SalvaEco

But biotechnology supporters complained the bill would essentially uphold a "medieval" moratorium based on backward ideas about genetically altered crops.

The so-called "co-existence" law sets out rules to ensure conventional and organic crops are not contaminated by GM seeds, part of a web of European Union legislation aimed at allowing a controlled opening of the market to GM organisms.

But it will be up to each of Italy’s 20 regions to set the detailed rules and most of them have said they want to remain GM-free, effectively maintaining an unofficial EU- wide ban on GM foods which was formally lifted earlier this year.

Agriculture Minister Gianni Alemanno, who sought jail time for farmers who broke the rules, said he was "very pleased" by the legislation’s final passage in the Senate on Tuesday. It won approval in the lower house last week.

"We sought to… guarantee freedom of choice for Italian producers, while heading off the risk of diffuse and uncontrolled contamination by GM (organisms)," he was quoted as saying by ANSA news service. Roberto Gradnik, president of pro-bioindustry group Assobiotec, complained to local media the approval of the legislation was a step backwards.

"With this medieval-flavoured decision, our country denies to agriculture companies the freedom to choose to cultivate plants that are genetically modified," he said.

Any attempt to impose a blanket ban on GM farming would probably have prompted legal action from the European Commission, which has to ensure that use of such plants is allowed as long as they have passed safety tests.

Many European consumers and environmentalists fear the crops — whose genetic makeup has been altered, often for resistance to pesticides — might pose a hidden risk to health or wildlife.

Consumers have been eating GM food for years in the United States where it is not required to be separated from conventional strains or labelled.

Concursul ?Energia Naturii? initiat de SalvaEco s-a finisat cu succes. Participantii, cu varsta intre 10-15 ani, au dat dovada de cunostinte in domeniul ecologiei si au demonstrat ca le pasa de soarta naturii. ?Omul nu trebuie sa supuna forta si energia naturii, ci trebuie sa invete sa o utilizeze corect. Este de datoria noastra sa pastram planeta Pamant. Trebuie sa facem acest lucru de dragul urmasilor nostri.?(din eseul Victoriei Cojocaru). Unii dintre ei au dat dovada de ingeniozitate, anexand la esee, poezii si desene. in afara de scrisorile trimise din tara, pe adresa SalvaEco au venit ravase si din Romania.
Cele mai reusite lucrari au fost expediate de:
1.Midrigan Ana, com. Chiscareni, raionul Sangerei;
2.Cojocaru Victoria, s.Pepeni, raionul Sangerei;
3.Novac Victoria, mun.Chisinau;
4.Bojescu Ioana, jud. Neamt, Romania;
5.Bruma Ludmila, s.Trifauti, raionul Soroca;
6.Vacula Alina, s.Trifauti, raionul Soroca.
Castigatorii sunt invitati sambata 4 martie la adresa str. Cosmonautilor 6, biroul 403 la orele 10.00, unde vor participa la un seminar ?Poluatori si poluanti?. Ei vor lua premii de la finantatorii concursului: Ministerul Ecologiei si Resurselor Naturale, Agentia Ecologica Centru.
P.S. Premiantii care nu vor putea veni la data stabilita, sunt asteptati sambata, 11 martie intre orele 10.00-15.00 la aceeasi adresa.
Cele mai bune eseuri vor fi publicate pe [url=http://www.SalvaEco.org]www.SalvaEco.org[/url]

Tatiana Cimpoies

"Interdependence is no longer disputed," said Blair, speaking to a forum of business and political leaders. "If America wants the rest of the world to be part of the agenda it has set, it must be part of their agenda too."

President George W. Bush’s inauguration speech last week showed the United States realised it could not defeat terror threats just by military means or on its own, said Blair, one of the US leader’s staunchest allies.

Defending the speech, which was accused of not reflecting the reality of US policies, Blair said its support for extending democracy and liberty "emphatically puts defeating the causes of terrorism alongside defeating the terrorists."

Blair said after international divisions over the war in Iraq, there was "a wish to re-unify." He has predicted Bush’s second term would see more account taken of the views of Europe, which the president visits next month on a fence- mending trip.

There was common purpose in fighting global terrorism, extending democracy and seeking peace in the Middle East, said Blair, stressing that those issues and his agenda for this year’s Group of Eight presidency could not be decoupled.

Blair wants to focus British leadership of the G8 group of leading industrialised nations on relieving poverty and disease in Africa and on combating climate change.

But the Bush administration has little enthusiasm for mandatory action to tackle the warming of the planet.

It has refused to sign up to the Kyoto protocol on cutting emissions thought to cause global warming, arguing it would cost US jobs and unfairly burden developed states while imposing no obligation on poorer polluting states such as China and India.

LOW COST CLIMATE SOLUTION

A broad belief in Europe that scientists have proved global warming is a reality is not so widely shared in the United States. The evidence of climate change had been clearly and persuasively advocated by a very large number of entirely independent and compelling voices, said Blair. "The majority is not always right. But they deserve to be listened to."

If governments proposed solutions involving drastic but justified cuts in growth or living standards they would not be agreed, Blair conceded.

But global warming could be tackled without enormous economic cost through more intelligent use of science, a greater contribution by rapidly developing economies and market mechanisms like emissions trading, he argued.

"We need to send a clear signal that whilst we continue to analyse science … we are united in moving in the direction of greenhouse gas reductions," said Blair.

An international panel of experts this week described global warming as an "ecological time bomb" and warned that without fast action carbon concentrations would push global temperatures up from pre-industrial times by 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

That level would trigger "substantial agricultural losses, greatly increased numbers of people at risk of water shortages, and widespread adverse health impacts," the panel warned.

Blair used his speech to repeat his call for more aid for Africa, faster?debt relief, imaginative financing of help for the continent and a dismantling of unfair trade barriers.

He speaks on a panel on Africa on Thursday with rock star Bono, South African President Thabo Mbeki, Microsoft chief Bill Gates and former US president Bill Clinton.

in cadrul unei sedinte la inceputul anului 2006, la Ministerul Ecologiei si Resurselor Naturale, unde au participat specialisti de la Institutul de Botanica, Academia de Ştiinte, Asociatia de Gospodarie a Spatiilor Verzi, s-a adoptat un plan de actiuni privind defrisarea plopilor canadieni de pe strazile minicipiului Chisinau pe o perioada de 5 ani. in anul 2006, dintre cei 8000 de copaci vor fi taiati 300(15%), in locul lor vor fi saditi altii, iar 2000 de plopi vor fi renovati.

Aceste actiuni prevad rezolvarea problemelor cauzate de plopi. Ei provoaca boli respiratorii si creaza incomoditati persoanelor alergice din cauza pufului emanat. De asemenea, ei afecteaza acoperisurile blocurilor locative, mai ales in zona cartierelor vechi ale orasului unde sunt case cu 2-5 nivele.

in locul acestor arbori se propun alte specii ( plopul hibridic ), care creste repede si nu emana puf.

Valentina Cernea

Pe viitor aici se vor sadi copaci de talie mare.

Mariana Cazac

But far from making any recommendations for action to their political masters, the scientists from 30 countries will review the state of knowledge and try to define just what constitutes "dangerous" levels of climate warming.

"We will not try to come up with a consensus number on what should be a target. That is a job for the politicians," conference chairman Dennis Tirpak said on Wednesday.

"The purpose is to have a debate of the scientific facts. We will collect the best information we have to give to the politicians … but don’t expect to make any recommendations," he told reporters.

It is a far cry from the fanfare with which British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced the conference last September, promising a cutting edge meeting that would set the political agenda for his presidency of the Group of Seven rich nations.

Scientists have said that two degrees centigrade of warming is already expected — with a major input from human activities like burning fossil fuels to generate electricity, which produces vast quantities of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

They have also warned that warming of more than that will start to fuel itself, pushing the planet into the unknown as ice caps melt, sea levels rise and weather patterns change at accelerating rates, putting millions of people at risk.

An international report this week said the climate was a ticking time bomb and urgent action was needed now to curb greenhouse gas emissions. One computer model predicted climate warming of up to a catastrophic 11 degrees.

Environment campaigner Tony Juniper of Friends of the Earth was upbeat about the meeting.

"A clear demonstration of a scientific consensus will send an unmistakable message to the politicians that they have to take action on carbon dioxide emissions now," he said.

The scientists from countries as varied as Australia, India, Sri Lanka, China and Japan will meet in isolation for three days starting on Tuesday — ?ust two weeks before the Kyoto climate change treaty finally kicks in.

A tiny step to limit rising temperatures, Kyoto aims to cut CO2 emissions by developed states by 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12.

The United States — the world’s biggest generator of greenhouse gases — has refused to sign up.

Pentru a asigura posibilitatea realizarii dreptului la un mediu inconjurator prielnic, pentru a garanta accesul publicului la informatiile ecologice, Republica Moldova a semnat la Aarhus (Danemarca) in 1998 |Conventia privind accesul la informatie, justitie si participarea publicului la adoptarea deciziilor in domeniul mediului". Aceasta Conventie a fost adoptata la Conferinta a patra ministeriala |Un mediu pentru Europa" la Aarhus, pe 25 iunie 1998 si a fost ratificata de catre 16 tari. Ea are la baza trei principii fundamentale: accesul la informatia ecologica (Art. 4-5), participarea publicului la luarea deciziilor (Art.6-8) si accesul la justitie (Art.9).
in acest context sambata, 11 februarie, la Facultatea de Biologie si Pedologie s-a organizat un training in cadrul Programului de Instruire a Tinerilor Formatori ACCELS, coordonator Tatiana Echim.in cadrul acestui training s-a urmarit instruirea participantilor in vederea valorificarii dreptului de acces la informatia ecologica, drept garantat de Conventia de la Aarhus si legislatia tarii. Trainingul a fost moderat de catre studentele de la Facultatea de Biologie si Pedologie, Nadejda Gindea si Mariana Ursu.
Printre expertii invitati, se numara Radu Bajureanu, prim-sef adjunct la Agentia Ecologica Centru, Vasile Şalaru, seful Catedrei de Biologie, Ecologie si Silvicultura la USM, Victor Şalaru, Tatiana Dudnicenco, Elena Andronic- profesori universitari la USM.
Timp de 5 ore participantii au invatat cum sa opereze cu prevederile acestei Conventii, cum sa intocmeasca cereri pentru a obtine informatii ecologice, cum sa determine restrictiile juridice ale accesului la informatie ecologica si au obtinut date despre autoritatile de stat, care culeg, pastreaza si difuzeaza diferite genuri de informatie ecologica.
Mariana Cazac

Starea acologica in RM;
Mediu si sanatatea populatiei;
Probleme Globale de Mediu;
Energia alternativa (biogazul, energia eoliana, energia solara ….)
Proiecte controversate ecologice;
Legislatia de mediu;
Turism ecologic, rural …..
reciclarea deseurilor;
Arii protejate;
resursele naturale: apa, solul, flora/fauna
etc.

Sambata 28 ianuarie ora 14.00 in of. SalvaEco, str. Cosmnautilor 6, va avea loc primul seminar cu tema: Problemele globale de mediu. Doritorii de a participa la seminare sunt rugati sa-si anunte participarea pana joi 26 ianuarie ora 17.00.

EU health inspectors plan to test national governments to see how they cope with any outbreak of the virus and stop it from harming humans and animals, the EU’s health and food safety chief said.

Last week, the World Health Organisation warned that th? virus, known to have killed 27 people in Vietnam and 12 in Thailand over the past year, was endemic in Asia and appeared to be evolving in ways that favoured the start of a human outbreak.

"So far, the infection of humans by humans is the main concern, but this hasn’t happened to a worrying extent," EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou told reporters. "And some scientists say a pandemic is overdue."

"We are insisting that member states have ‘preparedness bans’. We will have test exercises on member states for dealing with these issues. It’s not only the time required to prepare a vaccine but also the time for industry to get them ready."

In Europe, several countries have found themselves forced to react quickly to a bird flu outbreak in their poultry sectors. The Netherlands, for example, slaughtered a quarter of its poultry after an outbreak infected 90 people and killed one.

What scientists fear most is that the bird flu virus could mutate if it infected a person sick with ordinary flu, or got into an animal hosting a human flu virus, such as a pig.

If the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus were to merge with a human flu virus, they say, then it could produce a strain capable of sweeping through a human population without immunity, possibly killing millions worldwide.

The threat of a bird flu epidemic in humans has health officials so worried that more than 120 million poultry birds were destroyed during the first quarter of last year in an effort to control its spread among animals.