Environmental
Policy - Events
seminars,
conferences, study tours
Seminars
to Natura 2000 network, its significance and management
September
2005 - February 2006
From September 2005 to February 2006, 8 seminars (around 400 participants
attended them) for all regions in Slovakia about Natura 2000, its significance
and management and also present and future financial possibilities for
protection and management were held.
Purpose of these seminars was to clarify, what influence will have designation
of these sites on management, to avoid any misunderstandings due to
lack of information. Aim was also to stimulate interest on public discussions
of degrees and management plans for future protected bird areas and
to encourage people in preparation of EU funds documentation for the
programming period 2007-2013, while all these activities are going on
at present and they are very important for all stakeholders in these
areas.
Main organiser was Daphne - Institute of Applied Ecology, Society for
Birds Protection in Slovakia (Birdlife Slovakia) and the State Nature
Conservancy of the Slovak Republic. Seminar focused mainly on officers
of the regional, district and municipality authorities as well as for
other subjects cause in the proposed Natura 2000 sites.
Seminars were part of the international project Natura 2000 - chance
for nature and people, supported also from European Commission.
Seminar "Revitalization of Wetlands and River Basins in the Slovak Republic"
November
2005
In November 2005 an important seminar "Revitalization of Wetlands
and River Basins in the Slovak Republic" (around 113 participants
attended) took place. Main goal was to prepare a ground for discussion
of water and nature protection sectors as well as for other relevant
organizations and institutions, and to change information on topic of
common support in the protection and restoration of water and wetland
habitats.
During the plenary discussions and within the working groups, participants
discussed the commitments of the Slovak Republic resulted from the directives
of the EU legislation (mainly Water Framework Directive, Habitats and
Birds Directives), convention on wetlands protection (Ramsar, Iran,
1971) and from other international conventions, according to which the
Slovak Republic is binding to revitalize them, their present status,
examples from foreign countries included experiences from realisation
of national revitalization program of river basins in Czech Republic.
Main organiser was the State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic
and the Ministry of Environment of the SR in co-operation with the Slovak
Ramsar Committee, Daphne - Institute of Applied Ecology and Danube Environmental
Forum.
Seminar was prepared with the financial support of the Dutch government
in the framework of the short-term project (PPA short - "Capacity
building of the State Nature Conservancy of the SR" and UNDP/GEF
of the Danube Regional Project together with experts support of the
Institute for Management of Interterrestrial Waters and Wastewater Cleaning
(RWS/RIZA) of the Dutch Ministry for Transport, Public Works and Water
Management and International Agricultural Center in Wageningen, Netherlands,
with the experts participation of the Ministry of Environment of the
Czech Republic, Agency for Nature and Landscape Protection of the CR
and experts from the consultancy company Bio/consult from Denmark.
Conclusions and recommedantions
Seminars to the Measure 5 (Agrienvironment and animal welfare) of the
Rural Development Plan (2004 - 2006)
September
2004 - February 2005
From September 2004 to February 2005, 17 seminars (around 450 participants
attended them) for all protected areas in Slovakia about the Measure
5 (Agrienvironment and animal welfare) of the Rural Development Fund
(2004-2006) were held. They followed up on seminars to the Measure 6
(Agricultural production methods designed to protect the environment
and maintain the landscape), assigned to all individuals and legal entities
managing agricultural land.
Seminars were carried out within the framework of the WB/GEF project
(World Bank/Global Environmental Facility) "Central European Grasslands
- Conservation and Sustainable Use" and WWF project (World Wildlife
Fund) "Influencing the EU Accession".
Main organiser was Daphne - Institute of Applied Ecology in co-operation
with Society for Birds Protection in Slovakia (Birdlife Slovakia), each
protected area administration of the State Nature Conservancy of the
Slovak Republic, Slovak Chamber of Agriculture and Food and Union and
the Association of Farmers and Agricultural Entrepreneurs.
Goal of the seminars was to inform potential applicants in each protected
area and landscape outside of protected areas about all possibilities
of this measure, connections with other measures of RDP, about the Natura
2000 network in Slovakia as well as about the connection between the
Rural Development Plan and Natura 2000 implementation in Slovakia.
For more information see on the Slovak
version of the website.
Links:
www.mpsr.sk (Ministry
of Agriculture of the SR, see: Rural Development Plan 2004-2006)
www.apa.sk (Agricultural
Payment Agency, see: Rural Development Plan 2004-2006)
Seminar "Agriculture for People and Nature"
2nd
- 3rd December 2004, Nitra
Seminar on the topic "Agriculture for People and Nature"
was held in Nitra from 2nd to 3rd December 2004. Goal of the seminar
was evaluation of the programme SAPARD and present Rural Development
Plan (2004-2006) - problems and basis for future and summary of experiences
from the present agri-environmental programme and ecological agriculture
for next programming period 2007-2013.
Seminar
was attended by several representatives of governmental and non-governmental
organisations, universities, research institutions and several others
interested in these topics.
For more information see Slovak version
of this website.
Meetings
on preparation of methodology for definitions of Favourable Conservation
Status of Natura 2000 habitats and species
20.
- 21. 1., 15. - 16. 6. 2004
Daphne
- Institute of Applied Ecology together with State Nature Conservancy
of the Slovak Republic, Bio/consult Ltd. (Denmark) and WWF Danube-Carpathian
Programme prepared two expert meetings on definitions of favourable
conservation status of Natura 2000 habitats and species. Both meetings
were co-organised jointly within frameworks of Phare Twinning Project
"Implementation of the Habitats and Birds Directive in the Slovak
Republic, DANCEE project "Natura 2000 in Slovakia - Bridging the
Implementation Process" and partially the final stage of the WWF
project "Influencing EU Accession".
The purposes of the meetings were to present draft definitions of Favourable
Conservation Status of habitats and species, whose conservation is required
by the Birds and Habitats Directives and seek endorsement of such definitions
from a broader expert community in Slovakia. Meetings provided also
a possibility to initiate discussion of monitoring and conservation
management of Natura 2000 habitats and species in Slovakia.
National
Convent on European Union
April
2004
Daphne
- Institute of Applied Ecology became a member of the National Convent
on European Union in three Working Groups (WG): WG II. Agriculture and
Rural Development, WG III. Traffic and Environment and WG IV. Regional
Policy and Regional Development.
Results of activities of these working groups within the project National
Convent on EU are recommendations for representatives responsible for
preparation of national positions to single sectoral policy of EU.
More about the National Convent on European Union and about the co-ordinator
of this project - Slovak Foreign Policy Association you can find on
following websites:
www.eurokonvent.sk
(National Convent on EU)
www.sfpa.sk (Slovak Foreign
Policy Association)
Seminars
to the Measure 6 (Agricultural production methods designed to protect
the environment and maintain the landscape) of the programme SAPARD
September
2003
In
September 2003, seminars for all five pilot sites (floodplain of the
rivers Laborec and Uh - Senné area, Východná, Poľana, lower part of
the Morava river floodplain - Devínske jazero area, Jaslovské Bohunice)
covered within the Measure 6 of the programme SAPARD were held. Seminars
were realised within the framework of the project "Nature Protection
in Transboundary Natura 2000 Sites in Czech Republic and Neighbouring
Countries through Network of NGOs" financed from the Program Phare
Access of European Union.
Main organisator was Daphne - Institute of Applied Ecology in co-operation
with Society for Birds Protection in Slovakia (Birdlife Slovakia) and
Agency SAPARD.
Goal of the seminars was to inform potential applicants in pilot areas
about all possibilities of this measure, conditions for obtaining of
support as well as about the possible co-operation within this field
and about the process of preparation of Natura 2000 network in Slovakia.
Links: www.mpsr.sk (Ministry
of Agriculture of the SR, see: SAPARD)
www.apa.sk (Agricultural
Payment Agency, see: SAPARD)
Exhibition
"Natura 2000 and beauties of the Morava floodplain"
June
- October 2003, Morava Floodplain Region - Pomoravie
Together
with non-governmental organisation Ecological Institute Veronica (Czech
Republic) we prepared for citizens of Pomoravie bilingual moving exhibition
with the title Natura 2000 and beauties of the Morava floodplain. Goal
of the exhibition was to explain to local citizens, owners and users
of the land preparation of the new network of protected areas in EU
known as Natura 2000 as well as nature beauties of the valuable area
of Morava river floodplain. Exhibition was divided into two parts. Goal
of the first part was to inform on legislation and establishment of
Natura 2000 network in conditions of Slovak and Czech Republic, the
second part raised natural values and showed the threats and methods
of environmentally friendly management in Morava floodplain.
Exhibition was progressively installed in 10 villages in region of Morava
river floodplain and its close surrounding. In June 2003 was open to
public in Brodské, Kúty, Veľké Leváre and Moravský Sv. Ján, from September
to the middle of October 2003 the visitors were able to see it in Malacky,
Vysoká pri Morave, Záhorská Ves, Gajary, Devínska Nová Ves and its last
station was in part of Bratislava - Devín.
Exhibition was part of the project "Nature protection in transboundary
Natura 2000 sites in Czech Republic and neighbour countries through
network of NGOs, which was financially supported by Foundation for Development
of Civil Society with residence in Czech Republic within the framework
of the Phare Access Program of the European Union.
Co-ordinator: Eva Viestová
Funding: Foundation for Development of Civil Society, Czech Republic
Second
National Conference/Expert Meeting - Natura 2000 in Slovakia
26th - 28th November 2002, Bratislava
This
conference was held on 26th - 28th of November, 2002 in Bratislava and
addressed experts dealing with the process of Natura 2000 site selection.
Information on two on-going projects (MATRA Pre-accession Project Program
"Establishment of the Natura 2000 Network in the Slovak Republic"
and DANCEE project "Conservation and Sustainable Use of Peatlands
in Slovakia") were also disseminated. The aim was also to realise
expert analyses and syntheses of data on the distribution of annex species
and habitats and to discuss these with experts from the Ministry of
Environment, the State Nature Conservancy, the Slovak Academy of Science,
Faculty of Natural Sciences, NGOs and individual experts, who were involved
in the mapping and collection of data for the list of SPA and pSCI sites.
Co-ordinator:
Eva Viestová
Funding: MATRA Pre-accession Project Program, DANCEE
Environments
for Learning
December
2002, Bratislava
In
December 2002 DAPHNE organised the seminar entitled "Environments
for Learning" in co-operation with our partner organisation the
British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV). The venue was the
Ecocentre DAPHNE, in Devín, and 14 participants from 9 European countries
(United Kingdom, Slovakia, Estonia, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Italy, Romania
and Poland) were present. The main goal of the seminar was to set up
a means of accrediting those who follow through with a system of informal
learning. This system will enable the unemployed to use new skills gained
during the conservation work and work with communities to gain new employment.
Another goal was to define the activities aimed at strengthening co-operation
between non-governmental organisations working in the field of community
development and also the involvement of volunteers working on nature
conservation activities.
Co-ordinator:
Vladimír Kočvara
Funding: British Trust for Conservation Volunteers
DEF
General Assembly 2002
29th
to 31st October 2002, Viničné
DAPHNE was the co-organiser
of the 1st DEF General Assembly, which took place in 
Viničné,
Slovakia from 29th to 31st October 2002. This assembly brought together
NGO representatives from 13 countries. Meeting was successful in establishing
DEF's development strategy and deciding on common actions of NGOs in
Danube River Basin. It was decided that DEF activities in the coming
year will focus on raising awareness about problems related to water
pollution in Danube Basin and will encourage other national NGOs to
search for solutions of these problems and to contribute to the protection
of the Danube.
Co-ordinator:
Monika Kováčová
Funding: UNDP/GEF Danube Regional Project
1st
National Conference "Natura 2000 - Nature Conservation Concept
for the third Millennium"
11
- 12 March 2002, Banská Bystrica
1st
National Conference "NATURA 2000 - Nature Conservation Concept
for the Third Millennium" was held in Banská Bystrica from 11 -
12 March 2002. The Conference is considered to be the first Slovak event
intended not only for expert community but rather addressing a broader
public that will be involved in or affected by management of the NATURA
2000 sites.
The Conference was organised in a framework of the Project Establishment
of Natura 2000 Network in the Slovak Republic, funded by the Dutch Government
within MATRA Pre-accession Project Program. The Project has been implemented
by the Consortium of 10 institutions led by Dutch company VVMZ East
European Investment Service.
Some 200 participants of the Conference included representatives from
the European Commission, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Austria, Denmark
and the Netherlands. From among local stakeholders both the governmental
institutions and non-state organisation were represented, including
but not limited to Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture,
State Nature Conservancy, Slovak Environmental Agency, regional and
district offices of state administration, forest management companies,
water management bodies, scientific institutions, universities, landowners
and landowners associations, hunters association, fishing association,
travel agencies, Union of Towns and Villages and NGOs.
Banska Bystrica County Office of State administration has provided a
venue for the Conference. MoE and WWF contributed with funds. Prior
to the Conference, the Minister of the Environment of Slovakia gave
a press Conference on the preparations for Natura 2000 and its implications
for Slovakia. He also addressed the participants on the occasion of
the opening of the Conference. In his address, the minister put NATURA
2000 network in a broader context of biological and landscape diversity
conservation in Slovakia and express readiness of the Government and
MoE in particular to take all necessary actions to implement NATURA
2000 network properly.
Three sessions have been held at the Conference:
- The First Session was focused on description of political and
legal framework for the NATURA 2000 network development in the Slovak
Republic from the prospect of the EU environmental acquis, and particularly
in relation to the EC Birds (79/409/EEC) and Habitats (92/43/EEC) Directives.
- The second session introduced by Project Co-ordinator was devoted
to presentation of the Project objectives and activities as well as
result achieved so far. The introduction was followed by a detailed
overview by a Chairman of the Management Board of the status of Project
implementation.
- In the
course of the third session experiences with NATURA 2000 network in
the Czech Republic, Hungary Austria, and Netherlands were presented
to participant. The presentations gave inside to both successes and
failures with implementing of the two EC Directives at different countries
and represented good lessons to participants.
A broad discussion of compensation for alleged economic loss and/or
incremental costs involved in designation of the privately owned areas
as protected documented that the issue has not been still properly addressed
in Slovak legislation and remains a sensitive issue in preparations
for NATURA 2000 Network in Slovakia.
Co-ordinator: Helena Čárska
Funding: MATRA Pre-accession Project Program
Fundraising
Workshop
October
2001, Bratislava
In
October 2001, DAPHNE in co-operation with British organisation British
Trust for Conservation Volunteers, organised a fundraising workshop.
The training was conducted by Jana Ledvinová - Executive Director for
the Czech non-governmental organisation TEREZA. The event was attended
by 20 delegates from 8 European countries: Slovakia, Czech Republic,
Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, United Kingdom and Poland. The
aim of the venue was to give participants key skills and knowledge about
fundraising techniques and ways on how to attract and develop additional
resources to sustain their programs and projects. The event was part
of the programme Developing Skills International, which is focused on
Central and Eastern Europe.
Co-ordinator: Vladimír Kočvara
Funding: British Trust for Conservation Volunteers
LIFE
Seminar
June
2001, Bratislava
In
June 2001, an informational seminar on LIFE III was organised with the
cooperation of the Ministry of Environment of SR in Bratislava. More
than 80 participants, potential beneficiaries of LIFE III attended the
event. The speakers from the European Commission, Ministry of Environment
of the SR, Ecosystems Ltd., dealing with monitoring of LIFE projects
and number of GOs and NGOs from Austria and Hungary provided the most
updated and valuable information on development and implementation of
LIFE projects. Since the Slovak Republic has not entered LIFE Programme
yet, the seminar was mostly of an informational nature. However, participation
of the European Commission was aimed to speed up the process of application
of our country in LIFE.
Co-ordinator: Helena Čárska
Funding: WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme
Information
seminar "Natura 2000"
10 - 11 April 2000, Bratislava
In spring 2000 DAPHNE, in co-operation with the Ministry of Environment
of the SR, organised an initial seminar on the topic of Natura 2000
in Slovakia. The seminar brought together almost 80 representatives
of the most significant nature conservation and scientific institutions
in Slovakia as well as experts from neighbouring accession countries
and the European Commission. Participants received a general overview
of the process of Natura 2000 development. The current state of preparations
for Natura 2000 in neighbouring countries was introduced and the status
of relevant inventory projects in Slovakia presented and discussed.
Not only was the event itself important, but it helped to begin discussions
on Natura 2000 at the national level and build contacts with the European
Commission.
Funding: WWF Danube Carpathian Programme
EUROSITE
workshop "Managing Scrub Encroachment
Primarily by Grazing"
13 - 17 May 2000, Poľana Biosphere Reserve
DAPHNE together with EUROSITE and the Protected Landscape Area office
Poľana organised a workshop on managing scrub encroachment primarily
by grazing. Participants had the opportunity to hear experiences from
other European countries and learn about practical management practices
implemented in the Poľana Biosphere reserve, which were explained during
an excursion.
Funding: EUROSITE
European
Integration and Envisaged Environmental Impacts - NGOs' Perspective
Conference, 27 November 2000, Bratislava
The Regional Environmental Centre Slovakia, ETP Slovakia, and DAPHNE
organised the conference: "European Integration and Envisaged Environmental
Impacts - NGOs' Perspective". This event was a parallel activity
to the International Conference on Sustainable Development - New Millenium
Challenge. The conference provided a discussion forum for representatives
of Slovak environmental NGOs, representatives of the European Commission,
and Slovak Government authorities to discuss future co-operation and
information support for Slovak Environmental NGOs in the process of
EU integration.
Funding: City Hall Bratislava (VITECC), Civil Society Development
Foundation, DAPHNE, Regional Environmental Centre Slovakia, and ETP
Slovakia
Preparing
for the Implementation of Agri-environment Schemes in Central and Eastern
Europe
Expert Seminar, 8/9 December 2000, Bratislava
The Institute for European Environmental Policy in London and the organisation
Avalon in the Netherlands in co-operation with DAPHNE organised an expert
seminar on the design and implementation of agri-environment schemes
in Central and Eastern Europe. The seminar was attended by 40 participants
from all applicant countries plus organisers and expert speakers from
various EU countries and the European Commission. Stress was also laid
on the possibilities for supporting the development of this potentially
very important policy instrument and its role in nature conservation
and agriculture in candidate countries.
Funding: Avalon