The Environment Chronicle

Greenpeace extends its protests to French atomic tests in French Polynesia. They hold their position 15 Knots from the atoll for many weeks, until they hear an explosion. They are unaware that radioactive dust is now falling near them. 2 yours later, a French warship rams them in international waters. The damage is such that the crew must be towed to Moruroa.

The Bundesverband Bürgerinitiativen Umweltschutz e.V (Federal Association of Environmental Action Groups) is the umbrella organization of environmental action groups in Germany. Since its foundation on 24 June 1972, by groups campaigning for environmental protection, the BBU has become a vital force in the development of the green and peace movements in Germany.

The conference created the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) as well as an international Environment day on 5th June. The conference also decides to include non-UN scientific organisations in realising the programme (a "parallel action plan"). The wish to mediate more between the industrialised and developing world was also expressed.

World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated every year on 5 June in more than 100 countries around the world. World Environment Day was established by the UN General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment and the creation of UNEP. WED is commemorated each year in a different city of the world. The World Environment Day is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. The 6th conference of German environment ministers in 1976 determined that World Environment Day would also be celebrated in Germany.

The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals is part of the Antarctic Treaty System. Its main goal is the conservation of certain seal species in the southern polar seas.

The 3 March 1973 is the anniversary of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). It was launched by a decision to counter the increasing threat to wild fauna and flora by international trade. Since then it has become one of the most effective tools in the fight against the loss of species.

This programme was initiated by a decision at the UN Environmental Conference in Stockholm. It aims to support national action and regional cooperation in conservation and environmental protection, as well as developing, evaluating and monitoring international conservation and environmental law. It initiates regional programmes, advises governments, funds training and has produced reports and databases to support these projects. Prof. Klaus Töpfer, the former German environment minister has been its executive director since February 1998.

The much-discussed first report to the Club of Rome, "The Limits of Growth", by Dennis L. Meadows, is published.

Since 1972, the European Union (formerly the European Community) has passed over 200 guidelines and directives, which belong to the core sources of environmental law in member states.

Fundamental change in waste disposal methods - instead of 50,000 smaller dumps, c. 1,000 larger landfills are used.

Bird of the Year 1972 is the Little Owl (Athene noctua).

Since 1972, the European Union (formerly the European Community) has passed over 200 guidelines and directives, which belong to the core sources of environmental law in member states.

This summit makes environmental protection a political reality.

The Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU) was established by a charter of the Federal Ministry of the Interior on December 28, 1971 (GMBI 1972, No. 3, page 27), as part of the federal government's environmental programme of October 1971. The SRU was constituted and commenced operation in 1972. It consists of seven university professors from a range of different environment-related disciplines. The members of the Council are appointed by the German government for a four-year period. The interdisciplinary SRU is fully independent to determine the focus and scope of its reports.

The Advisory Scientific Council (SRU) is constituted by a government decree under the first environmental programme, to provide scientific advice for the government. Its brief is to present and evaluate the environmental and relevant political trends and situation in Germany, as well as to point out policy failures and potential remedies. It publishes a biannual report, and may also publish further reports and expert opinions on specific issues, if this is considered necessary by the council or requested by the environment minister.

Greenpeace protests against US government atomic tests in the ship "Phyllis". The test continues, but provokes public anger, with demonstrations, strikes and threatened boycotts in Canada and the USA. 4 months later, the US Atomic Energy Commission announces the abandonment of the test series.

The German government's first environmental programme includes support for green technological advances, research and training, and an international approach to environmental problems. An Advisory Scientific Council (the SRU) is also set up.

To protect the public from danger, substantial disadvantage and significant harm from aircraft noise in the vicinity of airports, noise abatement zones are defined.

FoEI is an umbrella organisation for 57 national NGOs. The German NGO is BUND. The group's goals are the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It concentrates on tropical rain forests, the oceans and climate change.

Bird of the Year is organised by Naturschutzbund Deutschland; Herbert-Raius-Str. 26; D-53225 Bonn; Tel.: +49 228 975610; Fax: +49 228 9756190

The convention concentrates on the bird and other species whose habitat is wetland. It also supports conservation and sustainable development or use of the areas. It is legally binding in civil law.

Greenpeace has c. 2.9 million members worldwide. Its goals are conserving biodiversity and preventing pollution and climate change. It organises campaigns on climate, overfishing, trawler fishing, commercial whaling and marine pollution, as well as protection and sustainable use of tropical rain forests.

In November 1971, at the request of the European Confederation of Agriculture, FAO'S member governments supported the annual observance of 21 March as World Forestry Day. Since then many nations have adopted this practice.

The "Wafra" loses 40,000 t oil off the coast of South Africa.

Discovery that nitrogen oxides can deplete the stratospheric ozone layer, thereby exposing the Earth's surface to excessive ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

The reserves were identified as such in the UNESCO programme "Man and Biospheres" (MAB). The key goal is to create a global network of reserves for the conservation and sustainable use of the natural world in large representative sections of natural and cultivated landscapes. Another aim is to explore the relationship between humans and the environment, monitor the environment and raise public awareness.

The first Red List of Threatened Breeding Birds of Germany was published in 1971.

The act aims to safeguard public health by limiting the number of lead and other metal substitute compounds in fuels for Otto engines. Where public health is not at issue, supply interruptions, competitive distortions and fuel performance loss should be avoided.

Bird of the Year 1971 is the Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or sometimes USEPA) is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress. The EPA was proposed by President Richard Nixon and began operation on December 2, 1970.

Responding to widespread environmental degradation, Gaylord Nelson, a United States Senator from Wisconsin and an environmental activist, called for a national day to celebrate the earth, to be held on April 22, 1970. The first Earth Day had 20 million participants and celebrants across the United States. Earth Day is now observed each year on April 22 by more than 500 million people and national governments in 170 countries.

The tanker Othello releases between 60.000 and 100.000 tons of fuel after a collision in bay of Tralhavet , Sweden.

The first international environmental authority, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Washington, is run by an administrator with cabinet rank, although without the status of a minister.

Bleach is accidentally added to a rail truck carrying hydrochloric acid, creating a large cloud of chlorine gas. There are 67 casualties, some with serious respiratory problems.

In 1970 the Council of Europe launched European Conservation Year.

The European Declaration on Nature Conservation is passed at the conference.

Unrecognised offenders discharged highly toxic Thiodan into the river Rhine near Bingen which caused the decease of at least 40 million whitings and eels downstream in Germany and the Netherlands.

The Federal Home Office gains a department of the environment.

The first environmental ministry at state (Land) level is set up in Bavaria.

From 4-13 September 1968, an intergovernmental conference of experts took place at UNESCO House in Paris on 'the scientific basis for the rational use and conservation of the resources of the biosphere'. The 'Biosphere Conference', as it became to be known, was organized by UNESCO, with the active participation of the United Nations, FAO and WHO , and in co-operation with IUCN and ICSU's International Biological Programme (IBP). More than 300 delegates from 60 countries took part, coming from a wide variety of scientific fields, management and diplomacy. This was the first world-wide meeting at the intergovernmental level to adopt a series of recommendations concerning environmental problems and to highlight their growing importance and their global nature. The conference was the occasion on which the n ow familiar word 'biosphere' made its entry into international life and where it w o n its recognition in our present language, having been confined previously to those limited circles familiar with the writings of Vernadsky or Teilhard de Chardin.