From Death Zone to Lifeline: Iron Curtain becomes Green Belt
In his opening address to the three-day meeting of experts from across Europe, Professor Hartmut Vogtmann, President of the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) called the Green Belt initiative “a historic chance with broad importance both for nature conservation and for people in a Europe growing together”.
Experts from the 22 countries that border the Green Belt agreed that this
project has an important role to play in the future of trans-boundary
cooperation. Tamas Marghescu, IUCN Regional Director for Europe, said of
the initiative, “the Green Belt will connect the protected areas along the former Iron Curtain like pearls along a string to create a single lifeline for biodiversity running the entire length of Europe. This will be the backbone of an ecological network that allows for the better adaptation of nature to future climate change.”
From Iron Curtain to Green Belt
The Iron Curtain, a political, ideological and physical barrier that separated
Europe for over 40 years, created a forbidden zone to people along its entire
length. Elsewhere landscapes were being shaped and modified by intensive
agricultural and development processes, but habitats within the forbidden zone
were given a 40-year breath of life. Thus many of Europe’s important habitats
and ecosystems fall along the route of the former Iron Curtain.
Since May 2004 there are ten new members of the European Union, eight of
which share the Green Belt. These countries must now conform to the EU’s
legislation for nature conservation, which includes the establishment of Natura
2000, the EU’s network of protected areas. It is hoped that the Green Belt will
advance cooperation for nature conservation and sustainable development across the member states of the enlarged EU and the remaining European countries.
For more details, please see: http://www.iucn.org/info_and_news/press/prgreenbelt.pdf
World Conservation Union http://www.iucn.org
Please also see:
Exploring the Links: Human Well-being, Poverty and Ecosystem Services
http://www.iisd.org/publications/publication.asp?pno=644
In his opening address to the three-day meeting of experts from across Europe, Professor Hartmut Vogtmann, President of the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) called the Green Belt initiative “a historic chance with broad importance both for nature conservation and for people in a Europe growing together”.
Experts from the 22 countries that border the Green Belt agreed that this
project has an important role to play in the future of trans-boundary
cooperation. Tamas Marghescu, IUCN Regional Director for Europe, said of
the initiative, “the Green Belt will connect the protected areas along the former Iron Curtain like pearls along a string to create a single lifeline for biodiversity running the entire length of Europe. This will be the backbone of an ecological network that allows for the better adaptation of nature to future climate change.”
From Iron Curtain to Green Belt
The Iron Curtain, a political, ideological and physical barrier that separated
Europe for over 40 years, created a forbidden zone to people along its entire
length. Elsewhere landscapes were being shaped and modified by intensive
agricultural and development processes, but habitats within the forbidden zone
were given a 40-year breath of life. Thus many of Europe’s important habitats
and ecosystems fall along the route of the former Iron Curtain.
Since May 2004 there are ten new members of the European Union, eight of
which share the Green Belt. These countries must now conform to the EU’s
legislation for nature conservation, which includes the establishment of Natura
2000, the EU’s network of protected areas. It is hoped that the Green Belt will
advance cooperation for nature conservation and sustainable development across the member states of the enlarged EU and the remaining European countries.
For more details, please see: http://www.iucn.org/info_and_news/press/prgreenbelt.pdf
World Conservation Union http://www.iucn.org
Please also see:
Exploring the Links: Human Well-being, Poverty and Ecosystem Services
http://www.iisd.org/publications/publication.asp?pno=644