UK Environment for Europe Fund - Projects and Activities Sponsored in 2002-2003

Funding for activities related to the Kiev Environment for Europe Conference

Activities connected with the Ministerial Environment for Europe Conference were the main priority for funding in 2002/2003:

• Kiev 2003 project implemented by the Stakeholder Forum for our Common Future and MAMA 86 (Ukrainian NGO).
• Preparations in Ukraine for the Kiev Conference.
• Project lead by Ecoforum (a cross-border NGO operating in most of the EECCA countries) for cross-country stakeholder involvement in the Environment for Europe process and the development of an environmental strategy for the countries in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA).
• Funding from the Fund helped facilitate the participation of delegates from EECCA countries in the development of two of the protocols which were signed at the Kiev Conference - the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) protocol and the Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).
• Training environmental journalists - this project was designed to assist in empowering public action in EECCA countries through increasing the media coverage of Aarhus Convention-related issues and environmental issues in EECCA countries, in particular the issues debated and decided at the Kiev Environment for Europe Conference.

Sponsoring projects managed by the Department for International Development (DFID)

In 2002-2003 the Fund contributed towards several projects in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia coordinated and managed by DFID:

Sponsoring activities of international organisations

UNECE

• Funding for the UNECE Trust fund which is used to help delegates from EECCA countries to attend international meetings and events.
• UNECE Transport Health and Environment Pan-European Programme (THE PEP).

Aarhus secretariat

The Fund provided the UK contribution towards the work programme for 2003-2005 of the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters.

Environmental Action Programme Task Force

The Fund contributed to three main areas of work:

• Strengthening environmental policies in the EECCA countries;
• Strengthening environmental financing in the EECCA countries; and
• Urban water sector reform in the EECCA countries

LEAD/Defra Internship Programme

The Fund financed the launch of an Internship Programme developed in partnership with LEAD International, a charity providing training in sustainable development to young professionals from around the world.

The LEAD/Defra Internship programme offers short term internships for LEAD Fellows from countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia in Defra as a follow up to LEAD's training programme. It is designed to help the Fellows' personal and professional development, to give them experience of working in a government department in Britain and of British culture and understanding of sustainable development.

Small Environmental Projects Scheme in the EU Candidate Countries and Turkey

This scheme was set up and is managed with the help of the British Embassies in the EU Candidate Countries including Turkey. The projects approved at the first round of applications in December 2002 are:

• Bulgaria

"Campaign for Protection of the Black Sea from Nutrient Pollution".
The Greener Bourgas Foundation manages this projects to raise environmental awareness amongst locals, farmers and landowners, at the same time as offering technical information and assistance towards establishing safer practices.

"Mountain Eco-Kiss"
Velingrad's Agency for Regional Development is working to establish a scheme of eco-friendly harvesting of wild fruit and mushrooms as a sustainable way of tackling the regions unemployment problems.

• Estonia

"Implementation of the Tagamoisa Management Plan (Natura 2000)"
Tagamoisa was chosen as a Natura 2000 site by the pan-European Conservation Network of Natura 2000 primarily because of its importance with regard to the globally threatened Stellar's Eidar. A management plan to cover the period 2003 -2010 has been drafted. The Estonian Institute for Sustainable Development (SEI) will implement priority elements of the plan's first phase through this project.

"Supporting Nature Conservation and Sustainable Lifestyle in Kesselaid"
Inhabited by one family but visited by many tourists and hikers, Kesselaid is a small island located in Suur Väin, West Estonia. It is a place of outstanding natural beauty where several endangered species of orchids can still be found. The project aims to set up the family as a guardian of the island.

• Lithuania

"Updating of status and protection of the Ural Owl"
Listed under Annex 1 of the EU Directive on Birds, the Ural Owl is to be protected in cases where scientific data confirms that it permanently breeds in a given location. This project, planned by the Lithuanian Ornithological Society, (LOD), aims to produce data required to prove to the Ministry of Environment that the Ural Owl is a bird in need of protection. The project plans to monitor Ural Owl activity across 14 forest tracts, creating inventories of birds and nesting sites. Around 110 nesting boxes will also be erected as an aid to breeding pairs.

• Poland

"Solar Energy Educational Demonstration System "Mini Solar Laboratory" for Schools"
'Gimnazjum nr 4' is a school in Warsaw for 13 to 16 year olds. The school is building a display that demonstrates and promotes solar energy technology.

• Slovenia

"Train the Trainers: Promotion of Sustainable Waste Management in Local Communities"
One of Slovenia's recent waste management regulations concerns the segregation of household waste at the source, so that recyclable waste can be recycled, rather than placed into landfill. The project, planned by the Slovenian Foundation for Sustainable Development, (UMANOTERA), aims to increase householder awareness on segregation and recycling issues.

• Hungary:

"Local Capacity Building for Environmental Protection"
This project aims to develop the capacity of local government and other organisations in Hungary and Romania to bid for funding to address environmental protection issues. The money would be spent on identifying and responding to organisations' specific training needs, and offering first-hand experience of UK partnership approaches to organisation representatives.

• Turkey

"Turkish version of RAMSAR Guidelines"
Turkey ratified the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (RAMSAR Convention) in 1994. There are currently 9 official RAMSAR sites within Turkey. WWF Turkey will translate and adapt, (in accordance with the results of the RAMSAR CoP8 meeting of November 2002), RAMSAR handbooks for the Wise Use of Wetlands.

"Revitalisation of Geophytes (flower bulbs) in Bahcesaray"
A small town in Eastern Turkey, Bahcesaray enjoys a rich biodiversity despite its harsh climate. The local economy is below the national average, and many of the town's wild flowers have been illegally removed and sold at market for a number of years. The Foundation for Protection and Promotion of the Environmental and Cultural Heritage (CEKUL) wish to conserve and reproduce various flower bulbs through their project.

• Czech Republic:

"Communication and restoration activities to maintain diversity of small fen habitats in fragmented landscape"
Spring-fens are being fragmented by agriculture throughout the Czech and Slovak Republics. This three-year pilot scheme, managed by Actea aims to raise awareness of the threat to the diversity of spring-fen ecosystems in the westernmost Carpathians. Information booklets, lectures and workshops explaining good and bad practice will target administrators and landowners, as well as nature protection authorities.

"Helping Czech rural schools to enter into the International Eco-School Project"
Over 5,500 schools from 20 countries participate in the European network of Eco-Schools. Currently however, no Czech schools are involved. This project aims to give rural Czech schools the opportunity to join an international eco-project. The funding would be used to translate Eco-School material in Czech, produce information leaflets for schools, organise public meetings, and help schools to apply.

"Protection and support of the Barn Owl in the Czech Republic"
The TYTO Association is inspecting and maintaining 750 nesting boxes across 48 districts, covering an area of 25, 000 sq.km.

"Co-existence with the River"
Creation of an action plan to counter flooding in affected villages throughout the Municipality of Visnova. Public discussions in affected villages and a specialist water management evaluation will form the basis of the action plan.

• Romania

"Cheile-Nerei Beusnita National Park Management Plan"
Illegal hunting and fishing, forest fires, waste accumulation, and polluted water systems are some of the environmental problems currently facing the Cheile-Nerei Beusnita National Park. The project aims to strengthen administrative capacity, carry out a needs assessment with local partners, and draw up a Park Management plan which will address environmental issues and include an eco-tourism strategy.

"The risk in the existence of nitrites and nitrates in the well waters of Suceava county"
Intensive farming combined with poor agricultural practice is causing the build-up of nutrients in well water in Suceava, Northeast Romania. This project aims to tackle the problem by educating local communities in the advantages of modern farming methods. Local communities will be encouraged to discuss the problem, and come up with their own solutions via a series of seminars and presentations and schools.

• Cross-country

European Conference: "Promoting Socio-economic Benefits of NATURA 2000" organised by IEEP and WWF. The Fund contributed towards the travel of delegates from EU Candidate Countries to the conference which took place in Brussels on 28 and 29 November 2002.

"Inventory of Obsolete Pesticide Stocks in Slovakia and Hungary"
Demonstration clean-ups of Obsolete Pesticide Stocks - a coalition of environmental NGOs from both countries (Ipel Union and REFLEX), local governments and the public has drawn up inventories of dumped or disused pesticides in the Hungarian and Slovak countryside. The Environment for Europe Fund financed a number of demonstration clean-ups to raise awareness of the wider project, and encourage the public to come forward with information relating to the location of further obsolete chemicals stocks.

The UK was a sponsor of 7th International HCH and Pesticides Forum which took place on 5-7 June 2003 in Kiev. The Forum discussed the problem of obsolete pesticides across Central and Eastern Europe and the EECCA countries and the possible solutions.