Radolfzell, Germany. EuroNatur, Youth Center Livno and WWF, applaud the new designation of Livansko polje, the largest karst plain in Bosnia and Herzegovina and South Eastern Europe, as a wetland of international importance, under the International Ramsar Convention.

The 45,868 hectare Livanjsko Polje, near the southwestern town of Livno in Bosnia and Herzegovina, contains an impressive network of surface and underground water bodies, including rivers, springs, sinkholes, lakes and oxbow lakes.

It is the largest wetland of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with important populations of rare birds and significant communities including corn crake, Montagu’s harrier, lesser spotted eagle, redshank, snipe and great bittern.

Livanjsko Polje vegetation is a very special mix of northern European grasslands and forest as well as Mediterranean plants, while large areas are covered with oak, ash and alder forest important to conservation.

“Bosnia and Herzegovina’s karst areas are among the best preserved in Europe but they are still unprotected and some are directly threatened by water extraction and unsustainable use of the resources. The protection of Livanjsko Polje is not only vital for maintaining its unique natural assets but will also make all the difference between short term and perpetual use of the area’s resources to benefit local people.” said Francesca Antonelli, Head of the Freshwater programme at WWF Mediterranean.

The riches of Livanjsko Polje is threatened by unappropriate land use and water management. New planned threats include flood areas being dried out, with water being collected and kept in reservoirs or transferred through impervious canals or tunnels eventually putting in peril traditional economic activities, mostly based on livestock and cheese and which currently sustain the livelihood of some 600 families.

Livanjski Sir, the cheese from the site, is the most famous product and a good reason to preserve the temperated grassland. The traditional land-use is important as the Dalmatian coast in Croatia receives its drinking water from the upper Cetina basin with Livanjsko Polje as the key wetland.

EuroNatur, Youth Center Livno and WWF fully support the decision by the Bosnian government to designate Livanjsko Polje under the International Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. This new site will be added to the two sites already protected by the Convention in the country . The international recognition gained through Ramsar nomination is giving a chance to the long term preservation and sustainable use of the goods and services provided by this unique ecosystem.

“EuroNatur together with YCL and WWF is happy that the government ensures that the “wise use of wetlands ” principle of Ramsar is taken for the further development of Livanjsko Polje, e.g. in the spatial planning process. We also recommend that Livanjsko Polje will be developed as an unqiue part of the national protected area system”, added Martin Schneider-Jacoby from EuroNatur.

Download press release (pdf 82 kb)


Further information:
EuroNatur
Phone: 0049 - 7732 - 92 72 21
Fax: 0049 - 7732 - 92 72 22
E-Mail: martin.schneider-jacoby@euronatur.org
www.euronatur.org
Contact: Martin Schneider-Jacoby



END NOTES:

• A karst polje (translates as plain or field) is a typical flat karstic area created by the solution of limestone and filled with unpermeable sedimentary deposits and often flooded in rainy seasons.

• The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands — signed in 1971 in the city of Ramsar, Iran — is an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. There are currently 146 Contracting Parties to the Convention, with 1,458 wetland sites, totalling over 125.4 million hectares, designated for inclusion in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.

• Member countries of the Ramsar treaty are obliged to: manage all wetlands in a sustainable manner, promoting the wise use of all wetlands within their territory; consult with other Parties about the implementation of the Convention, especially with regard to trans-frontier wetlands, shared water systems, shared species, and development; and designate wetlands that meet the criteria for inclusion in the List of Wetlands of International Importance for conservation.

• Satellite pictures, paintings, photos of landscapes and animals as well as topographic and historic maps of the Livanjsko Polje are displayed in the Gorica Museum of the Franciscan Monastery in Livno.

Press release from 30 June 2008

Radolfzell. A spirit of optimism pervades EuroNatur. This internal development is now also shown to the public and the foundation is presented in a new appearance, e.g. via a new web presence or a new logo which concentrates completely on the name of the foundation. “The name says it all at EuroNatur. Like hardly any other organisation, our projects focus upon nature conservation in Europe”, says Prof. Dr. Hartmut Vogtmann, president of EuroNatur.

For more than 20 years, EuroNatur has actively promoted nature conservation in Europe. Since the beginning of 2008, Prof. Vogtmann, former president of the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, has led EuroNatur, and several changes have been introduced. “EuroNatur has already achieved a lot for the conservation of the nature in Europe. With funds of more than EUR 40 million, we have contributed to the establishment of protected areas in more than 15 European countries so far. But still species become extinct. To stop this development, we have set our objectives and tasks more clearly. Thus, we have become more powerful”, says Vogtmann. “An essential part of our work is to connect people and nature. This is the only way that our efforts to protect wild animals and their habitats in Europe can be successful in the long-term”, he continues. Therefore, EuroNatur creates an international network of scientists, environmentalists, farmers, politicians and businessmen. The main emphasis is put on the Balkans, where political changes give a unique opportunity to set the course for nature protection.


Background information about EuroNatur:
EuroNatur was founded in 1987, the European Year of the Environment, by the Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND), the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU), and the German Environmental Aid (DUH) as a non-profit organisation under civil law. A voluntary presiding committee together with Gabriel Schwader, executive director, and Lutz Ribbe, head of the office for nature conservation policies, lead the foundation. EuroNatur has 19 salaried employees. As several work part-time, this equates 15 full-time positions. The headquarters are situated in Radolfzell; the office for nature conservation policies is located in Rheinbach near Bonn.
The organisation EuroNatur-Service-GmbH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of EuroNatur and is situated in Radolfzell, too. It provides dispatch and other services, publishes the magazine euronatur and has a mail-order calendar and book store.

Further information:
EuroNatur
Phone: 0049 - 7732 - 92 72 10
Fax: 0049 - 7732 - 92 72 22
E-Mail: katharina.grund@euronatur.org
www.euronatur.org
Contact: Gabriel Schwaderer
Public relations: Katharina Grund

The main topic to be discussed is the implementation of the EU-network of protected areas "Natura 2000" and their potential for a sustainable regional development, as well as the chance to preserve endangered species such as bears, otters or bats.

In the scope of the seminar the international participants will also visit the Rila National Park and the Dragoman wetlands northwest of Sofia. Green Balkans has assisted EuroNatur in organizing the event.

Each year, the initiative "NatuRegio-Trainees for Nature" which is coordinated by the Alfred Toepfer Academy for nature conservation (NNA) enables ten young conservationists from Bulgaria or Romania to prepare and implement each one specific project of nature conservation and regional development in their home country. Being partner in this project, EuroNatur assists with contacts and know-how. The ten selected conservationists are invited to a 3-months' practical stay in Germany, where they prepare their projects.

The advertisement for the next trainee year 2008/2009 has already been published; deadline for application is May 10, 2008.

This project is fostered by the German Environmental Foundation "Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt DBU" the "Alfred Toepfer Foundation" F.V.S..

Further information on the project www.naturegio-bg-ro.de

Radolfzell. One of the last Mediterranean natural landscapes is in danger. “The island Ada Bojana is a natural jewel of a kind which does not exist often any more in Europe. It fulfils all European and global criteria of a nature reserve and the core of a marine reserve”, says Dr. Martin Schneider-Jacoby, project leader of the European Nature Heritage Fund (EuroNatur). Consequently, EuroNatur is particularly critical about the current tender announcement for an international investor published by the Montenegrin Ministry of Tourism and the Environment. There are plans to build hotels of four or five star category on the almost five square kilometres large island in the delta of the Bojana River. “The tender announcement points into a completely wrong direction”, warns Dr. Schneider-Jacoby. By no means should more parts of the Ada Bojana Island be covered with buildings. EuroNatur demands that investments should only be made in the already existing hotel resort on the western part of the island while highest environmental standards must be fulfilled. The rest of the island must remain strictly protected.

Besides that, building a five star hotel attracts the wrong people. “Instead of building just another hotel complex on the Adriatic Sea, the Montenegrin Ministry of Tourism and the Environment should take the opportunity to support sustainable tourism on the Ada Bojana Island in order to preserve this unique natural heritage”, says Dr. Schneider-Jacoby. Like this, Montenegro could preserve the specific characteristics of the island, expect eco-friendly visitors throughout the whole year and thus give promising economic prospects for the region. Already in 2006 EuroNatur has accomplished an appropriate development plan for the Bojana-Buna-Delta (‘Bojana’ is the Montenegrin name of the river, ‘Buna’ the Albanian name).

Until the late 1980s, Ada Bojana was a famous nudist paradise all over the world, but the tourism was limited on a rather small resort so far. Thanks to the “Iron Curtain” along the Albanian border, the nature could develop without any disturbances for a long time and now has an extraordinary biological variety. Therefore, Ada Bojana today is regarded as an area of great importance for the protection of biodiversity in Europe. If Montenegro will join the European Union, the island will become part of the EU's international network of specially protected areas (Natura 2000). Untouched forests, dunes and wetlands shape the island.

EuroNatur stands up for the preservation to the biodiversity as well as the combination of different habitats in the Bojana-Buna-Delta to a cross-border paradise for birds and other species, and it has already significantly contributed to the establishment of protected areas along the Bojana River. Across from the Ada Bojana Island on the Albanian coast of the river, EuroNatur supports the establishment of the Velipoja Reserve.

See EuroNatur-paper on Ada-Island (pdf-file, 840 kb)

Link to the official tender announcement of the Montenegrin Government

More information about the EuroNatur projects in the Bojana-Buna-Region

For further question or photo material please contact:

European Nature Heritage Fund (EuroNatur)

Konstanzer Str. 22

D-78315 Radolfzell

Phone  0049 – 7732 – 92 72 0

Fax   0049 – 7732 – 92 72 22

e-Mail  info@euronatur.org

Radolfzell. The conservation of rare livestock breeds was the central theme of a workshop held last weekend in Kutna Hora near Prague.  More than 40 experts from all over Europe met at the workshop.    In works groups these experts met and discussed the breeding strategies needed for traditional livestock breeds, marketing strategies for the products from farms with traditional livestock breeds as well as the infrastructure needed for creating a network of rescue stations in Europe. The workshop was coordinated by EuroNatur and the SAVE Foundation.

“These days our livestock numbers are made up from very few breeds.  Of the massive diversity of other breeds to be found in the world, one breed per month goes extinct” said the EuroNatur Executive Director Gabriel Schwaderer. Within the framework of the EU financed project “ELBARN” (European Livestock Breeds Ark and Rescue Net) EuroNatur is working together with a number of partner organisations to find an optimal way to coordinate the conservation and rescue of rare livestock breeds in Europe. A pan-European network of “Ark Farms” should be established which can be used in emergency cases so that rare breeds can be placed should their owners be no longer able to keep them. Alongside this, information about each breed, where it is to be found and the estimated population will be collated and available through an online database, which will be regularly updated. 

Hungarian Steppe Cattle, Turopolje-Pigs and the Posavina-Horse are only a few examples of animals that will profit from ELBARN.  “The breeds should not only be conserved in animal parks and zoos, they should also fulfil their role as an important part of the cultivated landscapes of Europe” emphasised Gabriel Schwaderer.

Further information about the project

For any questions:

European Nature Heritage Fund (EuroNatur)

Konstanzer Straße 22

78315 Radolfzell

Germany

Phone: +49 (0)7732 - 92 72 10

Fax: +49 (0)7732 - 92 72 22

E-Mail: info@euronatur.org

Press Contact: Katharina Grund

Contact person: Gabriel Schwaderer

Press release of October 25, 2007

Radolfzell. It is getting quiet outside. The last migratory birds start their journey to the South to spend the winter in Southern Europe and Africa. "We wonder how many of them will come back", says Claus-Peter Hutter, president of the European Nature Heritage Fund (EuroNatur). Their journey is getting more and more dangerous. Some of the biggest risks for the migratory birds are to get shot or trapped. According to EuroNatur, the situation is still critical even on Malta, where the European Commission called upon the Maltese government again last week to prohibit the spring hunt on migratory birds on the whole island. But even this would not be the solution for the entire problem, as the fowling on Malta is only the tip of the iceberg. The official number of killed birds proves its startling impact: more than 100 million birds are shot or trapped legally throughout Europe each year, according to a study published in a German journal about bird protection ("Berichte zum Vogelschutz"). "An intolerable situation", says Claus-Peter Hutter.

The study only counts the official number of killed birds within the EU. Unreported cases like illegally killed birds or birds which were injured and not found afterwards are not included. Latter can be up to 20% of the official number of killed birds.

Besides that, the fowling causes indirect damage. When birds are scared and flee quickly, they loose a lot of energy and do not have enough power any more for their long journey to the South. Their breeding success lessens considerably when they are additionally weakened by not having enough opportunities to rest and feed.

Hundreds of thousands of migratory birds are killed in countries in South Eastern Europe, a number which largely is not included in the study, either. The Balkans, for example, are an important area for fowling, but are not taken into account. EuroNatur fights for bird protection exactly in those focal areas. "The Balkans are one of our main topics", says Claus-Peter Hutter. "To protect the species effectively in the long term, we have to protect the birds on their journey." Latest numbers about the Eastern Adriatic Sea prove how important it is to increase the control of fowling. EuroNatur fights for a ban of hunting for the Lake Scutari of which the Montenegrin part is protected as a national park. With measurable success. In 2007, the number of wintering birds increased by more than 100,000 and thus was three times higher than in the previous year.

For further information please contact:

European Nature Heritage Fund (EuroNatur)

Konstanzer Str. 22

78315 Radolfzell

Phone  07732 – 92 72 0

Fax   07732 – 92 72 22

e-Mail  info@euronatur.org

Internet www.euronatur.org

Press release of may 14, 2007

Radolfzell. After years of activities, EuroNatur can finally report a success for the international protection of birds. The Maltese Government has closed the controversial spring hunting season on quails and turtle doves, because of repeated shooting at protected species such as the endangered honey buzzard.

According to EuroNatur, the intervention of the government is to be considered a success that hopefully signals a definite end to spring bird hunting on Malta. In EU-countries, spring bird hunting is illegal, in order to protect breeding birds or those in preparation for breeding. EuroNatur and its partners on Malta have been calling for an abortion of this exceptional rule for a long time, since every year numerous endangered bird species are shot illegally. Increased police control shall help securing the compliance with the ban on hunting.

Says EuroNatur president Claus-Peter Hutter: "We welcome this overdue action implemented by the Maltese Government. The problem with bird hunting on Malta is that none of the two big political parties wants to lose the votes of the bird hunters. The gap between the socialists and the governing people's party is traditionally very small, and elections are scheduled for 2008. It remains to be seen whether the ban is definitive or if new exceptional rules will be implemented next year."

However, EuroNatur partners on Malta fear assaults on nature reserves on Malta. Only last week, unidentified persons ripped out about 3000 pine seedlings that had been planted in Mellieħa in the course of a reforestation plan. 

This year, spring hunting on quails and turtle doves had originally been authorized from April 10th to May 20th. In any case, hunting with traps will continue until May 20th. According to EuroNatur, in Europe each year more than 100 million birds are shot or trapped.

Article in "Times of Malta"

For further information please contact:

European Nature Heritage Fund (EuroNatur)

Konstanzer Str. 22

78315 Radolfzell

Phone  07732 – 92 72 0

Fax   07732 – 92 72 22

e-Mail  info@euronatur.org

Internet www.euronatur.org

Press release, February 06, 2007

Radolfzell. European Nature Heritage Fund (EuroNatur) has asked the EU-Commission and the Federal Minister for Agriculture in Germany, Horst Seehofer, to scrutinize the cause of the recent outbreak of bird flu in Europe. "The fact that once again, a bird farm in England that was almost hermetically cut off from the outside world is affected, should get us thinking", says EuroNatur's president Claus-Peter Hutter.

So far, the main argument was that wild birds pass the disease on domestic animals that are kept outdoors. However, this outbreak once again happened in factory farming where tens of thousands of insulated birds are reared. According to Hutter, it is therefore highly probable that the disease was contracted through infected food or animal transport, and not through wild birds.

EuroNatur points out that sometimes, industrially-made animal food is carried all around the globe, and its ingredients, apart from being disgusting for humans (in some cases, even animal excrements are added), can cause epidemics among animals. The BSE-scandal was also originated by food.

Furthermore, EuroNatur emphasizes the imperative of a casual research, in order not to put at risk the existence of those farms where animals are kept in a species-appropriate environment, i.e. outdoors.

Queries:

European Nature Heritage Fund (EuroNatur)

Konstanzer Str. 22,

78315 Radolfzell

Phone 07732 – 92 72 0

Fax 07732 – 92 72 22

E-Mail info@euronatur.org

Internet www.euronatur.org

Press release, January 29, 2007

Radolfzell. Uncontrolled hunt and loss of habitat is increasingly threatening waterbird populations, alerts the European Nature Heritage Fund EuroNatur on the occasion of the World Wetlands Day.

According to EuroNatur, the global decline in numbers of waterbirds can only be stopped by comprehensive protection measures. Says EuroNatur president Claus-peter Hutter: "Also in Europe, and especially on the flyways over the Mediterranean, populations of numerous species of waterbirds are dramatically decreasing". "Species such as the Northern lapwing, the black-tailed godwit or the ferruginous duck will not be able to recover in Germany if their resting places on their way south are being destroyed or blocked by bird hunters", Hutter points out, calling for a consistent implementation of the laws of protection of species and nature in the European Union.

While in Northern Europe, the populations of some species are recovering thanks to established sanctuaries and restricted bird hunting, the situation in the Mediterranean is getting worse. Species such as the garganey, the Northern pintail, the ferruginous duck and the Northern shoveler cannot recover in Central or Northern Europe, as they cross the Mediterranean and are being decimated on their flyway in great quantities.

Especially in countries like Croatia and Montenegro, it is still very common to shoot the migratory birds coming from Northern Europe, and badly needed hunting-free areas, such as in the natural park Vransko Jezero in Croatia and at lake Skutary in Montenegro (Albania), are only established very slowly. At the same time, more and more wetland is destroyed by non-sustainable tourism projects.

EuroNatur supports the securing of the flyways between Central Europe and the southern wintering grounds with different projects in Southeast Europe. Within the scope of the project "Adriatic Flyway", in January 2007 around 100.000 waterbirds were counted at the Adriatic Sea, in Croatia, Montenegro and Albania. According to the bird protection expert Dr. Martin Schneider Jacoby of EuroNatur, 15 years ago there were still over 250.000 waterbirds at the Skutari Sea alone. As per EuroNatur's estimates, around half a million of waterbirds could overwinter at the Adriatic Sea if the hunting activities were stopped.

Alarmingly, even in such areas like the natural park Hutovo Blato in Bosnia hunting activities are common. Improved protection measures are urgently required in order to provide more waterbird species a safe overwintering. "Sufficient food and rest are vital for the birds during their flight and at the wintering grounds, to make sure that they will be breeding again the coming spring", declares Schneider-Jacoby.

The fourth report of Wetlands International regarding the development of the waterbird populations presents estimates and trends of 878 waterbird species throughout the world. Since the last report was issued in 2002, 44% of these populations have been constantly decreasing or became extinct altogether, while an increase in numbers can only be detected in 17% of the registered species. These data was made available thanks to the collaboration of around 15.000 volunteers worldwide.

Each year on February 2, World Wetlands Day is organized by the Ramsar-Convention, which was founded back in 1971 for the global protection of wetlands and has 154 member countries. 1.636 wetlands, comprising a surface of 1.457 Mio square kilometres, which is 4 times the size of Germany, have been registered as internationally important. EuroNatur assist countries in Southeast Europe to include further wetlands in the Ramsar Convention, in order to provide a denser area of nesting, resting and breeding grounds for our waterbirds. The decline in number and species of waterbirds can only be stopped by preserving all important wetlands, which, on the other hand, in the long run could help creating interesting offers for nature-interested tourists. Intact landscape, unspoiled beaches and areas rich in species still constitute a unique selling point in tourism. That's why the decrease in migratory birds is also an evidence for the loss of valuable recreation areas.

Internet:

www.euronatur.org

www.euronatur.org/Zugvoegel.209.0.html

www.euronatur.org/Vogeljagd.565.0.html

www.euronatur.org/uploads/media/Zugvogeljagd.pdf

www.ramsar.org/wn/w.n.wi_wpe4_press.htm

www.ramsar.org/wwd/wwd_index.htm

Queries:

European Nature Heritage Fund (EuroNatur)

Konstanzer Str. 22,

78315 Radolfzell

Phone 07732 – 92 72 0

Fax 07732 – 92 72 22

E-Mail info@euronatur.org

Internet www.euronatur.org

Press release, December 20, 2006

Radolfzell/Sofia. The European Nature Heritage Fund (EURONATUR) informs that shortly before Bulgaria's accession to the EU, they learn about the contempt of requirements regarding nature conservation.

With its accession to the European Union, Bulgaria is obliged to present a record listing the most important natural reserves of the country for inclusion in the European Ecological Network NATURA 2000.

EuroNatur points out that against all scientific investigations during the last four years, not even half of habitats in need of protection will be included. The decision will be taken by the Bulgarian Council of Ministers in Sofia on December 21.

Ivelin Ivanov of the Bulgarian EuroNatur partner organisation Green Balkans deplores: "More than 150 experts of different associations and institutions have been painstakingly elaborating the list. Yet for some months now, the "Timber Mafia" and the Hotel Lobby have been trying to delete as much areas as possible from the list, so that all of a sudden, only 15% instead of 30% of the country's surface shall obtain NATURA-2000 status."

Gabriel Schwaderer, manager of EuroNatur, adds: "The EU-protection does by no means exclude a sustainable use of such areas. For the conservation of endangered species, such as the eastern Imperial Eagle, wolf, lynx or vulture, but also for the local population, an ecologically sound development of the areas is much more important than the short-sighted profit motive of a few hotel owners and timber traders. Noticeably, the affected areas mainly include valuable forests in the Rhodopes and the last unspoilt coastal sections of the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast.

EuroNatur calls upon the Bulgarian Government to take a responsible decision on behalf of the rural population and for nature protection; at the same time, we appeal to the European Union to insist on the implementation of the environmental regulations.

Further information on www.greenbalkans.org

Questions:

European Nature Heritage Fund (EuroNatur)

Konstanzer Str. 22

78315 Radolfzell

Germany

Phone 07732 - 92 72 0

Fax 07732 - 92 72 22

E-Mail info@euronatur.org

Internet www.euronatur.org