On World Water Day, Centar za životnu sredinu/ Friends of the Earth Bosnia and Herzegovina is highlighting how international development banks are underwriting a swath of destructive hydro-energy projects across Southeast Europe – including many in protected areas.
Naturvernforbundet/Friends of the Earth Norway joined an international coalition of environmental and human rights groups today for a new campaign to end the dumping of hazardous mine waste, known as tailings, into oceans, rivers and lakes. The practice smothers seabed floors and coral reefs, threatens fisheries, and harms human and wildlife health.
A tougher ban on three neonicotinoid pesticides is urgently needed, Friends of the Earth Europe said, after a major new report published today confirmed comprehensive evidence of the threat these chemicals pose to Europe's bees.
The European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA) much-awaited assessment of the highly controversial pesticides reviews the scientific evidence since the ban was introduced in 2013. The evidence shows that outdoor uses of neonicotinoid pesticides represent a risk to wild bees and honeybees.
Desislava Stoyanova, from Za Zemiata/Friends of the Earth Bulgaria, on how the Bulgarian people are refusing to submit to their government's plans to decimate some of the country's most pristine protected areas. Read the original post on Bankwatch here.
For almost two months now, Bulgarians from across the country and abroad have taken to the streets to defend the country's natural mountainscape against new developments.
More than a decade into a campaign to save a vast, unspoilt natural area behind Dubrovnik from a hugely unpopular – and illegal – golf resort, the developers have pressed the red button and taken Zelena akcija/Friends of the Earth Croatia to court.
Fossil Free Europe victory for Norway
The Norwegian government has announced that the arctic Lofoten islands will be protected against oil and gas drilling for at least the next four years. This marks a significant victory for a Fossil Free Europe.
Thousands of protesters are expected tonight on the streets of central Sofia and 15 other Bulgarian cities, objecting to corruption and the illegal decision to permit a ski resort and commercial logging in Pirin National Park. It coincides with a visit of all EU Commissioners and the opening ceremony of the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU in Sofia.
A spectacular nature haven in southwestern Bulgaria, home to twice as many butterfly species as the whole of the UK and protected by EU nature laws, is under threat from an illegal EU-funded motorway from Sofia to Greece.
The Bulgarian Government in October 2017 decided it will carve an international highway through the 16km-long Kresna Gorge, supported by hundreds of millions of EU taxpayer funds – in spite of an EU order to bypass the Gorge.
Norway’s environmental minister Vidar Helgesen has just approved the biggest wolf hunt in Norway for a hundred years. Only 52-56 wolves live in Norway, but the minister wants 42 of them to be shot this winter, among them two important family packs in Osdalen and Julussa, near the border to Sweden. This is the second winter in a row that such a major cull has been allowed – but last year’s was prevented after a major popular and international outcry.
Next week EU Member States will discuss and may vote on a proposal from the European Commission to ban bee harming neonicotinoid pesticides on all crops outdoors.
This would be a huge step forwards to help combat the worrying decline of bees and other insects, and increase protection for our pollinators.