The Environment Chronicle

Animal of the Year: Apollo butterfly (Parnassius apollo)

The Dobris Report is published within the Conference of Europe in Sofia.

Flower of the Year 1995 is the Globeflower (Trollius europaeus).

Tree of the Year 1995 is the Norway maple (Acer platanoides).

Biotope of the Year: Beech woods

Fish of the Year 1995 is the Eel(Anguilla anguilla).

Landscape of the Year: the Alps.

Bird of the Year 1995 is the Nightingale (Luscinia magarhynchos).

Orchid of the Year: Bee orchid (Ophrys apifera)

Fungus of the Year 1995 is the tinder fungus (Fomes fomentarius).

Art 1 No.2: "After Art 20 the following Art 20a will be inserted: "The state also has a responsibility to protect the natural basis for life for future generations, within the constitution by legislation, execution of the law and in legal judgements."

The act applies to the cross-border transport of waste into or out of Germany.

§1 The purpose of this Act is to promote closed substance cycle waste management (Kreislaufwirtschaft), in order to conserve natural resources and to ensure environmentally compatible disposal of waste.

Official statistics are to be collected for use in environmental policy-making.

§1 The purpose of this Act is to protect man and the environment from the harmful effects of dangerous substances and preparations, in particular to identify them, avert them and prevent their occurrence.

On 20 June 1994 the Apollo Sea, a bulk ore carrier, sank near Dassen Island on the west coast, South Africa. She was carrying some 2 400 tonnes of fuel oil at that time. The oil spill had a major impact on the coastline of the Cape Peninsula. Besides affecting large numbers of African penguins, the amenity beaches in the area were also badly polluted.

In 1994, the United Nations General Assembly declared June 17 the "World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought" to promote public awareness and the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa. Ever since, country Parties to the Convention, organizations of the United Nations System, international and non-governmental organizations and other interested stakeholders have celebrated this particular day with a series of outreach activities worldwide.

The International Whaling Commission erects a whale sanctuary covering the entire offshore waters of the Antarctic.

The UNFCC is first ratified by c. 50 states, by Mai 1997 by 166. The convention's goal is to stabilise the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a level which prevent dangerous destruction of our climate system.

On 13 March 1994 the oil tanker Nassia and the cargo vessel Shipbroker collided in the Bosporus strait. At the time of the accident the Nassia was carrying 98,600 tons of crude oil. Both vessel immediately caught fire. The accident caused extensive marine and air pollution in the Straits, Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara.

The Agreement on the Conservation of Populations of European Bats is an international treaty that binds the Parties on the conservation of bats in their territories. The agreement was concluded in September 1991 and entered into force on 16 January 1994, after the required number of five states (Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and UK) had ratified it. The Bat Agreement aims to protect all 45 species of bats identified in Europe, through legislation, education, conservation measures and international co-operation with Agreement members and with those who have not yet joined.

Fish of the Year: Common nase

The agency was established by an EU directive in 1990. It has 18 member states (including the 15 EU states). It collects, processes and provides information and statistics on the environment and nature conservation for the public and policy makers, and develops new instruments for implementing policy. In Germany, the agency's offices are at the Federal Environmental Agency.

The WHO presents a comprehensive report "Concern for Europe's Tomorrow" at the Helsinki Conference. A European plan of action "Environment and Health for Europe" is adopted on the basis of the report. National action plans are to implement it, coordinated by the new "European Environment and Health Committee"

The third conference expands its scope to include development as well as population. The dilemma here is the conflict between the benefits of industrialisation (which improves the lot of women, and thereby reduces birth rates) and the expected negative environmental impact.

The ITTA's core aims are sustainable use and marketing of tropical timber, cooperation in management and technology transfer, and reclaiming degraded tropical forests. It is legally binding in civil law.

§1 The purpose of this Act is to ensure free access to the information on the environment possessed by authorities and the distribution of this information, as well as to lay down the fundamental prerequisites according to which information of this nature is to be made available.

Flower of the Year 1994 is the Western Marsh orchid (Dactylorhiza majalis).

Tree of the Year 1994 ist the Yew (Taxus baccata).

Biotope of the Year: Roadside verges

Orchid of the Year: Fen orchid (Liparis loeselii)

Fungus of the Year 1994 is the Orange Oak Bolete (Leccinum quercinum).

Bird of the Year 1994 is the White Stork (Ciconia ciconia).

Animal of the Year: Red deer (Cervus elaphus)

Fungus of the Year is organised by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Mykologie; Bert-Brecht-Str. 18; D-85378 Eching; Tel.: +49 89 3193461; Fax: +49 89 3192257

The Voluntary Environmental Year provides an opportunity for personal development with an emphasis on environmental awareness. Full-time voluntary work is available at suitable institutions and other bodies concerned with conservation and the environment. The act was last amended on 24.3.1997

On 8 December 1993 the French-flag container ship Sherbro lost a number of containers overboard in the English Channel. As a result, hundreds of thousands of plastic sachets containing the pesticide Apron plus entered the sea and were subsequently washed up on the coasts of France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.

Greenpeace documents show that Russia has repeatedly broken the Moratorium on dumping atomic waste at sea, in force since 1983.

On August 10, 1993, a freighter and two tug-assisted barges collided near the entrance of Tampa Bay, Florida. The collision resulted in a fire on one of the barges and caused a major oil spill. Over 32,000 gallons of jet fuel, diesel, and gasoline and about 330,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil spilled from the barges. Despite emergency cleanup efforts, the oil fouled 13 miles of beaches and caused injury to birds, sea turtles, mangrove habitat, seagrasses, salt marshes, shellfish beds, water column resources and bottom sediments.

Within the portfolio of the Environmental Minister, an independent Federal Nature Protection Agency shall be set up.