How the search began?
A REPORT by the Green Balkans NGO said that 12 to 15 per cent of Bulgarian forests were destroyed because of improvident government policy in the period between 1992 to2002.
"Bulgaria is one of the very few countries from Central and East Europe in which forestry areas are decreasing rapidly," the group said.
In some regions, such as the river valleys, almost 80 per cent of forestry has been destroyed in the past 15 years. According to Green Balkans, the extinction of Bulgarian forests due to short-sighted policy and poaching is the most significant ecological problem for Bulgaria.
In an attempt to preserve Bulgarian forests, Green Balkans, established in 1988 and now the biggest Bulgarian nature conservation NGO, with 4000 members, organised a discussion in the context of this year's Earth Day.
Along with raising awareness, the mission of the organisation is to protect the nature of Bulgaria and the Balkan peninsula. They do so through projects in biodiversity conservation, habitat restoration, sustainable natural resource management, improvement of nature conservation policy and legislation as well as environmental education.
Green Balkans is not the only organisation that marked Earth Day (April 22). This year's national campaign dedicated to April 22 was themed Water for Life in Bulgaria and officially started last Sunday, to last till April 22. Bulgaria observed Earth Day as part of a network of 174 other countries in the world, highlighting the importance of water to the preservation of life.
This year's Water for Life series of events was a second initiative by the Ministry of Environment and Waters, focusing on issues including access to water resources and health issues.
"The aim of the campaign is to help with the management of local, national, regional and global water resources to achieve a more stable environment," the ministry said.
Sunday was declared a National Day for Cleaning and Forestation by the ministry. Participants included schools and NGOs from all over the country. On Monday, the Military Club hosted a simulated "parliament" session at which pupils debated the subject of Preservation of Waters. The following day was an open day at the Environment Ministry, the Environment Executive Agency and the regional environment and waters inspectorates.
The events also included a national day for student observation and analysis of water across the country.
Environment and Waters Minister Dolores Arsenova and members of the National Student EcoParliament, representing schools across the country, did an analysis of the Perlovska River.
Arsenova presented the Grand Award of the Twelfth International Competition for Young Instrumentalists and Composers Music and the Earth, dedicated to Earth Day.
In its Environment Assessment Report 2003, the European Environment Agency said that total forest area of Europe was increasing, but the condition of forests was continuing to worsen because of acidification and loss of soil quality. Forests remain an important economic resource in EECCA countries and elsewhere as timber demand continues to grow.
"The economic scale of forestry in Europe is generally small, but significant in most countries bordering the Baltic Sea," the report said. Forests constitute an important natural resource, which covers about 38 per cent of Europe's total land area.
The picture as regards forest condition is worrying. Since monitoring commenced in the mid-1980s, the condition of forests generally has declined. More then 20 per cent of trees are now classified as damaged. The relatively low level of exploitation of Europe's timber resources provides opportunities for policy makers and forest managers to diversify the functions of forests and move to a better balance of environmental, social and economic interests in forest areas.
"However, fragmented ownership following privatisation and restitution in countries with economies in transition may be a barrier to proper management practices and hence environmental protection," the report said. Some of the facts revealed by the agency include that the proportion of forest undisturbed by man in most European countries is less than one per cent, with the exception of the Russian Federation and the Nordic countries. Further, about seven per cent of forest area in Europe is under some form of protection and about three per cent under strict protection.
What does the EU say?
Environmental policy objectives gained considerable recognition in Bulgaria due to the consistent effort of the Ministry of Environment and Water of Bulgaria in implementing the National Strategy for the Environment and Action Plan 2000-2006, the ministry said. "Substantial progress has already been made in the approximation of environmental legislation to the EU acquis and in meeting environmental and sustainability priorities," according to the most recent EU report on Accession Partnership with Bulgaria. A considerable decrease in ambient air pollutant emissions was observed during the period 1998-2002 and resulted in improvement of the air quality. According to the report, water quality had improved, though pollution of the Danube River and the Black Sea remained a concern. Bulgaria improved the compliance of its environmental legislation with that of the EU and with the principles for sustainable development; continued the integration of its environmental policy in the process of structural reform and privatisation; moved further in achieving wider implementation of best environmental management principles in enterprises, and used a broader range of economic instruments to address pressing environmental issues, the report said.
Particular emphasis should be given to improving access to information, air quality, waste management, water quality, nature protection, industrial pollution and risk management as well as nuclear safety and radiation protection, the report said.
In the area of waste management, good progress on legal alignment had been made with the adoption in September of the law on waste management. The National Waste Management Programme needs to be updated for the period 2003-2007. Implementation plans have been prepared for packaging and packaging waste, for landfill of waste, and for end-of-life vehicles, the EU report on Bulgaria said.
What measures were taken?
As a step toward improving waste management, a group of 18 Bulgarian and foreign legal entities have united to create the first local company for recycling of packs, called EcoPack Bulgaria. The company's main target and long-term strategy will be to attract more shareholders and to establish active partnership with companies that are recycling waste..
According to the provisions of the Waste Management Act, published in September 2003, the recycling could be carried out by a juristic person, registered under the Commercial Code, which does not distribute profit and manages the activities of collection, recycling and use of wastes from packs. Coca-Cola Bulgaria AD, Danone-Serdika and Devin are among participants in the group.
EcoPack will start its activities with a short-term programme for selective waste collection implemented on the basis of contracts concluded with big municipalities. Collected by types, waste will be stored in containers, special bags or at collection points and will then be transported for recycling to the waste treatment plants that are yet to be constructed. The transport costs will be paid by the municipalities, and the costs of the organisation and implementation of the programme will be covered with money coming from the fees paid by the members and customers of EcoPack Bulgaria.
One of the main purposes of the company's strategy will be the attraction of other shareholders and the establishment of a lasting partnership with companies, recycling wastes.
The collection and management of packaging waste will be in compliance with the Waste Management Act and the Ordinance on Packaging and Packaging Waste, which is to be promulgated shortly. These are in line with Directive 94/628 of the EU.
Further, a waste treatment plant will be built in the area between Haskovo and Dimitrovgrad in southern Bulgaria, according to information released in March by Haskovo mayor Georgi Ivanov.
The implementation of the project was co-ordinated with representatives of the US Trade and Development Agency which provides funds for environmental projects. The agency promised to provide up to $150 000 for waste monitoring in Haskovo, Dimitrovgrad and the nearby mineral spas resort.
"The monitoring will continue for about six months. The technology to be used at the waste treatment plant will be determined on the basis of the results of the monitoring. The World Bank will provide a grant of up to $2 million to finance the technology," Ivanov said at the beginning of March.
How much money was spent
According to the annual record provided by the Bulgarian Agency for Environmental Regulation, a very important prerequisite for the successful implementation of state environmental policy is the co-ordination of financial means and their direction to priority areas. The main sources to finance spending on the environment come from agricultural projects, the state budget and out-of-the-budget sources.
The expenses for environmental protection in 2002 are estimated at 473.5 million leva and their relative share of GDP is 1.5 per cent.
EU assessment
In the regular report on Bulgaria in the field of water quality, further progress could be noted, namely the setting-up of the new basin management authorities for the four river basins, which included substantial increases in staffing levels.
"An implementation plan for urban wastewater treatment and a partial inventory of discharges of dangerous substances have been prepared. This was achieved through the adoption of a new law on biological diversity in September 2002," the report said.
"Bulgaria has attained a good degree of legislative alignment, having now transposed substantial parts of the environment acquis, except in the areas of genetically modified organisms and noise," it said.
"In addition to its annual Phare allocation, Bulgaria receives additional Phare funding in the framework of the understanding reached in November 1999 on early closure dates for Units 1 to 4 of the Kozlodui nuclear power plant. The agreement makes provision for additional Phare funding of 200 million euro over the period 2000-2006, subject to certain conditions being met. The funds are used for nuclear decommissioning and associated measures in the energy sector, and are largely managed by the EBRD," the regular report on Bulgaria's progress towards accession said.
The decommissioning efforts continue to be supported by the Kozlodui International Decommissioning Support Fund (KIDSF), managed by the EBRD. KIDSF is a multilateral grant facility (to exceed 200 million euro over 10 years, mainly from the European Commission) aimed at assisting Bulgaria to close unsafe nuclear units through provision of grant financing for decommissioning facilities as well as for energy and energy efficiency projects consequential to the closure. The decision to create the Fund was linked to a commitment by the country, as an EU accession candidate, to close Kozlodui's ageing nuclear generation facilities. The purpose of the Fund is to provide technical assistance, public information, consultancy, civil works and engineering services, and other services necessary to ensure safe decommissioning of the units and contribute to the improvement of management of radioactive waste.
The programme of investments on Units 3 and 4 continues.
The modernisation programmes for Units 5 and 6 are continuing with the support of the European Union. Four tranches of the Euroatom loan of 212.5 million euro for the modernisation of these units, total 105 million euro, have been disbursed.
Regarding units 3 and 4 of the Kozlodui which are of the same design-type, the European Union member states and Bulgaria agreed to the final closure of these two units in 2006. "The closure deadline for Kozlodui's units 3 and 4 will remain unchanged and the Bulgarian Government will not negotiate on extending the decommissioning deadline for these two units," Government spokesperson Dimitar Tsonev told a news conference. According to the Government, negotiations on reopening the energy chapter will only delay EU accession negotiations. He said that the final report of the November 2003 EU peer review of Kozlodui concluded that units 3 and 4 may continue to operate until Bulgaria's accession to the EU expected in January 2007. The report in November confirmed that all EU recommendations for improving the safety of the units were implemented. However, it added that all commitments regarding the decommissioning of the units have to be considered.
Kozlodui has held an international tender which closed last week. The tender had to choose a company to evaluate the environmental effects from the construction of a 26 million euro dry storage facility for used nuclear fuel at the plant.
The construction of the storage facility is part of the memorandum of understanding, which Bulgaria signed with the European Commission in 1999 on the future of the Kozlodui's units one to four and is funded by KIDSF.
A REPORT by the Green Balkans NGO said that 12 to 15 per cent of Bulgarian forests were destroyed because of improvident government policy in the period between 1992 to2002.
"Bulgaria is one of the very few countries from Central and East Europe in which forestry areas are decreasing rapidly," the group said.
In some regions, such as the river valleys, almost 80 per cent of forestry has been destroyed in the past 15 years. According to Green Balkans, the extinction of Bulgarian forests due to short-sighted policy and poaching is the most significant ecological problem for Bulgaria.
In an attempt to preserve Bulgarian forests, Green Balkans, established in 1988 and now the biggest Bulgarian nature conservation NGO, with 4000 members, organised a discussion in the context of this year's Earth Day.
Along with raising awareness, the mission of the organisation is to protect the nature of Bulgaria and the Balkan peninsula. They do so through projects in biodiversity conservation, habitat restoration, sustainable natural resource management, improvement of nature conservation policy and legislation as well as environmental education.
Green Balkans is not the only organisation that marked Earth Day (April 22). This year's national campaign dedicated to April 22 was themed Water for Life in Bulgaria and officially started last Sunday, to last till April 22. Bulgaria observed Earth Day as part of a network of 174 other countries in the world, highlighting the importance of water to the preservation of life.
This year's Water for Life series of events was a second initiative by the Ministry of Environment and Waters, focusing on issues including access to water resources and health issues.
"The aim of the campaign is to help with the management of local, national, regional and global water resources to achieve a more stable environment," the ministry said.
Sunday was declared a National Day for Cleaning and Forestation by the ministry. Participants included schools and NGOs from all over the country. On Monday, the Military Club hosted a simulated "parliament" session at which pupils debated the subject of Preservation of Waters. The following day was an open day at the Environment Ministry, the Environment Executive Agency and the regional environment and waters inspectorates.
The events also included a national day for student observation and analysis of water across the country.
Environment and Waters Minister Dolores Arsenova and members of the National Student EcoParliament, representing schools across the country, did an analysis of the Perlovska River.
Arsenova presented the Grand Award of the Twelfth International Competition for Young Instrumentalists and Composers Music and the Earth, dedicated to Earth Day.
In its Environment Assessment Report 2003, the European Environment Agency said that total forest area of Europe was increasing, but the condition of forests was continuing to worsen because of acidification and loss of soil quality. Forests remain an important economic resource in EECCA countries and elsewhere as timber demand continues to grow.
"The economic scale of forestry in Europe is generally small, but significant in most countries bordering the Baltic Sea," the report said. Forests constitute an important natural resource, which covers about 38 per cent of Europe's total land area.
The picture as regards forest condition is worrying. Since monitoring commenced in the mid-1980s, the condition of forests generally has declined. More then 20 per cent of trees are now classified as damaged. The relatively low level of exploitation of Europe's timber resources provides opportunities for policy makers and forest managers to diversify the functions of forests and move to a better balance of environmental, social and economic interests in forest areas.
"However, fragmented ownership following privatisation and restitution in countries with economies in transition may be a barrier to proper management practices and hence environmental protection," the report said. Some of the facts revealed by the agency include that the proportion of forest undisturbed by man in most European countries is less than one per cent, with the exception of the Russian Federation and the Nordic countries. Further, about seven per cent of forest area in Europe is under some form of protection and about three per cent under strict protection.
What does the EU say?
Environmental policy objectives gained considerable recognition in Bulgaria due to the consistent effort of the Ministry of Environment and Water of Bulgaria in implementing the National Strategy for the Environment and Action Plan 2000-2006, the ministry said. "Substantial progress has already been made in the approximation of environmental legislation to the EU acquis and in meeting environmental and sustainability priorities," according to the most recent EU report on Accession Partnership with Bulgaria. A considerable decrease in ambient air pollutant emissions was observed during the period 1998-2002 and resulted in improvement of the air quality. According to the report, water quality had improved, though pollution of the Danube River and the Black Sea remained a concern. Bulgaria improved the compliance of its environmental legislation with that of the EU and with the principles for sustainable development; continued the integration of its environmental policy in the process of structural reform and privatisation; moved further in achieving wider implementation of best environmental management principles in enterprises, and used a broader range of economic instruments to address pressing environmental issues, the report said.
Particular emphasis should be given to improving access to information, air quality, waste management, water quality, nature protection, industrial pollution and risk management as well as nuclear safety and radiation protection, the report said.
In the area of waste management, good progress on legal alignment had been made with the adoption in September of the law on waste management. The National Waste Management Programme needs to be updated for the period 2003-2007. Implementation plans have been prepared for packaging and packaging waste, for landfill of waste, and for end-of-life vehicles, the EU report on Bulgaria said.
What measures were taken?
As a step toward improving waste management, a group of 18 Bulgarian and foreign legal entities have united to create the first local company for recycling of packs, called EcoPack Bulgaria. The company's main target and long-term strategy will be to attract more shareholders and to establish active partnership with companies that are recycling waste..
According to the provisions of the Waste Management Act, published in September 2003, the recycling could be carried out by a juristic person, registered under the Commercial Code, which does not distribute profit and manages the activities of collection, recycling and use of wastes from packs. Coca-Cola Bulgaria AD, Danone-Serdika and Devin are among participants in the group.
EcoPack will start its activities with a short-term programme for selective waste collection implemented on the basis of contracts concluded with big municipalities. Collected by types, waste will be stored in containers, special bags or at collection points and will then be transported for recycling to the waste treatment plants that are yet to be constructed. The transport costs will be paid by the municipalities, and the costs of the organisation and implementation of the programme will be covered with money coming from the fees paid by the members and customers of EcoPack Bulgaria.
One of the main purposes of the company's strategy will be the attraction of other shareholders and the establishment of a lasting partnership with companies, recycling wastes.
The collection and management of packaging waste will be in compliance with the Waste Management Act and the Ordinance on Packaging and Packaging Waste, which is to be promulgated shortly. These are in line with Directive 94/628 of the EU.
Further, a waste treatment plant will be built in the area between Haskovo and Dimitrovgrad in southern Bulgaria, according to information released in March by Haskovo mayor Georgi Ivanov.
The implementation of the project was co-ordinated with representatives of the US Trade and Development Agency which provides funds for environmental projects. The agency promised to provide up to $150 000 for waste monitoring in Haskovo, Dimitrovgrad and the nearby mineral spas resort.
"The monitoring will continue for about six months. The technology to be used at the waste treatment plant will be determined on the basis of the results of the monitoring. The World Bank will provide a grant of up to $2 million to finance the technology," Ivanov said at the beginning of March.
How much money was spent
According to the annual record provided by the Bulgarian Agency for Environmental Regulation, a very important prerequisite for the successful implementation of state environmental policy is the co-ordination of financial means and their direction to priority areas. The main sources to finance spending on the environment come from agricultural projects, the state budget and out-of-the-budget sources.
The expenses for environmental protection in 2002 are estimated at 473.5 million leva and their relative share of GDP is 1.5 per cent.
EU assessment
In the regular report on Bulgaria in the field of water quality, further progress could be noted, namely the setting-up of the new basin management authorities for the four river basins, which included substantial increases in staffing levels.
"An implementation plan for urban wastewater treatment and a partial inventory of discharges of dangerous substances have been prepared. This was achieved through the adoption of a new law on biological diversity in September 2002," the report said.
"Bulgaria has attained a good degree of legislative alignment, having now transposed substantial parts of the environment acquis, except in the areas of genetically modified organisms and noise," it said.
"In addition to its annual Phare allocation, Bulgaria receives additional Phare funding in the framework of the understanding reached in November 1999 on early closure dates for Units 1 to 4 of the Kozlodui nuclear power plant. The agreement makes provision for additional Phare funding of 200 million euro over the period 2000-2006, subject to certain conditions being met. The funds are used for nuclear decommissioning and associated measures in the energy sector, and are largely managed by the EBRD," the regular report on Bulgaria's progress towards accession said.
The decommissioning efforts continue to be supported by the Kozlodui International Decommissioning Support Fund (KIDSF), managed by the EBRD. KIDSF is a multilateral grant facility (to exceed 200 million euro over 10 years, mainly from the European Commission) aimed at assisting Bulgaria to close unsafe nuclear units through provision of grant financing for decommissioning facilities as well as for energy and energy efficiency projects consequential to the closure. The decision to create the Fund was linked to a commitment by the country, as an EU accession candidate, to close Kozlodui's ageing nuclear generation facilities. The purpose of the Fund is to provide technical assistance, public information, consultancy, civil works and engineering services, and other services necessary to ensure safe decommissioning of the units and contribute to the improvement of management of radioactive waste.
The programme of investments on Units 3 and 4 continues.
The modernisation programmes for Units 5 and 6 are continuing with the support of the European Union. Four tranches of the Euroatom loan of 212.5 million euro for the modernisation of these units, total 105 million euro, have been disbursed.
Regarding units 3 and 4 of the Kozlodui which are of the same design-type, the European Union member states and Bulgaria agreed to the final closure of these two units in 2006. "The closure deadline for Kozlodui's units 3 and 4 will remain unchanged and the Bulgarian Government will not negotiate on extending the decommissioning deadline for these two units," Government spokesperson Dimitar Tsonev told a news conference. According to the Government, negotiations on reopening the energy chapter will only delay EU accession negotiations. He said that the final report of the November 2003 EU peer review of Kozlodui concluded that units 3 and 4 may continue to operate until Bulgaria's accession to the EU expected in January 2007. The report in November confirmed that all EU recommendations for improving the safety of the units were implemented. However, it added that all commitments regarding the decommissioning of the units have to be considered.
Kozlodui has held an international tender which closed last week. The tender had to choose a company to evaluate the environmental effects from the construction of a 26 million euro dry storage facility for used nuclear fuel at the plant.
The construction of the storage facility is part of the memorandum of understanding, which Bulgaria signed with the European Commission in 1999 on the future of the Kozlodui's units one to four and is funded by KIDSF.
