IUCN South-Eastern European E-Bulletin 17
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IUCN South-Eastern European e-Bulletin Issue 17 June 2008 Dear Readers, We have the pleasure to introduce the 17th issue of the e-bulletin. As always, it brings information on activities in the region, events and publications related to nature conservation. Many thanks to all of you who have contributed to this issue. Please note that the bulletin is available online at www.iucn.org/southeasterneurope. In relation to SEE staff news, we have two new commission members: Aleksandra Nesic joined The Commission on Education and Communication and Lubomira Vavrova The Species Survival Commission, Mollusks Specialist Group. At the same time, we have the pleasure to introduce new colleagues that joined the team in May. Andrea Strauss is the new Green Belt Coordination Assistant at IUCN SEE and will continue Katharina Diehl's work, who has a new position at the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research in Germany. Andrea holds MSc in Landscape Ecology and Nature Conservation. After a first short-term position with the Green Belt in 2005, Andrea spent the last two years working in Protected Areas management in Mongolia. Andrea, welcome back! Jelena Ilic joined IUCN SEE as Intern supporting the European Green Belt. She holds BSc in Ecology and MSc in Environmental Sciences. Her scientific interests are cultural perceptions of landscapes, flagship and taboo species. She supports the strong social component in reclaiming the former Iron Curtain due to her own past and recent memories in regards to visible and non visible borders. Welcome! A new section we are introducing with this issue is the Membership corner, offering space for members to introduce and express themselves. With best wishes for the coming summer season, IUCN Programme Office for South-Eastern Europe 1 Membership Corner: Introduction IUCN is a global environmental network with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organizations in more than 160 countries worldwide. The South-Eastern Europe contributes through 15 members from the following countries (in brackets is number of IUCN members in the country): Bulgaria (3), Croatia (4), Montenegro (1), Romania (4) and Serbia (3). The following list presents the member, membership category, contact person, office location and link to relevant web page. Aiming to support networking and cooperation between IUCN members in SEE, in the next issues we will introduce each of the members, presenting its mission and activities. Bulgaria 1. Ministry of Environment and Water (MoEW), government agency member, Mrs. Kalina Stoyanova ([email protected]), Sofia, Bulgaria, http://www.moew.government.bg 2. Wilderness Fund Society (WF), national NGO member, Mrs. Zoya Borisova ([email protected]), Sofia, Bulgaria, http://www.wf-bg.org 3. Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation (BBF), national NGO member, Mr. Rossen Vassilev ([email protected]), Sofia, Bulgaria, http://www.bbf.biodiversity.bg Croatia 4. Ministry of Culture, Directorate for the Protection of Nature (MINK), government agency member, Mrs. Andrea Stefan ([email protected]), Zagreb, Croatia, http://www.min-kulture.hr 5. Croatian Biological Society, national NGO member, Mr. Kresimir Zganec ([email protected]), Zagreb, Croatia, http://www.hbd1885.hr 6. Croatian Society of Natural Sciences (HPD), national NGO member, Mrs. Marina Mlakar ([email protected]), Zagreb, Croatia, http://www.hpd.hr 7. Eurocoast Croatia, national NGO member, Mrs. Maja Novosel ([email protected]), Zagreb, Croatia, http://www.zg.biol.pmf.hr/~eurocoast/ Montenegro 8. The Greens of Montenegro (MGREENS), national NGO member, Mr. Aleksandar Drljevic ([email protected]), Podgorica, Montenegro, http://www.mgreens.cg.yu Romania 9. Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, government agency member, Mr. John Samad Smaranta ([email protected]), Bucharest, Romania, http://www.mappm.ro 10. EarthVoice Romania, national NGO member, Mrs. Nicoleta Gaemana ([email protected]), Bucharest, Romania, http://www.bio.unibuc.ro 11. UNESCO-Association for Action in Protected Areas (PRONATURA), national NGO member, Mr. Emilian Burdusel ([email protected]), Bucharest, Romania, http://www.pronatura.ro 12. Speleological Association The Explorers (A.S.A. Exploratorii), national NGO member, Mrs. Raluca Crista ([email protected]), Resita, Romania, http://www.exploratorii.ro Serbia 13. Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia (INCS), government agency member, Mr. Srdjan Marincic ([email protected]), Belgrade, Serbia, http://www.natureprotection.org.yu 14. Ecolibri Bionet: Nongovernmental Agency for Biodiversity Conservation, national NGO member, Mr. Aleksandar Vlajic ([email protected]), Belgrade, Serbia, http://www.ecolibribionet.co.yu 15. Green Network of Vojvodina (GNV), national NGO member, Mrs. Olivera Radovanovic ([email protected]), Novi Sad, Serbia, http://www.zelenamreza.org.yu 2 Content NEWS 1. Confiscation of Hermann’s tortoises (Testudo hermanii) 2. Managing floods and ships on the Danube 3. Protection of Mura and Drava River 4. Business Friends of the Danube 5. Monitoring the tourism impact birds 6. Amphibian and Reptile Monitoring 7. Scientists present Results on ex-ante Sustainability Impact Assessment 8. IUCN SEE Received a Diploma for Nature Conservation 9. Introducing the journal Natura Montenegrina 10. Eco-centre in Gornje Podunavlje 11. IUCN SEE and Slovenia underline cooperation 12. The Responsible Tourism Awards Content EVENTS 1. EU Biodiversity Protection Standards 2. The Third International Symposium of Ecologists 3. Five years of raising public awareness and participation through Danube Day 4. Historic agreement for biodiversity in South-Eastern Europe 5. IUCN WCC Sailing to Barcelona PUBLICATIONS & COMMUNICATION 1. Attractive Videogame on Climate Change and Biodiversity 2. First Bird Guide in Serbian Language 3. Celebrities stand up for youth voice on green issues 4. Introducing the Earth portal 5. Island Conservation Newsletter TRAININGS & SEMINARS 1. Participate in a Learning Opportunity 2. International summer school on Sustainable development and renewable energy in South Eastern Europe 3. EU accession – threats and possibilities for rural development and biodiversity conservation 3 News 1. Confiscation of Hermann’s tortoises (Testudo hermanii) Croatia: On the 10th June 2008 at the border crossing Pasjak on the border between Croatia and Slovenia the custom officers found seven Hermann’s tortoises (Testudo hermanii) in a car of a French citizen coming from Montenegro. The tortoises were taken from nature in Montenegro and smuggled into Croatia wrapped in a plastic bag and hidden between boxes of vegetables. The French citizen was fined for breaking the Custom Law, and for smuggling strictly protected species and thus breaking the Nature Protection Act. The animals were confiscated and placed in a rescue centre. Hermann’s tortoise is a strictly protected species in Croatia and it is forbidden to deliberately capture, keep or kill these animals, as well as to import or export them without the appropriate permit. In view of the recent seizures it is evident that the reptile smuggling is growing, especially the smuggling of the Hermann’s tortoises which are being sold as pets in the EU. Because of this their survival in nature is in danger. For more information please contact Ms Katica Bezuh, Ministry of Culture, Nature Protection Inspection, [email protected] 2. Managing floods and ships on the Danube Austria: Two initiatives were launched in March to help reduce the impacts of key pressures on waters, ecology and settlements in the Danube River Basin. Led by the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River Basin (ICPDR), the first initiative is the Danube-European Flood Alert System - international system for forecasting Danube floods and providing early flood warning. It will help Danube countries to avoid some of the impacts caused by floods in recent years since it will provide countries the time to prepare for evacuating communities, to build sandbag walls and switch off water supplies to avoid potential contamination. The system was developed for the ICPDR by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. The second initiative is the Joint Statement involving government, industry, developers, scientists and conservationists focused on balancing new navigation (or inland waterway transport) projects with environmental protection on the Danube. Navigation was the key problem for the Danube in the past and it is needed to avoid further damage caused by new navigation projects. This Statement will help meeting the EU Water Framework Directive and it will facilitate EU plans for making the Danube a major transport corridor, as a sustainable alternative to road transport. It provides a set of principles that guide the development of navigation projects in a sustainable way. The Statement was further agreed to by the Budapest-based Danube Commission on Navigation and the Zagreb-based International Commission for the Sava River Basin. For further information, please contact ICPDR Secretariat, Ms. Jasmine Bachmann at [email protected] 4 3. Protection of Mura and Drava River Croatia: In February 2008 the Ministry of Culture, as the competent authority for nature conservation in Croatia, on the basis of the expert opinion of the State Institute for Nature Protection, proclaimed preventive protection on the area of Mura and Drava River in the category of Regional Park. Total area has 145.301,61 ha and it