Ohrid Lake facing damage by EBRD financed infrastructure projects
January 12, 2015
Concerns mount about increasing threats to Macedonia’s protected areas and the Lake Ohrid UNESCO site by EBRD investments in fast-tracked infrastructure projects.
Boskov Most suspected of breaching Council of Europe nature protection convention
December 5, 2014
Skopje/ Strasbourg – The Standing Committee of the Bern Convention, a binding international legal instrument in the field of nature conservation for signatory countries, announced today (pdf) that it will open a case file to address the complaint made by Eko-svest about the planned hydropower plants in Mavrovo national park.
How much will the Macedonian hydropower plant Boskov Most really cost?
December 5, 2014
The total costs of the Boskov Most hydropower plant project in Macedonia will possibly cost more than twice the projected EUR 84 million, considering that many aspects have so far not been studied or remain unresolved.
Another David vs. Goliath fight in Poland over road construction in Natura 2000 site
October 7, 2014
Road construction in Poland can be a cause for great controversy in Poland not least when incomprehensible roads designs clash with nature.
Video: A mockumentary about biodiversity offsetting
July 10, 2014
Компенсация потерь биоразнообразия в Европейском Союзе станет осуществившейся мечтой для некоторых инвесторов и настоящим кошмаром для природы.
Video: A mockumentary about biodiversity offsetting
July 10, 2014
Biodiversity offsetting in the European Union would be a dream come true for some investors – and a nightmare for nature.
The hydropower plant Boskov Most, Macedonia
May 6, 2014
In November 2011 the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development approved a EUR 65 million credit to ELEM, a Macedonian state-owned company for the construction and management of the hydro power plant “Boskov Most”. Around 80% of the project falls into the territory of the “Mavrovo” National Park.
Threat posed by hydro to Mavrovo National Park under the spotlight at Skopje conference
April 15, 2014
On Thursday in Skopje, over 100 people attended the first public conference [mk] regarding the two planned hydropower plants in the Mavrovo National Park, one of the oldest and most valuable protected areas in the country. A petition to save the park that was launched one day earlier has already gathered over 13 000 signatures.
UPDATE: Danube dam-busting – Under the radar EU funds grab spotted in Slovakia
March 25, 2014
A highly problematic Danube dam project has found its way into the Slovak Operational Programme for the Cohesion Policy spending in the 2014-2020 period and has become a small scandal in the country.
Whose Energy Community? Treaty improvements urgently needed
March 20, 2014
The EU-backed Energy Community Treaty, signed in 2005 and comprising the western Balkan countries, Ukraine and Moldova, has been widely hailed as encouraging regional co-operation. It also sets a legislative framework for the signatories (also known as the contracting parties) that should contribute, along with the EU accession process, to addressing the environmental and social impacts of the energy sector. Indeed, examples of the Energy Community’s added value are its adoption of renewable energy targets in October 2012, as well as a requirement for power plants to comply with EU emissions limits.
