Posted on 05 October
2009 - BANGKOK – Delegates negotiating the
new climate treaty in Bangkok made some
progress during the first
week of their summit but in order to make
a significant step towards an ambitious
treaty world leaders need to give new guidance.
“Despite progress on the text there is no
movement on the political stumbling blocks
that need resolving before we go to Copenhagen”,
said Kim Carstensen, Leader of WWF’s Global
Climate Initiative.
While negotiators who gathered for a two-week
session in Bangkok have shown good will
in reaching an agreement which could help
prevent devastating impacts of global warming,
they need a stronger political backing from
their leaders at home.
WWF calls on heads of states to get together
before the final climate change summit in
Copenhagen in order to unlock the slow negotiation
process and give it a clear political mandate.
“We have seen negotiations in good faith
here in Bangkok and steps forward on technical
issues. But in order to boost this slow
process ahead of Copenhagen we need strong
political backing and firm declarations
from leaders,” said Kim Carstensen.
“We are calling on world leaders to gather
for a summit to unlock the negotiations
and give them a strong political impetus
ahead of Copenhagen.”
WWF would like delegates in Bangkok to continue
their good work in the second week of the
UNFCCC meeting but with only 10 negotiation
days left before Copenhagen, there is urgent
need for another high-level summit.
Leaders should make it clear that the outcome
of Copenhagen must have a legally binding
character and include negotiated emissions
reduction targets for the rich countries.
“Leaders must instruct negotiators that
a robust outcome of Copenhagen means clear
and agreed reduction targets and financial
commitments. A set of voluntary pledges
will not do the trick,” Carstensen said.
An influential summit of world’s leaders
should focus on financial aspects of the
treaty as well as bring forward declarations
on emissions reductions from developed countries.
+ More
Money woes threaten
Romanian protected areas
Posted on 02 October
2009 - Brasov, Romania: Dwindling resources
and bureaucratic hurdles are threatening
to destroy Romania’s protected area system
– home to some of Europe’s largest remaining
natural forests.
The protected area system,
which on paper covers 20% of Romania, also
houses more than half of Europe’s populations
of bears, wolves, and other large carnivores.
Despite these natural
riches, salaries of many park rangers and
other staff have not been paid for months,
and telephone and internet connections are
being cut as operational funds disappear.
Although the Romanian
Government has committed to ensuring the
protection of these lands, both as a member
of the European Union and through its signature
on several international agreements such
as the Convention on Biological Diversity,
it has failed to stand by these pledges,
citing fiscal difficulties.
“The Romanian government
must take immediate action to address the
crisis faced by the country’s protected
areas and their tremendous natural wealth,”
said Andreas Beckmann, Director of WWF’s
Danube-Carpathian Programme. “Priorities
should be setting up and properly financing
a single national agency to oversee and
manage the areas.”
Back to "paper
parks"?
The protection afforded
by the Romanian protected area network is
impressive - at least on paper.
Significant support
for protection activities has been financed
through EU and various governmental and
private funds, including the Dutch MATRA
programme. An ongoing WWF programme supported
by the MAVA Foundation has been providing
significant training and support for protected
area professionals in Romania and other
parts of the Carpathian Mountains.
According to the Romanian
legislation, Protected Area management can
be subcontracted to institutions, companies
or organizations that have the interest
and resources to support active management
and implementation of management plans.
Based on this legislation,
in 2005 the Ministry of Environment subcontracted
the National Forest Administration to manage
most of the nation’s national and nature
parks, including flagship areas such as
Retezat, Rodna and Piatra Craiului National
Parks, with no contribution to the management
costs from the state budget.
The National Forest
Administration provided funding to Protected
Area administrations, allowing the management
teams to function at a minimal capacity
and carry out some management activities.
Although the support provided was limited,
it was nevertheless critically important
for at least the basic functioning of the
protected areas.
This system worked,
even if not with maximum efficiency, until
2009 when the National Forest Administration
began facing major financial difficulties.
As a result, many PA
staff have not received salaries for months
or are receiving salaries with very significant
delays; office costs are not covered, leading
to situations where PA staff have no access
to telephone or internet service, and have
major problems meeting basic costs.
Situation critical
The situation is now
critical, WWF said.
Many of the PA staff
are planning to leave or have left already,
and there is no possibility of hiring new
people. Work in previous years to build
an effective protected area system in Romania
is quickly unravelling.
The current state of
Romania's protected area system is proving
a liability not only for the future of the
country's natural treasures but also for
local development.
For example, many of
the areas in Romania that have been designated
as part of the EU's Natura 2000 network
of specially protected sites often cover
very large areas of 150,000-250,000 ha,
including numerous communities and their
administrative land. Approval of various
local development projects is being held
up by the lack of management plans and guidelines
for the protected areas.
Although the Ministry
of Environment has overall responsibility
for protected areas, including Natura 2000
sites, there is very limited capacity within
the Ministry to coordinate and support protected
area management.
The previous government
planned for and issued a proposal for the
establishment of a National Agency for Protected
Areas, with dedicated staff for PA related
issues.
However, the present
government has decided not to establish
the agency, citing the financial crisis.
Unfortunately, even
those funds that are available for nature
protection are not being effectively used.
More than €250 million in EU regional development
funds have been allocated for Natura 2000
and Protected Areas.
But bureaucratic restrictions
imposed largely by Romanian authorities
have made it difficult if not impossible
for institutions and organizations to access
this support.
European and global
treasures
Some 20% of Romanian
territory is covered by one form of protected
area or another, ranging from relatively
strictly protected areas such as national
parks to areas with fewer restrictions such
as nature parks and biosphere reserves.
It also contains the
globally important Carpathian Mountains
and Danube Delta ecoregions.
This tremendous natural
capital is of national and even European
and global significance, and provides a
host of ecosystem benefits, including food
and fiber, growing opportunities for tourism
and recreation as well as flood protection
and carbon sequestration.
Romania's protected
area system goes back to the early 20th
century.
The first nature reserves
were established in the 1920s, followed
by Retezat as the country's first national
park in 1935. But few if any measures were
taken for the management of protected areas
in Romania until the mid 11000s, when the
Global Environmental Facility (GEF), the
global financing instrument for the Convention
on Biological Diversity among other conventions,
supported the establishment of the Danube
Delta Biosphere Reserve Administration.
In 1999-2000, with GEF
support, the first national and nature park
administrations were established and management
plans developed and partly implemented for
Retezat National Park, Piatra Craiului National
Park as well as Vanatori Neamt Nature Park.
GEF support continued and some financial
resources were allocated from the National
Forest Administration and other institutions,
permitting the establishment of management
teams for most of the national and nature
parks by 2006.
