.gif){kind=small}
BACK TO HOME
PAGE BACK TO HOME
PAGE EUROPEAN REVIEW
EVERY YEAR THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) publish a report on the condition of European forests. This year's makes sobering reading as it highlights the continued general decline in the EU and across the wider continent. Only a little over a third of trees in Europe can be described as healthy. The report is based on a large sample of 5,700 16 kilometre square plots which include a total of about 129,000 trees, a further 864 plots are subjected to more intensive monitoring. This measures nitrogen, sulphur and ozone air pollution and climate as well as the nutrient status and vitality of trees and ground vegetation. Monitoring over the last year has revealed that whilst sulphur pollution has reduced, 50% of the plots have had over 14 kilogrammes of nitrogen dumped on each hectare (approx. 21/2 acres). This, among other factors, worsened defoliation which increased on about 30% of the observation plots and improved on only 15%.
There are regional differences within Europe according to the report: tree condition in western and central areas has improved whereas the Mediterranean region has suffered a considerable increase in defoliation. The Mediterranean countries also suffer the most from another destroyer of forests: fire. The EU has recently released figures which show that the area of land affected by forest fires reduced in the mid 1990s, however 2000 is proving to be a bad year. Already the total of 331,743 hectares burned in Greece this year exceeds the total for the entire EU in 1998 (295,603 hectares). The Environment Directorate is trying to do something to reduce the figures in the future by co-ordinating Member States' efforts at fire-fighting and by instituting a system of fire warning based on parameters like fire history, vegetation, population density, density of roads, degree of environmental protection, evaporation, wind direction and cloud cover (see map above).
|
The 2000 Report on the Forest Condition in Europe is on the Internet at : | |
|
'Adobe Acrobat Reader' to view it can be downloaded at |
|
THE TERRIBLE DISASTER off the coast of the Greek island of Paros in September has led to new measures both by the EU and the Greek government to ensure shipping safety. Shortly after the sinking of the 'Express Samina' the Greek Prime Minister, Costas Simitis, announced a full review of the domestic shipping sector including the possibility of liberalising the market before the 2006 deadline set by the EU. 65 elderly ferries were banned from sailing as they did not meet EU safety standards; it also emerged that Greece has an exemption from the 27 year age limit for ferries and is allowed to keep them on the seas until they are 35 years old. EU ministers subsequently agreed to tough new rules for shipping in general. |
|
|
A diagram of the accident from the Greek press |
The health and safety arm of the European Trade Union Confederation (TUTB) recently hosted a conference on 'working without limits?'. It brought together trade unionists and scientists who stressed that work-related health complaints were on the increase and that intensification of work was largely to blame. Fatal accidents are currently running at 10,000 a year in the EU. Pascal Paoli, Head of Research at the European Foundation said, 'When we started our survey ... we thought that work-related ill health was a thing of the past. But now, with new types of work and work organisation we have ... new work-related disorders on top'. In a final discussion with politicians the importance of regulation was highlighted but criticism was made of the failure of the EU to implement directives on worker participation and consultation. 'Workers must be empowered in order to act', said Willy Buschak, ETUC secretary.
|
Back to |
Forward to |
Up to |
Back to |
