Dear readers,

First of all, we would like to wish you a very successful and happy year 2002! We hope to continue the delivery of Coastal Guide News in its appreciated quality throughout the coming year, but unfortunately, the funding of this newsletter is not secured. The good news is: you can help us to change that! If we manage to recruit at least 1200 new members to EUCC-The Coastal Union within the coming three months, we can continue the publication. We are quite confident that you can support this recruitment process by convincing your own or related organisations to become a member. Or if you are not yet a Private Member, please join now, the fee is only 20 euro! Professional Members (35 euro) enjoy our special services including free online access to the Journal of Coastal Conservation (JCC). The fees for Central & Eastern Europe and developing countries, by the way, are reduced by 50 percent.

As a member, you support international efforts for the conservation and sustainable development of our coastlines. Join the world's largest network of coastal practitioners and experts, and keep up-to-date on professional information. Interested? Please check out our homepage at http://www.eucc.nl and fill in the membership form

For now, happy reading of this Coastal Guide News issue, a rather thin one as not much seems to have happened in the coastal world over the past weeks.

Your EUCC Coastal Guide News editorial team

Information & Meetings
	New in the Coastal Guide website
	Conferences & Events
	New Coastal Publications
	South-Korean film on European dune management drives message home
	European Commission plans "Green days" to promote Natura 2000

Development & Trends
	First Dutch off-shore wind park approved for North Sea

Policy
	Committee of the Regions highlights coast and integrated approach

New in the Coastal Guide website

ICM Progress Report Greece

In our section Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) in Europe, the country report on Greece, including the annex "Legal framework for environmental management and protection and physical planning in the Strymonikos coastal zone" has been added.
You can find it at http://www.coastalguide.org/icm/

Events recently announded

Please note:
The overview of the Coastal Guide conference and event  meeting list can be found at http://www.coastalguide.org/meetings/
 

New Coastal Publications
 
 

The Development and Application of Ecological Networks: A Review of Proposals, Plans and Programmes By Graham Bennett and Piet Wit (2001, 132 pp.). Syzygy, PO Box 412, 6500 AK Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Fax +24 68 44 406, www.syzygy.nl. With summaries in French and Spanish. This report comprises a world-wide review of 38 ecological network initiatives that are currently being developed or implemented. It includes an inventory of a wide range of proposals, plans and ongoing programmes to establish ecological networks at scales varying from the regional to intercontinental, and summary findings on the main features of the initiatives. In the context of this study, an ecological network is regarded as a coherent system of natural and/or semi-natural landscape elements that is configured and managed with the objective of maintaining or restoring ecological functions as a means to conserve biodiversity while also providing appropriate opportunities for the sustainable use of natural resources.

South Korean film on European dune management drives message home

End of last year, a South Korean camera team visited Europe in order to film and research coastal restoration projects in the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain, hoping to repeat a previous success story: In November 2000, The South Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) filmed in the Netherlands and interviewed some experts on policy and management of the Dutch dunes. The reason for producing the film was the planned construction of a main road in a pristine dune area along the South Korean coast. In February 2001, a compilation of South Korean, Dutch and also British footage was broadcast in Korea. The film showed the importance of dune systems and the harmful effect caused by the destruction of dunes. It turned out to be a great success. Directly after the broadcast, the TV audience protested and the web site of the local government was flooded by visitors. Within a few days the road under construction was suspended. Two weeks later, the local government surrendered; they cancelled the whole project. Within the coming few weeks, many of the developing plans in coastal area all around the country were suspended.
For more information, contact Drs. Harrie van der Hagen, Dune Water Company of South Holland, h.hagen@dzh.nl

European Commission plans "Green days" to promote Natura 2000

The European Commission wants to encourage authorities, NGOs and other environmental protection organisations to organise "Green Days" parallel to the conference "Green Week", which the DG Environment is organising in Brussels from 15 to 19 April 2002. Green Days dedicated to Natura 2000 will be coordinated by a European network of site managers called Eurosite. The objective is to promote small events in all EU Member States between 13 and 21 April, which improve the understanding and acceptance of Natura 2000 at local and regional level. Eurosite supports these events by ensuring that they will be part of a European wide publicised network of activities. For more information, contact eurositenl@eurosite-nature.org,
European Commission DG Environment: http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/index_en.htm

First Dutch off-shore wind park approved for North Sea

End of last year, the Dutch Ministry of Transport granted the permit for establishing the first wind turbine park in the North Sea, 23 km off shore. Several Dutch NGOs, among them the North Sea Foundation, filed their concerns about the project this January and called for a strict monitoring and evaluation programme. They fear that this project by the company E-Connection will get sooner off the ground than the demonstration project "Near Shore Windmolenpark". With this decision, the Netherlands follow a general trend: The Earth Policy Institute in the USA just published preliminary data that suggest that the world wind electric generating capacity climbed by 31 percent from 17.800 megawatts in 2000 to an estimated 23.300 megawatts in 2001.
Contact Sytske van den Akker (s.vandenakker@noordzee.nl) for more information on the Dutch project. The Earth Policy press release can be found on http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update5.htm

Committee of the Regions highlights coast and integrated approach

The Committee of the Regions stressed the importance of the coast and integrated approaches to its management in several of its recently published opinions on Commission documents. Concerning the Commission proposals on preventing marine oil accidents such as the "Erika", the Committee noted: "The issues of maritime safety, marine pollution, and coastal zone management are inextricably linked". Furthermore it remarks: "The major criticism of the European Commission's proposals is that there is an assumption that an ever increasing level of technical measure and reliance on technology can replace the science and art of seamanship and sound management ashore". As for the Commission's sixth environmental action programme, the Committee "advocates the adoption of a strategy to conserve the marine environment, and recommends to be extended to cover the nature and bio-diversity of coastal areas and estuaries, especially as regards the impact of tourism and the potential offered by innovative eco-tourism".
The complete texts can be viewed under http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/oj/2001/c_35720011214en.html

Deadline for submitting contributions to Coastal Guide News No 2: 23 January, 2002

COASTAL GUIDE NEWS is a biweekly newsletter published by the European Union for Coastal Conservation (EUCC) with financial support of Stichting DOEN, the foundation of the Dutch lottery "Postcode Loterij" and the Department of International Nature Affairs of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries. For free subscriptions, comments or contributions to this newsletter, please contact news@coastalguide.org. 

Members of the Coastal Guide News editorial team: Erik Devilee, Irene Lucius, Hanneke Mesters, Albert Salman, Virginie Terrier.
 

Established in 1989, the European Union for Coastal Conservation (EUCC) is an association involving the largest coastal network in Europe with 750 members and member organisations in 40 countries. For more information please contact EUCC International Secretariat, POB 11232, NL-2301 EE Leiden, the Netherlands, tel.: +31-71-5122900, internet: http://www.eucc.nl
 

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