Caucasus Environmental NGO Network
(CENN)
Weekly Digest
September 14, 2005
NEWS FROM GEORGIA
Projects Under Millennium Challenge Program to be Launched in Spring
2006
Source: Sarke Information Agency, September 6, 2005
Projection works are underway, while projects themselves, which are
worth
around $300 million, will be launched in spring 2006 as part of the
Millennium Challenge
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Poverty risks in Georgia
Source: The Messenger, September 9, 2005
At the UN Millennium summit n 2000, former President Eduard Shevardnadze
signed the Millennium Declaration with other world leaders and it so
doing,
shouldered the -obligation to reduce poverty in Georgia by one half by
2015.
During the subsequent five years, however, poverty has only riser in the
country.
In determining the definition of poverty, the indicators used are the
minimum cost of living and the poverty line, though many experts contend
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Tbilisi’s Lost Secret Garden
Source: The Georgian Times, September 12, 2005
The green wonder above Tbilisi, the invigorating fresh air, the merry
and
sparkling splashes of a mountain cascade, the balmy rainbow of rare
flowers
and the self-sacrificing work of devoted research assistants and simple
workers, their heartache for the beauty they have taken care of during
all
their lives – this is ‘Tbilisi’s lost secret garden’. Throughout its
long
history, the Tbilisi Botanical Garden (TBG) has seen periods of
development
and prosperity, as well as hard times of pain and humiliation when it
fell
into decay.
The Tbilisi Botanical Garden of the Academy of Sciences of Georgia has
passed through some significant stages in the almost 370 years of its
existence. The history of the Garden began in 1636
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Amazing and Colorful Variety of Flowers
Source: The Georgian Times, September 12, 2005
Bright and always lively flowers have great power and this has been
known
since the very ancient times. A bunch of flowers can make a crying child
smile as he becomes interested in their shape and color; it can melt a
cold
heart of a woman and cause the tears of gratefulness, love and
tenderness in
the mother’s eyes. Many think that they posses really mystic power and
it is
hard not, to agree with it, at least partly, as flowers are with us
during
the most emotional minutes of our lives.
Georgia was always famous for its rare and beautiful flowers. As our
warm
and mild climate was favorable to the growing of almost all kinds of
decorative plants
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NEWS FROM AZERBAIJAN
CONSTRUCTION OF AZERBAIJANI PART OF SCP TO BE COMPLETED IN 2005
Source: State Telegraph Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, September
4,
2005
The overall South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) project’s Azerbaijani part
is
about 70 per cent complete, AzerTAj correspondent told by the BP
press-service.
To date the constructors had strung 398 km of pipe, welded 330 km in
Azerbaijani sector
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BP SOCIAL INVESTMENT PROGRAMME UNDERWAY
Source: State Telegraph Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, September
5,
2005
Implementation of a $1mln 736 thousand-social investment programme,
covering
the Baku-Tbilisi Ceyhan Oil pipeline and South Caucasus Gas Pipeline
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NEXT MEETING OF KAZAKH-AZERBAIJANI WORKING GROUP ON BTC DUE
Source: State Telegraph Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, September
5,
2005
The Kazakh-Azerbaijani intergovernmental working group that has been
established for transporting of Kazakh oil via Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan main
export pipeline will hold its next meeting on September 15, AzerTAj
correspondent refers on the State Oil Company (SOCAR).
The meeting will discuss all concluding details of the agreement
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Swiss company purchases September portion of Baku-Novorossiysk oil
Source: Inside Europe, September 7, 2005
Swiss Litasco company has become the purchaser of 79,000 tons of oil to
be
exported by the State Oil Company (SOCAR) through the Baku-Novorossiysk
northern pipeline in September. The consignment loaded into tankers
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NEWS FROM ARMENIA
Yerevan to be Cleaned
Source: Eeinnews, September 5, 2005
Yerevan will be cleaned with the help of a Russian company with which
the
Armenian side has signed a contract to get refuse-cleaning containers.
The
head of the Construction, reconstruction and communal economy department
of
the Yerevan municipality Frunzik Basentsyan informed about it today.
The residents of the Arabkir community
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Basin of Lake Arpi to Become National Park
Source: ARMENPRESS, September 7, 2005
The basin of Lake Arpi and Akhurian River, situated in the Ashotzk
mountains, close to the borders with Turkey and Georgia, approximately
110
km northwest of the city of Yerevan, in northwestern Armenia will be
turned
into a national park.
Financial aid is expected
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FORESTS IN ARZNI AND NUBARASHEN RESTORED
Source: ARMINFO, September 7, 2005
The Forests Restoration and Development Fund of Armenian jointly with
the
Armenian Agricultural Ministry have elaborated two programs on
restoration
of forests in Arzni and Nubarashen. Executive Director of FRDF Vladimir
Movsisyan made this statement at a discussion at the Armenian Government
today.
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more
Economic Growth and Reduction of Poverty in Armenia?
Source: Einnews, September 9, 2005
According to the 2005 report about Human development, Armenia occupies
the
83rd place among the 177 countries in the world. The calculations of the
report have been made on the ground of the 2003 statistic facts and in
three
directions: education, life length and Gross output.
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International News
Environmental-US: Wetlands Loss Left Gulf Coast Naked to Storm
Source: Inter Press Service News agency (IPS): by Stephen Leahy,
September
1, 2005
Massive destruction of wetlands and rampant coastal development are
among
the reasons Hurricane Katrina may have killed thousands of people on the
U.S. Gulf Coast and wreaked upwards of 25 billion dollars in damages.
“This was predicted. It is not surprising that a Category Four storm
like
Katrina would result in such devastation,” said Robert Twilley, director
of
the Wetland Biogeochemistry Institute at Louisiana State University
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River Roding Flood Risk Strategy Open Meeting
Source: Environmental Agency, September 5, 2005
People living or working in the floodplain of the River Roding can find
out
about their level of flood risk and the long-term options to manage it,
at
an open evening next week.
On September 14 the Environment Agency is holding an open evening in
Woodford Green giving people an opportunity to view large maps showing
the
extent of the floodplain and look at the different options currently
being
investigated to manage the risk of flooding
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Millennium Golas: Watery South Pacific Has Not a Drop to Drink
Source: Inter Press Service News agency (IPS): by Kalinga Seneviratne,
September 5, 2005
The Pacific Ocean covers 32 million square kilometers of blue water that
takes up a third of the world’s surface, and its 10,000 scattered
islands
with a land mass of 130,000 square kilometers is home to 8 million
people.
Yet, most of them lack potable water.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDG), committed to by the world’s
governments five years ago, aims
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EU and China Climate Policy cut from the Same Cloth
Source: WWF News, September 5, 2005
The EU and China, two key actors in the global political arena, have
signed
an agreement on global warming, recognizing the huge economic, social,
and
environmental importance of climate change.
At the Annual EU-China Summit in Beijing, China’s Prime Minister Wen
Jiabao,
Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair, who holds the European Union
Presidency, and the President of the European Commission, José Manuel
Barroso, agreed
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Mount Elgon Regional Ecosystem Conservation Programme begins in East
Africa
Source: The World Conservation Union (IUNC), September 6, 2005
Good news for the conservation of Mount Elgon: On 2 September an
agreement
was signed between the East African Community Secretariat, the
Government of
Norway and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) to implement the
four-year
programme of integrated ecosystem management for Mount Elgon, one of
Africa’s largest mountains shared between Kenya and Uganda.
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Hundreds of Orangutans Captured or Killed Each Year in Kalimantan, New
Report Shows
Source: WWF, September 6, 2005
Hundreds of orangutans are either killed or captured every year in
Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo.
A new Traffic report, launched today to coincide with the
Inter-governmental
conference of UNESCO’s Great Apes Survival Project in Kinshasa (DRC),
warns
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`Green’ Parliamentarians to Promote Improved Forest Governance in
Central
Africa
Source: IUNC The World Conservation Union, September 6, 2005
Gland, Switzerland, 2 September 2005 (IUCN) – A high level delegation
from
the Republic of Cameroon, headed by His Excellency Roland Matta,
President
of the Central African network of parliamentarians for sustainable
forest
management, recently visited the IUCN headquarters. This visit formed
part
of a European tour (Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, France and the
Netherlands) to raise
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Community Service for Breaking Waste Rules
Source: Environmental Agency, September 6, 2005
On September 2, 2005, Joseph Toon, 66, operating from Beveridge Lane
Industrial Estate, Ellistown, Leicestershire pleaded guilty at Coalville
Magistrates to four charges relating to him depositing, keeping,
treating
and disposing of waste on land which did not have a Waste Management
License.
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EU to Help China Tackle Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Source: Planet Ark, September 6, 2005
The European Union agreed on Monday to give China the technology for a
coal-fired power station designed to combat global warming as part of a
wider accord on energy issues and climate change
The clean coal-power plant will employ
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Oil Industry Embarks on Recovery
Source: The Messenger, September 7, 2005
Though still seriously hobbled by Hurricane Katrina, the vast and
crucial
Gulf Coast energy infrastructure showed signs of recovery yesterday, as
some
refineries worked to restart and the price of oil in overseas trading
fell
to near pre-storm levels.
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Rosneft Could Finance Burgas-Alexandroupolis Pipeline on Its Own
Source: SEEUROPE.NET, September 7, 2005
Rosneft is ready to independently finance the Russian part of the
Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, Rosneft President Sergei
Bogdanchikov
said during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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Louisiana Scientists Expect Major Environmental Damage
Source: Planet Ark, September 9, 2005
Biologists expect to find major destruction when they take their first
close-up look at Hurricane Katrina’s impact on wildlife habitats and
Louisiana’s vital fishing industry, the state’s top conservation
official
said Thursday.
Dwight Landreneau, Louisiana’s secretary for the department of wildlife
and
fisheries
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NGO NEWS
WWF Continues Leopard Protection Project in Syunik
Source: ARMENPRESS, September 5, 2005
Traces of three out of 10-12 leopards believed to live in Armenian
forests
are recorded in the southern province of Syunik. The total number of
leopards in the South Caucasus is 20-24, with another 10-12 in
Azerbaijan.
The number of leopards in the conflict zone of the district of Karabakh
is
estimated
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Legal News
New law would curb air pollution by school buses, garbage trucks
Source: AP New Jersey, September 7, 2005
A diesel engine emission reduction plan signed into law Wednesday could
have
New Jerseyans breathing easier in the years to come. But first, voters
must
approve a constitutional amendment in November that would put the
program
into effect.
The plan, which backers called the most comprehensive in the nation, is
geared to cut air pollution and health risks by
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NEW PUBLICATIONS
Collection on Environmental Law
Source: Environmental Public Advocacy Center (EPAC), September 7, 2005
Development of the human society in the twenty-first century is supposed
to
be accompanied by the increasing role of the environment. Meanwhile, the
more human beings want to extract from nature, thereby violating the
ecological balance, the fewer chances nature and its components have to
recover. Ecological crisis as a violation of the balance of ecological
systems and the relationship of humans and nature is a matter of concern
worldwide.
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Announcements
Explore Georgia with Caucasus Travel – Adjara
Source: The Messenger, September 2, 2005
What is Adjara: Located in the south-western corner of Georgia, this
glorious place has always been a paradise for tourists – an attractive
spot
with its nature, climate, hospitable people and diverse variety of
cultures
and religions. So familiar, on the one hand, and completely unknown on
the
other hand. Control over this region has changed hands many times over
the
Centuries between Turks, Georgians, Russian, At present Adjara is
undergoing
a very difficult period, though one day this Eden will no doubt
rediscover
its former glory.
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Announcement – Georgian Health and Social Projects Implementation
Center
Invitation for Bids
Source: `24 Saati'(`24 Hours’), September 5, 2005
Georgia
Primary Health and Social Development (PHCD) Project
This invitation for bids follows the general procurement notice for this
project that appeared in Development Business, issue no. 585 of June 30,
2002, most recently updated on Jan 16 2005, Issue No. 646.
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Georgian Tourist Agency `La-Ta’ Tour
We represent a young Georgian tourist agency `La-Ta’ Tour, which
despite of
6 months existence has established itself on the market as a company
offering premium service quality. Our main aim is to promote tourism in
Georgia and show you the `hidden’ wealth of our ancient country.
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First Announcement and Call for Papers – ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF OIL
TRANSPORTATION
European Commission
FP6 INCO SSA-Research Workshop
Organizer: Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Institute of
Radiation
Problems
Date: November 22-25, 2005.
Place: Baku, Azerbaijan
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