The Environment Chronicle

Orchid of the Year: Military orchis (Orchis militaris)

Landsacpe of the Year: the lower Oder.

Endangered livestock breed of the year 1993 is the Thuringian Forest Goat.

Animal of the Year: Wild cat (Felis silvestris silvestris)

Fish of the Year is organised by Deutsche Angelfischerverband e.V. (DAFV).

Fish of the Year: Cod (Gadus morhua)

Bird of the Year 1993 is the Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius).

The Aegean Sea strikes a rock off the coast of Spain, spilling 1,000 t crude oil into the bay of La Coruna.

Greenpeace pursues the Japanese freighter "Akatsuki Maru", laden with 1.7 t plutonium, by ship and plane on its widely condemned journey from Cherbourg to Japan.

The 21st Regulation (BlmSchV) of 7 October 1992 order that a fuel vapor recovery system to limit hydrocarbon emissions be installed at every large fuel station.

Greenpeace takes one of its ships to the Kara Sea near Novaia Semlya, where atomic waste such as submarine atomic reactors is being sunk. The ship is fired upon and towed away by Russian marines. President Yeltsin promises a study of radiation in the frozen sea.

The environment ministry sets up an independent commission to devise an environmental statute book.

"Greenfreeze", the first CFC-free refrigerator, is presented to the world. It was developed and produced in cooperation between a scientist Hans Preisendans and the Saxon company dkk Scharfenstein (now Foron). The appliance uses natural gases (propane and butane) as coolants, which contributes to neither ozone depletion nor the greenhouse effect.

The World Ocean Day was first proposed in 1992 by the Government of Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Although not yet officially designated by the United Nations, an increasing number of countries mark June 8th as an opportunity each year to celebrate the world ocean.

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio Summit, Rio Conference or Earth Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992. In Rio, Governments adopted three major agreements aimed at changing the traditional approach to development: Agenda 21, The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and The Statement of Forest Principles. In addition, two legally binding Conventions aimed at preventing global climate change and the eradication of the diversity of biological species were opened for signature at the Summit, giving high profile to these efforts: The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and The Convention on Biological Diversity.

In Bremen and Dover, activists prevent the transport of atomic waste to the British reprocessing plant in Sellafield. The environment ministers of the Länder are presented with radioactively contaminated sand.

Art.3(1) sets up a coherent European network of specially protected sites under the name "Natura 2000". The areas must preserve or recreate the natural and man-made habitats listed in appendices I and II.

Starting in May Greenpeace frequently prevents the export of toxic waste from Germany to Rumania. Illegally stored waste in Rumania is returned to Germany.

In Dordrecht in Holland, Greenpeace blocks track belonging to the world's largest producer of CFCs, DuPont.

The Rainbow Warrior II makes its debut against French atomic testing. Shortly afterwards, President Mitterand abandons the tests.

The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic comes into force internationally on 28.03.1998. It deals with the environment and biodiversity in the Atlantic area. It is legally binding in civil law.

Expanding the Havel, Project 17 of the German Reunification Transport Projects, is part of 280 km of river and canal belonging to the planned Federal Waterway from Hanover to Berlin. The new ships which are to use the waterway are as large as the Rhine vessels. The Havel would need to be dug out to twice its current depth of 2 m, its banks extended and levelled. An action group against the project was formed on the initiative of BUND's working group on the Havel. It aims to prevent the loss of unique riverside landscapes and the overcapacity which would ensue, as three rail lines and a six-lane motorway will also be built in parallel.

The German parliament authorises many major "reunification projects", aimed at providing the New Länder with Western standards of infrastructure. Alongside transport links between road, rail and waterways, projects plan the Transrapid monorail and creating a Federal Waterway.

Tree of the Year 1992 is the Wych Elm or Scots Elm (Ulmus glabra).

Biotope of the Year: Springs

NABU starts a campaign to introduce environmental protection as a goal of the state in the German constitution.

The Katina P. loses 72,000 t oil.

Orchid of the Year: Twayblade (Listera ovata)

Documentation of accidents in industrial facilities or involving hazardous substances. 2 editions.

Bird of the Year 1992 is the Robin (Erithacus rubecula).

A faulty pipe allows a large cloud of gaseous chlorine to escape into a production facility at the Buna AG in Schkopau. At least 186 sustain serious respiratory damage.

Animal of the Year is organised by Schutzgemeinschaft Deutsches Wild; Adenauer-Allee 214; D-53113 Bonn; Tel.: +49 228 2692217

Animal of the Year: Bats (Microchiroptera: Verspertilionidae, Rhinolophidae)

The WBGU was set up by the German Federal Government as an independent advisory council. It reports directly to the government and is directed alternately by the ministries for education and for the environment. An interministerial committee from 13 other ministries and the Chancellor's Office also follow the work of the council. The council's core task is to analyse all forms of information on global change and produce recommendations for political action. It reports on global environment and development issues, evaluates national and international research on global change, indicates imminent problems and research gaps, stimulates interdisciplinary and applied research. Finally, it observes domestic and international policy on sustainable development, to create and disseminate recommendations for political and public action or research.

Flower of the Year 1992 is the common sundew or round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia).

In preparation for the Rio conference, a WHO commission produces a comprehensive picture of world health in its report "Our Planet, our Health".

The European Union publishes its third "Report on the State of the Environment"

Documentation of accidents in industrial facilities or involving hazardous substances. 2 editions.

The BUND awards its first Poisoned figleaf, an award for companies who use pseudo-environmental arguments to fool customers.

The CBD was agreed at the UN Rio conference. Its core goals are protecting ecosystems, species and genetic diverstiy, as well as their sustainable use. A further aspect is fair distribution of the profits from genetic resources. It is legally binding in civil law.