco-tourism represented the equivalent of more than a hundred full-time jobs over two years.

Tourism Development for the Benefit of the Locals

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Insight


Biodiversity Conference in Bonn— Meeting the Target or Missing the Chance?

Thousands of delegates will meet at the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in May in Bonn, Germany to discuss global steps towards biodiversity conservation.

A real breakthrough is needed at the meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), if the governments want to keep their credibility about their biodiversity promises. Although the serious commitment to significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010 was made seven years ago, the progress has been slow. As the European Environment Agency reported last year, the target will not be reached in Pan-Europe unless considerable additional efforts are made. And the situation is in most cases even more worrying in other regions.

A major issue on the conference agenda is establishing the global network of protected areas on land (by 2010) and on sea (by 2012). NGOs call upon the designation of 40% of the high seas and the designation of the last pristine forests as protected areas, also as a contribution to the mitigation of climate change. In addition, serious deficiencies of implementation of the protected areas work programme need to be tackled, as also recognised during the intergovernmental preparatory meetings.

The production of biofuels (or agrofuels) is an emerging threat on biodiversity as well as on the livelihood of local communities in many developing states, and an emerging issue within the CBD. Considering these threats, the massive pressure for the production and the doubts if it is worth at all from environmental point of view, many

NGOs call for a moratorium on production. We have seen in many cases how rushed decisions on “solutions” have created even larger problems on the whole. This awakening on the problems of biofuels has reached the European Council as well, and made the Slovenian Prime Minister say that the EU may need to review and revise its biofuel targets in the future.

Even though it is an environmental convention, all CBD issues concern social and human rights aspects. Biofuel production has led to hundreds of conflicts with indigenous peoples only in Indonesia, while the use of gene technology—like GURTs (Genetic Use Restriction Technologies)—could impair the sovereignty of farmers over the seeds they use. The third objective of the Convention is about the access and benefit sharing in relation to the utilisation of genetic resources, which raises serious issues. Indigenous peoples have been for long advocating for a legally binding international regime on access and benefit-sharing. However, it is still not sure how far countries are ready to go to protect their outspoken principles in opposition to economic interests and give a legally binding character to a future agreement. The conference shall make clear that people and the sustaining of the foundation of life is more important than profit.

As usual in the environmental field, a lack of financial resources is deemed a

by Klára Hajdu

��D I V E R S I T Y · SPRING / SUMMER 2008 Newsletter of CEEweb for Biodiversity

Insightmajor impediment to progress. Innovative financial mechanisms shall be considered for the financing of protected areas. These in many cases do not only create revenues, but also strengthen the environmental consciousness of business actors and public. These mechanisms could include payment for ecosystem services, tax on the trade of tropical woods, green lotteries or voluntary environmental offsetting of households. While acknowledging the positive spin-offs of these mechanisms, unfortunately they do not meet one important criterion: they are not able to reduce the overall pressures on biodiversity. Though it would be possible. A tax reform which realises the input side regulation could not only rearrange the national revenues and expenditures, but also influence the drivers behind biodiversity loss, like production

and consumption patterns in a most simple way. Taxing natural resource and energy use would for instance impact the felling of tropical trees, as well as their transport and use. It could have an effect through all the life cycle of products from cradle to grave without any regulatory gaps.

It is ironic that mainly delegates from ministries of environment meet in Bonn to discuss how they could mitigate pressures and drivers on biodiversity—which are mainly outside their jurisdiction. It is on the one hand not fair that sectoral ministries assume the responsibility on meeting targets when they do not have jurisdiction in making the necessary steps. On the other hand they discredit their governments, if they make promises they cannot meet. The conference in Bonn will show if this is the case.

Despite all appearances the principles of nature can never be compromised. Thus we should not believe that saving biodiversity is possible without substantial changes in our economies.

Photo by Anatoli Styf

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Nature and Culture


Most of the twenty-five participants came from the office of cultural heritage, but museologists, ethnographs, local governmental representatives, environmentalists, and rural development experts also took part in the discussions. The background of the participants was diverse, as these issues should of course relate to sustainable development. Namely, how the links between culture and environment have contributed to the rich biodiversity of the Carpathians, and how supporting cultural heritage can help the long-term protection of natural environment. Cultural heritage is an inter-linking element for the topics covered by the Convention and a key point for the promotion of public participation.

The main causes of the diminishing cultural heritage were identified in the presentations as the decline of local communities and functions of traditional professions, as well as the value crisis and society’s orientation towards material welfare. Today there is simply no or only very low need for instance for coopers, shepherds or charcoal burners. When these root problems are particularly hard to tackle, it is questionable if it can be a desirable aim to put already disappeared cultural heritage under protection.

Shall we Protect Cultural Heritage that Disappeared from the Practice?

This is one of the concerns raised at the forum about a possible future list of Carpathian cultural heritage, which was organized by CEEweb for Biodiversity on 7 March in Miskolc, Hungary. In parallel to other forums in every Carpathian country, this Hungarian meeting investigated criteria and requirements for a future Carpathian Cultural Heritage List under the Carpathian Convention.

Thus education has an important role in changing our attitudes towards cultural heritage. We should learn to appreciate what we have today, show to others and thus keep it for future generations. It was also proposed that local school textbooks should be prepared which collect local traditional knowledge and culture so that every pupil learns about and experiences it. This can be an important part of strengthening the identity of communities. In the experiences of the forum participants nowadays the cohesion of communities appears mostly when external threats arise. This is the case in Tokaj-Hegyalja wine region which is threatened by a biomass power station planned in a nearby town.

When it comes to a possible list of cultural heritage and traditional knowledge, it should be based on geographical and ethnographical regions (for instance palóc region), with special attention paid to the cross-border regions (like Gömör). The list shall build upon existing lists and criteria—like that of UNESCO—in order to avoid the duplication of efforts.

Zsuzsanna Kissné Árokháti from the Hungarian Ministry of Environment and Water mentioned, we should also think about cooperation between mountain regions and plain areas. These links were

by Imola Füzi

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Nature and Culture


well alive in the past in the tradition of the shipments of different raw materials and products of handcrafts. One such example was the Gömör region located in Hungary and Slovakia. In the old times people used to come with pots from the Slovakian region all along the Northern part of Hungary down to Szeged which is in the South Hungarian Plain.

But overprotection should be also avoided, warned István Paszternák from the Office of Cultural Heritage from Northern Hungary. He showed regional examples where overprotection brought unfavourable changes, as in the Hollókő UNESCO site.

It was stressed by the forum participants that the opinions of several experts and aspects should be taken into account in the elaboration of a future list. It is also important that bottom-up proposals coming from the local people are to be considered because the active involvement of local communities is a prerequisite for

future results. But whether these efforts will lead us to a more coherent and valued Carpathian area in the long run is a still question for the future.

Balázs Kalydy from the Hungarian UNESCO Committee demonstrating the results of the workshop discussion.

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Diversity is a biannual newsletter of CEEweb for Biodiversity.

Available online: www.ceeweb.org/publications/newsletters

Editor responsible: Klára Hajdu, Executive Director

Editing and layout: Judit Herman, Anita Szabó (Farm) Design concept: Angela Nyíri

Two beautiful mute swans (Cygnus olor) freshly released by the Wildlife Rehabilita-tion and Breeding Centre of Green Balkans. The preservation on biodiversity sometimes means that people have to get actively involved in natural processes and take the species out of their original habitats so they can survive on the long run.

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Cover photo by Laurent Renault, back cover photos by Bendek R. Sallai and Maciej Lewandowski.

The newsletter is supported by the European Commission. The donor is not responsible for the expressed views and the use of the information made available.

The views and opinions expressed in Diversity do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of CEEweb for Biodiversity.

More than 80 organisations from 17 countries are members of CEEweb for Biodiversity. Four working groups are the main driving forces of the network.

The Rural Development Working Group promotes the integration of conservation principles into agriculture and strives to improve the quality of life in the countryside.

The CITES Working Group is devoted to the implementation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora in CEE.

CEEweb for Biodiversity

Kuruclesi út 11/a H-1021 Budapest, Hungary

Tel.: (+36 1) 398-0135 Fax: (+36 1) 398-0136

www.ceeweb.org

CEEweb for Biodiversity is an international network of non-governmental organizations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The mission of the network is the conservation of biodiversity through the promotion of sustainable development.

The Natura 2000 Working Group helps the Natura 2000 network to be established and to function properly in CEE countries.

The Sustainable Tourism Working Group supports the members of the network in making tourism in CEE countries sustainable through joint activities, such as information exchange, promoting good practices, training and education, policy-making, pilot projects and lobbying.

Documents

Newsletter of CEEweb for Biodiversity · Newsletter of CEEweb for Biodiversity Volume 2, ... petrol contains 4.4% bioethanol also in ... on biodiesel would require oilseed rape