N ational assessments of the policy , legislativ e and ins...

National assessments of the policy, legislative and institutional frameworks related to the Carpathian Convention

SLOVAKIA

R E C G R E Y P A P E R

Document produced under the project “Support for the implementation of the Carpathian Convention” financed by the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea and implemented by the REC in partnership with EURAC.

Ministry for the Environment Land and Sea

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National assessment of the national policy, legislative and institutional frameworks related to the Carpathian

convention

Slovakia

Document prepared by Ingrid Belcakova Document produced under the project “Support for the implementation of the Carpathian Convention” financed by the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea and implemented by the REC in partnership with EURAC.

DISCLAIMER These National Assessments have been prepared by independent national experts and reviewed in the course of stakeholders meetings. They have not been edited and are not intended for publication in the present form. The National Assessments will be made available on internet in both English and national language versions. They will, serve as the basis of a Regional Assessment to be published in the second phase of the project. Annexes to the national assessments are available upon request from the REC. The following national experts are the authors of the National Assessments: Czech Republic Jana Hajduchova. The first draft of the

assessment was prepared by ZO CSOP Veronica

Hungary Laszlo Mathe and Fiona Borthwick Poland Wojciech Mroz Romania Emilian Burdusel Serbia Jelka Crnobrnja-Isailovic and Rada Matic Slovakia Ingrid Belcakova Ukraine Tetyana Budyakova, with the assistance of

Dmytro Skrylnikov and Anatoly Pavelko. The first draft of the assessment was prepared by Yaroslav Dovhanych

The opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the REC, EURAC or the Italian Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea. The information in the present assessment is valid as of 30 June 2005.

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QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF THE NATIONAL POLICY, LEGISLATIVE AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKS RELATED TO THE

CARPATHIAN CONVENTION SECTION I. GENERAL ISSUES

1. Which is the percentage of Your Country’s territory occupied by a mountain region? In case your country includes also other mountain ranges, please specify how much of this territory is occupied by the Carpathian Mountains?

Mountain regions occupy about 71.5% of the country’s territory, i.e. 35,050km2 out of 49,035km 2 (EURAC, 2005). This represents 22% of the overall Carpathian Convention area , which means that Slovakia contains the second largest proportion of the Carpathians . All the mountainous areas in Slovakia belong to the Carpathian mountain range. The Carpathian area comprises all the environmentally important areas. Slovakia has approved the delimitation of CC territory that corresponds to the transnational appr oaches resulting from scientific criteria (see Figure 1.) Approximately 40-45% of the total amount of forested land is covered by semi-natural forests that are naturally renewed; their specific composition differs only slightly from the natural forests. In Slovakia, more than 70 examples of natural forests and virgin forests have been preserved.

2. Did your country ratify the Carpathian Convention? If yes, please mention the

official title of the ratification act. If not, mention if the procedure for ratification has been initiated and what is the current status. If no procedure for ratification has been initiated, please mention any plans to do so and the estimated timeframe (also mention what are the reasons).

The Slovak Government approved accession to the Carpathian Convention through Decree No.194/2004. Slovakia later ratified the Convention by means of depositing the approved document to the Convention depository (No.72/23-612-2075).

3. Please give the title and contact details of the national Focal Point for the

Carpathian Convention and make reference to the official document according to which it was nominated.

Mrs. Viera Vilinovicova, Ministry for the Environment, Nám.L.Štúra1, Bratislava, (tel.: +421 2 5956 1111) was nominated by the Slovak Ministry for the Environment in an official letter dated 31 March 2005.

4. Have any authorities in your country, at any level, developed a specific action plan

or program for the implementation of part or all of the Carpathian Convention? If yes, please provide copies, and specify the responsible authority, and financial sources for the action (e.g. donor support, budgetary allocations etc.), if known.

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No action plan has been developed yet for the implementation of the Carpathian Convention. However, there is a Strategy for the implementation and capacity building of the Rio Declarations (biodiversity, climate, desertification, cross -cutting issues), which stipulates the general objectives and measures regarding the sustainable development of the territory.

5. Please list the national environmental policies that exist in your country (provide title, year of adoption, responsible authority, legal status and scope). Indicate which among the following aspects are reflected within each policy and explain how they are reflected:

These are mainly: ü The State Environmental Policy Strategy (SEPS) This is the first fundamental

document concerning the implementation of sustainable development in Slovakia. This document was prepared by the Ministry of the Environment and approved on 7 September 1993 by resolution N o. 619 of the Slovak Government. It was subsequently approved by resolution No. 339 of the National Council of the Slovak Republic on 18 November 1993.

The SEPS arises from an analysis of the environment and its various constituent parts. On

this basis, the SEPS determines the priorities of state environmental policy and sets out its aims. Environmental policy contains measures aimed primarily at the protection of the air and the ozone layer, the protection and rational use of water and inorganic natural resources, waste management, the protection of nature and landscape, and the conceptual goals of spatial development.

The SEPS distinguishes three types of goal according to the time scale (long-term - strategic, middle -term, short-term). Slovak environmental policy is oriented mainly towards :

- Decreasing the negative effects of the polluted and damaged environment on human health and human life expectancy

- Prevention of undesirable changes in ecosystems and degrada tion processes in the landscape

- Prevention of environmental debt and ensuring its decrease - Higher involvement of polluters and those who damage the environment in the

improvement of the environment; higher involvement of entrepreneurial subjects in the technology and services for environment protection

- Transformation of the economy from a structure with high energy and resources demands to a structure that rationally utilizes energy and resources

- Rational utilization of natural resources, promotion of alternative energy resources, sustainable agriculture, restoration of damaged forests and degraded areas, optimal utilisation and structure of the landscape

- Raising environmental awareness among the public , - Completion of the system of legal and economic tools, precise adherence to

existing norms, intensification of international co-operation in the field of the environment

Activities that can achieve the greatest and fastest positive effect on the environment are promoted by state environmental policy. This has also influenced the priorities of SEPS:

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§ Protection against air pollution (especially greenhouse gases) and global environmental safety.

§ Ensuring sufficient amounts of drinking water and reducing other water pollution to below the permissible level.

§ Protection of soil against degradation and ensuring safe foodstuffs and other products.

§ Minimisation of waste production, its recycling and correct disposal.

ü The National Environmental Action Programme (NEAP), accepted by the Slovak

Government in 1996 and adopted by the Resolution of the Slovak Government No. 350/1996, which was followed by eight regional environmental action programmes (KEAPs) and 79 district environmental action programmes (OEAPs) elaborated in 1997, and the second National Environmental Action Programme (1999) introduced measures for achieving the goals of the SEPS in all sectors related to the protection and management of the environment. The updated NEAP II, which was adopted by Government Resolution 1112/1999 in December 1999, is a follow-up to the first NEAP and was determined by the existing environmental situation. Its principal building blocks are the application of the principles of sustainable development and transposition, and the implementation of EU environmental legislation, which was determined by the strategic objective of the Slovak Republic to join the European Union.

ü The National Environmental Action Programme of the Slovak Republic for 2003 –

2010 (2003) This strategic document, prepared by the Ministry of the Environment , is now in the process of commentary and has not yet been approved by the Government. (There were strong public comments on the proposed construction of new dams.) The document sets out priorities and proposes actions, respecting the principles of the State Environmental Policy. It also includes a SWOT analysis of the situation in each sector. Unfortunately, most of the proposed activities are focused on technical solutions and big investments (waterworks, stream regulations, waste incinerators) rather than on a sustainable and integrated approach or the prevention of problems. This approach on the part of the Ministry of the Environment is probably motivated by the idea that it is easier to obtain EU resources for big investments than for soft solutions. For this reason, several NGOs have expressed criticism of this document.

ü The National Strategy for Sustainable Development in the Slovak Republic (NSSDS,

in 2002) This complex document was developed between 1999 and 2001 by the Ministry of the Environment and was approved by the Slovak Government in October 2001 and by the Slovak Parliament in April 2002 (http://www.enviro.gov.sk/minis/). This basic document is considered as the framework for the application of environmental legislation in Slovakia.

ü The Regional Strategy for the Sustainable Development of Slovak regions (RSSDS,

in 2002) This is the elaboration of the National Strategy for Sustainable Development for particular regions, in accordance with the principles of Local Agenda 21 and accepted by the Slovak Government.

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One good example of this is the coordination of the Regional Agendas 21 by REC Slovakia with the support of UNDP and the Ministry of the Environment in Stredne Pohronie , as well as by the NGO People and Water in Levoca/Sabinov districts in 2002 – 2003. The Slovak Environmental Protection Agency is preparing Regional Agendas 21 in other regions using methodology developed in the framework of the REC Slovakia project “Capacity Building for Sustainable Development”.

ü The National Strategy for Biodiversity Protection in Slovakia (NSBPS 1999)

This document, prepared by the Ministry of the Environment and approved by the Government, contains several strategic goals: - Control of the processes that negatively impact biodiversity - Continuous replacement of unsuitable economic activities by ecological and

sustainable management - Support for biodiversity through the introduction of sustainable practices in hunting

and fishery - Change of policy towards the interconnection of biodiversity protection with the

utilisation of natural resources.

ü Actualised Action Plan for the Implementation of NSBPS for 2003 - 2010 This document defines the concrete activities that fulfil the strategic goals of NSBPS.

ü National Development Plan of Slovakia (NDP)

This is the basic development document for the implementation of the structural and regional policies of the Slovak Republic for the period 2004–2006, prepared by the Ministry for Construction and Regional Development. The NDP identifies balanced regional development as one of its specific objectives, addresses disparities in the levels of development of individual regions, and supports their long-term sustainable agricultural and social growth. The situation in Slovakia is complicated because of the disparity between the NUTS II regions, as well as within these regions, mainly with respect to infrastructure and access to information. The NDP is related to operational programmes (OP). The NDP and OPs were approved by the resolution of the Slovak Government No. 606/2002. At present a new National Development Plan 2007 –2013 is being prepared. This is the first one to apply for Slovak access to the Structural and Cohesion Funds of the European Union.

ü The Actualised Environmental Regionalisation of the Slovak Republic (2002)

This document of the Ministry of the Environment, prepared by the Slovak Agency for the Environment, is an important source of information on the state of the environment in Slovakia, for experts as well as for the public (in accordance with the valid legislation on free access to information). This document defines so-called Stressed Areas as areas with the highest environmental burdens (http://www.sazp.sk/slovak/struktur a).

ü Plan for the Spatial Development of Slovakia 2001 – KURS 2001 (Koncepcia úze mného rozvoja Slovenska 2001) The KURS 2001 was prepared for the whole territory of the Slovak Republic. It deals with the spatial distribution and functional use of Slovak territory and sets out the framework for the social, economic, environmental and cultural requirements of the state in terms of spatial development, care of the environment and the form of the Slovak Republic and its regions.

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It mainly deals with:

a) the distribution and hierarchy of the structure of settlements and the connections between settlements and economic agglomerations in international and state contexts; b) the development of the main urban axes of Slovakia; c) principles for the regulation of spatial planning with the aim of forming equivalent living standards across the whole of Slovakia and developing spatial assumptions for the improvement of the environment, for the assurance of ecological stability, for the preservation of the cultural/historic heritage and for sustainable development.

The KURS 2001 was conceived as the state-level spatial planning document. It synchronises concepts elaborated in different departments and under various ministries, and formulates the politics of the state in the area of land use in relation to the central European residential structure and in relation to the residential structure of the countries of the European Union. Binding outputs and fundamental requirements for the treatment of lower levels of spatial planning, mainly for the spatial plans of regions, are formulated from the KURS 2001. This follows from the European Charter for spatial planning and other documents of the EU, the Council of Europe and the UN.

The Ministry for the Environment of the Slovak Republic (MŽP) is the responsible authority for all the above -mentioned environmental policies apart from the KURS, responsibility for which is held by the Ministry for Construction and Regional Development of the Slovak Republic.

a. Improvement of quality of life KURS,SEPS,

NEAP, NSSDS, NDP by individual measures, programmes and projects

b. Strengthening of local economies and communities KURS NSSDS, RSSDS, NDP , by individual measures, programmes and projects

c. Conservation of natural values KURS SEPS, NSBPS, by individual measures, programmes and projects

d. Conservation of cultural heritage KURS SEPS,

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NSSDS, NSBPS, by individual measures, programmes and projects

e. Others

6. Please list the national mountain policies that exist in your country (provide title,

year of adoption, responsible authority, legal status and scope). Indicate which among the following aspects are reflected within each policy and explain how they are reflected:

There are neither mountain policies nor polices spec ifically for the Carpathians in Slovakia. There is no definition in the Slovak legal system of the mountain region (or of the Carpathian region) , which is why we have no such polices. All environmental policies have been prepared for the whole territory of Slovakia. All the aspects mentioned below are reflected mainly in the Slovak Spatial Development Perspective, 2001. An outline of the plan for state nature protection was presented at a meeting of the Slovak Government that dealt mainly with mountain areas, but this document has still not been approved.

a. Improvement of quality of life Yes (Slovak Spatial Development Perspectives)

b. Strengthening of local economies and communities Yes c. Conservation of natural values Yes, by

individual measures, programmes and projects

d. Conservation of cultural heritage Yes, by individual measures, programmes and projects

e. Forestry transformation Yes f. others

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7. Which of the following principles referred to in article 2 of the Convention are reflected in the policies listed in Questions 5 and 6 above?

Principles Environmental

policy Y/N

Mountain policy Y/N

a. The precautionary principle Y N b. The prevention principle Y N c. The “polluter pays” principle Y N d. Public participation and stakeholder involvement Y N e. Transboundary cooperation Y N f. The integrated planning and management of land and water resources

Y N

g. A programmatic approach N N h. The ecosystem approach N N i. River Basin management approach Y, partly N

8. What are the main institutions and authorities in your country with generalized responsibilities in the areas covered by the Convention? Do the mandates of these institutions and authorities explicitly include the integration of environmental, social and economic con siderations? If yes, please provide details.

• Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic – general responsibility with a

mandate including the integration of environmental, social and economic considerations (www.enviro.gov.sk)

• Ministry of the Economy of the Slovak Republic (www.economy.gov.sk) • Ministry of Construction and Regional Development of the Slovak Republic

(www.build.gov.sk) • Ministry of Transport, Post and Telecommunication of the Slovak Republic

(www.telecom.gov.sk) • Ministry of Soil Management of the Slovak Republic (www.mpsr.sk) • Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic

(www.employment.gov.sk) • Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic (www.foreign.gov.sk) • Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic (www.culture.gov.sk) • Regional environmental administration • Slovak Agency for Nature Protection (ŠOP) • Slovak Environmental Protection Agency • Carpathian Ecoregion Initiative • ACANAP network • Regional authorities • Association of Industrial Ecology in Slovakia • Association of Municipalities of Slovakia • Union of Municipalities of Slovakia

The above-mentioned institutions have direct competences in relation to the following sections of the Carpathian Convention:

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§ Integrated approach to land resource management (Article 3, Carpathian Convention [CC]) and spatial planning (Article 5, CC);

§ Conservation and sustainable use of biological and landscape diversity (Article 4, CC);

§ Sustainable and integrated water/river basin management (Article 6, CC); § Sustainable agriculture and forestry (Article 7, CC) § Sustainable transport and infrastructure (Article 8, CC) § Sustainable tourism (Article 9, CC) § Industry and energy (Article 10, CC) § Cultural Heritage and traditional knowledge (Article 11, CC) § Environmental assessment/information system, monitoring and early warning

(Article 12, CC) § Awareness raising, education and public participation (Article 13, CC)

9. Do coordinating mechanisms (e.g. inter-ministerial bodies) exist at any level

between institutions with responsibilities in the areas covered by the Carpathian Convention in order to facilitate integration of specific concerns and strategies? If so, please describe.

Not yet, some interdepartmental coordination and advisory bodies for some international agreements (e.g. Ramsar, CBD) do exist within the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic. A National Sustainable Development Coordination Mechanism is in place through the Council of the Government of the Slovak Republic for Sustainable Development, established by the Resolution of the Government of the Slovak Republic No. 78 of 27 January 1999. Contact point (Name, Office): Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic Telephone: 421-2-5956 2408 Fax: 421-2-5956 2002 e-mail: [email protected] [email protected] Mailing address: Námestie L. Štúra 1, 81235 Bratislava 1, Slovak Republic Membership/Composition/Chairperson Chairman: Vice-Prime Minister for Human and Minority Rights and Regional Development Members: Ministers of relevant sectors and statutory representatives of other central state

administration bodies, regional offices, and statutory representatives of relevant scientific and social organisations and associations of citizens oriented towards sustainable development

List of ministries and governmental agencies involved:

• Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic • Ministry of the Economy of the Slovak Republic • Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic • Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic • Ministry of Construction and Regional Development of the Slovak Republic • Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic

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• Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic • Ministry of Transport, Post and Telecommunication of the Slovak Republic • Ministry of Soil Management of the Slovak Republic • Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic • Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic • Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic • Ministry of Defense of the Slovak Republic • Office for Nuclear Control • Office for Statistics of the Slovak Republic • Regional Offices (8)

Names of para-statal bodies and institutions involved, as well as participation of the academic and private sectors:

• Slovak Academy of Science • Faculty of Natural Sciences of Comenius University • Slovak Technical University

Names of non-governmental organizations:

• Association of the Third Sector (EMVO-3) • Association of Industrial Ecology in Slovakia • Confederation of Trade Unions • Association of Municipalities of Slovakia • Union of Municipalities of Slovakia

Mandate role of the above mechanism: The Council of the Government for Sustainable Development is a subsidiary and coordinating body of the Government of the Slovak Republic for the implementation of the principles of sustainable development and Agenda 21 at the national level. The role of the Council is:

1. To coordinate the activities of the Ministries and of other central state administration bodies and regional offices in the implementation of Agenda 21, the principles of sustainable development and the evaluation of the indicators of sustainable development.

2. To assess linkages between strategies, conceptions and sectoral and regional programmes from the social, economic and environmental points of view.

3. To discuss the conclusions of the process of environmental impact assessments for basic development conceptions, primarily in the area of energy production, mining, industry, transport, agriculture, forestry and water management, waste management and tourism, as well as the impacts of spatial planning documentation for large territorial units and settlement units of selected cities and to comment on their assessment.

4. To discuss submitted proposals for generally binding regulations that may have adverse impacts on the environment.

5. To assess the evaluation of indicators of sustainable development under the responsibility of individual sectors and to discuss the Report on the Implementation of Agenda 21 in the Slovak Republic.

6. To assist the Government of the Slovak Republic to implement Agenda 21 and the principles of sustainable development in an international context and in such a way as to

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create the appropriate conditions for the integration of the Slovak Republic into the European and world structures.

7. To coordinate the activities of the Slovak Republic related to the UN Commission for Sustainable Development and further UN bodies.

When solving a particular problem, or when a particular strategic document is being prepared (e.g. the National Economic Strategy, Strategy for Increased Utilisation of Renewable Energy Resources), ad hoc coordinating working groups are established, which comprise representatives from various involved Ministries or other state or non-state bodies. Generally, cross-ministerial discussion takes place during the preparation of any legislative act or policy document or programme. This discussion (commenting) is formally regulated at the governmental level and allows all Ministries to articulate their interests and propose amendments or reservations. Along with the Council of the Government for Sustainable Development, there are a number of bodies dealing with specific issues in relation to acts and documents before these are submitted for discussion by the Government. These are: the Council for Public Administration, the Legislative Council, and the Council of Economic and Social Agreement.

10. Please fill in the attached table with the requested information related to the

specified multilateral agreements. Title Date/ website

Date of Signature (Accession)

Status: Ratification *, Acceptance(A), Approval (AA), Accession(a)

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

Nairobi 1992 www.biodiv.org

19.5.1993 *

Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

Cartagena 2000 http://www.biodiv.org/biosafety

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

Washington 1973 www.cites.org

28.2.1992 a

Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)

Bonn 1979 www.wcmc.org.uk/cms

14.12.1994 a

Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat

Ramsar 1971 www.ramsar.org

2.7.1990 a

Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats

Bern 1979 www.nature.coe.int/english/cadres/berne.htm

28.4.1994 a

European Landscape Convention

Florence 2000 http://conventions.coe.int

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

New York 1992 www.unfccc.int

19.5.1993 *

Kyoto Protocol under the UNFCCC

Kyoto, 1997 26.2.1999 a

Vienna Convention for the Protection of Ozone Layer

Vienna 1985 www.unep.org/ozone

28.5.1993 a

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(Ozone) Montreal Protocol Montreal 1987 28.5.1993 a United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa (CCD)

Paris 1994 www.unccd.int

Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal

Basel 1989 www.basel.int

1993 a

Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes

Helsinki 1992 www.unece.org/env/water

1999 a

Convention on Cooperation for the Protection and Sustainable Use of the Danube River

Sofia 1994 www.icpdr.int

1997 a

Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP)

Geneva 1979 www.unece.org/env/

28.5.1993 a

Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo)

Espoo 1991 www.unece.org/env/eia

18.11.1999 *

Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment under the Espoo Convention

Kiev 2003 http://www.unece.org/env/eia/sea_protocol.htm

Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents

Helsinki 1992 www.unece.org/env/teia

8.12.2003 *

Protocol on Civil Liability and Compensation for Damage Caused by the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents on Transboundary Waters

Kiev 2003 http://www.unece.org/env/civil-liability/protocol.html

Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making, and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters

Aarhus 1998 www.unece.org/env/pp

Not ratified

Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers, under the Aarhus Convention

Kiev, 2003 http://www.unece.org/env/pp/prtr.htm

Bilateral or sub-regional agreements – please list any bilateral or sub-regional agreements accepted by your country relevant for the purposes of the Carpathian Convention Budapest Declaration 25.5.2001 Bucharest declaration Bucharest 1995 December 1995 * Convention on cooperation on protection sustainable utilisation of Danube

Sofia, 1994 19.1.1998 *

Declaration on water management tasks on Slovak-Ukrainian boundary

Signed by governments of both countries in Bratislava, 1994

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Convention on co-operation between Slovak and Hungarian management water management bodies on flood prevention

Budapest, 1980

Cooperation with Ukraine and Hungary is based on bilateral agreements. This cooperation is mostly realized in the fields of flood protection and transboundary waters. However , there are no agreements on accidental transboundary pollution. A new bilateral agreement with Hungary is now being prepared, reflecting the Water Framework Directive.

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SECTION II. SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF THE CARPATHIAN CONVENTION

1. Integrated approach to land resource management (Article 3, Carpathian Convention) and spatial planning (article 5 of the Carpathian Convention)

Art. 3: The Parties shall apply the approach of the integrated land resources management as defined in Chapter 10 of the Agenda 21, by developing and implementing appropria te tools, such as integrated management plans, relating to the areas of this Convention. Art. 5: 1. The Parties shall pursue policies of spatial planning aimed at the protection and sustainable development of the Carpathians, which shall take into account the specific ecological and socio -economic conditions in the Carpathians and their mountain ecosystems, and provide benefits to the local people. 2. The Parties shall aim at coordinating spatial planning in bordering areas, through developing transboundary and/or regional spatial planning policies and programmes, enhancing and supporting co -operation between relevant regional and local institutions. 3. In developing spatial planning policies and programmes, particular attention should, inter alia, be paid to:

(a) transboundary transport, energy and telecommunications infrastructure and services, (b) conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, (c) coherent town and country planning in border areas, (d) preventing the cross-border impact of pollution, (e) integrated land use planning, and environmental impact assessments. 1. Please list the 3-4 main geographic factors affecting spatial development in the

Carpathian region in your country (e.g. desertification, soil erosion etc.). These are: the vulnerability and sensitivity of land, the limits imposed according to the burden capacity of particular lands, the overexploitation of land, water and forest resources, urbanisation and the expansion of urban areas, tourism development in vulnerable and sensitive landscapes, infrastructure developments (fragmentation of habitats), and the construction of dams and other waterworks.

2. Is there an assessment of the status and trends of land resources management and

spatial planning in the Carpathian region in your country? If yes, provide title, scope, place where it is available, and the year of completion. Please list the main conclusions or attach final documents (if in English).

There is no integrated document for the Carpathian region. Certain evaluations have been prepared by the Institute of Landscape Ecology at the Slovak Academy of Science , which, to some degree, take this area into account and which also deal with the spatial planning of Higher Spatial Units (VÚC, the Slovak equivalent of a county) and the Plan for Spatial Development (the KURS document mentioned above).

A certain type of assessment can be found in:

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ü the Report for the Commission for Sustainable Development, CSD 2002, Country Profile – review of progress made since UNCED – June 2002 (www.tur.sk). Please find attached the 2002 Country Profile (Report on the implementation of Agenda 21: the relevant in formation can be found in chapters 10, 11 and 13)

ü Regional Development Plans (2002 – 2005)(www.build.gov.sk) ü special documentation of the so-called Territorial system of ecological stability

(www.enviro.gov.sk) ü the project for the spatial development of the border areas of Slovakia and Poland

(2003) (www.build.gov.sk) ü the assessment related CSD report.

3. Please list the main policy and legislative acts for integrated land resource

management and spatial planning in your country. (Provide title, year of adoption, legal status and scope). Please refer to any known inconsistencies among these policies and legislative acts and measures to address them.

ü A fundamental conceptual solution for meeting the conditions for an integrated

approach to the planning and management of land resources will be achieved with the implementation of the National Plan for the Regional Development of the Slovak Republic , particularly in relation to effective land resource management and to demographic development in Slovakia. This is the basic development document for the implementation of the structural and regional policies of the Slovak Republic for the period 2004-2006, prepared by the Ministry for Construction and Regional Development. The NDP identifies balanced regional development as one of its specific objectives, addresses disparities in the levels of development for individual regions , and supports their long-term sustainable agricultural and social growth.

ü State Regional Policy, adopted by the Decree of the Slovak Government No.

802/1997 ü Slovak Spatial Development Perspective 2001, adopted by the Decision of the

Slovak Government No. 528/2002 ü Territorial plans for regions of individual Slovak counties

ü Act No. 237/2000 Coll. of the National Council of the Slovak Republic modifying

and amending Act No. 50/1976 Coll. on Territorial Planning and Building Code , (amendment no. 479/2005 Z.z.) as amended, and on the Modification and Amendment of Some Acts. This Act deals with land-use planning and land development. According to this Act, every land-use scheme and every development must proceed according to the Land Use Law and the Building Code. Apart from the above legislation, the protection of several components of the environment (such as water, air, soil, forests) and economic activities (forestry, hunting, fishing) are subject to special legislation and are reflected in the spatial/land-use plan

ü Spatial planning/land-use planning in the Slovak Republic is a relatively complex

set of instruments and methods at the national, regional and local levels, with an emphasis on the application of decision-making power by the self-governments and executive authorities at these levels. The systematic character of the instruments is not yet sufficiently reflected in planning practice, due to the incomplete state of the self-

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governing institutions at the regional decision-making level. Therefore the informal instruments are at the forefront in the process of decision making, since they are applicable in terms of vertical as well as horizontal integration, and in co-ordination with the various interests in the territory. The planning deals with the integration of economic, social and environmental interests represented by the sectors (horizontal level) and, on the other side , by the coordination of the community interests that are the subjects of the planning supervision of the municipalities between the regional and national levels. Spatial planning/land-use planning in the Slovak Republic is of a general kind, where sector policies are included. However, as a consequence the outputs must be reflected in the spatial plans of different scales and geographic levels (national, regional, local, zone), in the form of blueprint allocations for land use. Therefore, in the context of spatial development, the main focus is on the spatial/land-use plans that are the main instruments for land allocation that should be based on the integration of social, economic and environmental issues in the given space following the outputs of sectoral and some horizontal development policies. This is the instrument which, according to the law, must implement the spatial plan policy at national, regional and local levels in the Slovak Republic.

4. Which among the following issues are addressed by the land resource management

and spatial planning policies in Your Country? Please provide details.

Issues Y/N Local/regional/national level

Specific status of protected areas Y All levels Private property rights Y All levels Rights of local communities N Transboundary transport infrastructure and services

Y All levels

Transboundary energy and telecommunication infrastructure and services

Y All levels

Conservation and sustainable use of natural resources

Y All levels

Urban planning in border areas Y All levels Prevention of cross-border environmental impact

Y All levels

Integrated planning N Environmental impact assessments Y All levels Specificity of mountain regions as compared to plain, hills areas

N

Other issues: (e.g. Rural development Agricultural specificity; Local traditions; High risk areas/ vulnerable )

Y All levels

5. Are any among the following specifically protected? Please provide details.

Y/N Local/regional/national

level

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a. Soils Y All levels b. Forest cover Y All levels c. Wildlife Y All levels d. Climate Y All levels e. Other elements Y All levels

6. What is the institutional set up on the national, regional and local level in the area of land resources management and spatial planning? Please shortly describe the role of the main authorities and explain any horizontal and vertical cooperation mechanisms (e.g. inter-sectoral coordination bodies). Please list areas where overlaps of responsibilities occur and describe measures taken or planned to address these.

In Slovakia, the bodies responsible for spatial planning are communes, municipalities, and municipal construction bureaus, and the lead institution for spatial planning is the Ministry of Construction and Regional Development of the Slovak Republic. The body responsible for spatial planning in the provis ion of spatial plans and zoning is the municipality. The body responsible for spatial planning at the regional level is the regional municipality. A special state report on spatial planning, construction regulations and housing has been created, effective as of 1 January 2004. The bodies of the state institutions working in the area of spatial planning are:

a) the Ministry of Construction and Regional Development of the Slovak Republic;

b) the Municipal Construction Bureaus (KSÚ); and c) the communes themselves.

The Municipal Construction Bureau is the body responsible for spatial planning, which evaluates plans for the layout and spatial planning of the communes and draft spatial zoning plans. The Ministry of Construction and Regional Development is responsible for evaluating the layout and spatial planning proposals at the regional level. The Ministry of Defence is responsible for dealing with the spatial planning of military areas. According to the construction law in force, spatial planning deals with the centralised and complete spatial distribution and functional use of the territory. It also defines its principles and proposes the material and temporal coordination of activities that have an influence on the environment, on ecological stability, on the cultural/historical value of the territory, on spatial development and on the landscaping of the area according to the principles of sustainable development. It creates predictions for the long-term compliance of all activities carried out in the territory with specific regard to care for the environment, the achieving of ecological balance and the assurance of sustainable development, the economic use of natural resources and the conservation of natural, civilisational and cultural values. Spatial planning includes the following tasks and activities:

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a) defining the regulations for spatial distribution and functional land use; b) defining the necessary sanitation, reconstruction and recultivation of the land and defining the means of its further use; c) defining protected areas, protected buildings, buffer zones and protected belts (referred to as “protected areas”), if they are not otherwise specifically defined by other laws, and securing the protection of all these areas; d) defining the principles and requirements for the coordination (both material and in terms of timing) of the locally centred construction of one or more buildings; e) judging and evaluating the spatio-technical effects of constructions and other measures in the territory and designing their scope, which affects their environmentally appropriate and safe use; f) dealing with the positioning of constructions and defining the spatio-technical, architectural and environmental requirements for their design and realisation; g) defining the principles for the use of natural resources, the specifications of the territory and of the environment as a whole, so that activities within it do not exceed a certain level of exploitation in order to promote and support the ecological stability of the country; h) forming the foundations for the elaboration of a plan for construction and supporting the technical infrastructure of the territory; i) designing the sequence of construction and the exploitation of the land; and j) designing the spatio -technical and organisational measures necessary for the improvement of the environment, for achieving ecological stability and securing sustainable development.

7. Please describe briefly any activities undertaken within the Carpathian region in your country by civil society organisations relevant for the purposes of art. 3 and 5 of the Carpathian Convention.

The euro-regional associations mentioned below have been established and undertake several activities.

Euro-regional Associations Contacts Legal status

Región Beskydy (Euroregión Beskydy)

Námestie obetí komunizmu1, 011 31 Žilina Miroslav Rejda T: 041/435 2461 F: 041/435 2471 [email protected] www.euroregion-beskydy.sk

A voluntary association of Slovak–Polish–Czech unions which does not have any legal registration 1. Membership on the Slovak side: municipalities of the north-western part of Slovakia

Región Biele Karpaty (Euroregión Bílé-Biele Karpaty)

M. R. Štefánika 10, 911 64 Trencín Dagmar Lišková T:032/743 57 63 F:032/744 54 51 [email protected]

Independent non-profit association. Membership: self-governments and NGOs

1 The agreement provides that this association has no “ legal subjectivity“

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www.erbbk.sk

Ipel ský Euroregión (Ipel - Ipoly Euroregion)

Hlavné námestie 1, 936 01 Šahy Ing. Ján Lowy T: 036/741 1071 F: 036/741 1071 [email protected] www.sahy.sk


Podunajsko-Dolnovážske regionálne združenie (Euroregión Podunajského Trojspolku)

Hlavná 50/16, 929 01 Dunajská Streda František Juhos T:031/5505491 F:031/5530552 [email protected] www.euroregio.sk


Regionálne združenie Záhorie (Euroregión Pomoravie)

Moyzesova 651/2, 908 51 Holíc Ing. Milan Kanda T/F:034/6602028,29,30 [email protected] www.rzzahorie.sk

Objective: development of cross-border cooperation, development of rural tourism

Región Neogradiensis (Euroregión Neogradiensis)

Novohradská 1, 984 46 Lucenec Ing. Milan Marko T: 047/432 5405 F: 047/432 6045 [email protected] www.lucenec.sk


Únia Slanej a Rimavy (Euroregión Slaná -Rimava)

ul SNP c. 15, 979 01 Rimavská Sobota Ing. Peter Minác T: 047/549 3267,36 F: 047/549 3286 [email protected] www.euroregion.slana -rimava.sk


Združenie Región Karpaty (Karpatský Euroregión)

Nám. Maratónu mieru 1, 042 66 Košice RNDr. Rudolf Bauer T:055/726 8113 T/F: 055/726 8350 [email protected] www.carpathian.euroregion.org


Združenie Región "TATRY" (Euroregión Tatry)

Hlavné námestie 46, 060 01 Kežmarok Ing. Peter Burian T:052/4315228 F:052/4323133 [email protected] www.euroregion-tatry.sk

Established on the basis of an agreement between the Polish and Slovak self-governments, independent non-profit organisation

Regionálne združenie Váh - Dunaj - Ipel (Euroregión Váh - Dunaj - Ipel )

Štefánikova 69, 949 01 Nitra Miklós Fehér, Mgr. Daniel Balko T: 037/ 651 4100 F: 037/651 4101 [email protected] www.euroregio-vdi.sk


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www.nitrianskyregion.sk

Euroregión Kras (Euroregión Kras)

049 43 Jablonov nad Turnou 111 Ing. Július Žolner T: 058/788 4680 F: 058/788 4682 [email protected] www.eurokras.sk www.eurokarst.com


8. Does Your Country have a general framework for land-use and spatial planning at

any level? Does this framework allow for development of specialised and detailed sector-specific plans (e.g. for protected areas, agriculture, forests, human settlements, rural development)? Please provide details.

Table 1 shows the system of spatial/land-use planning in Slovakia. Table 1: The system of spatial planning/land-use planning in Slovakia Spatial planning body

Spatial planning body responsible for official approval

Assessing body The spatial planning/land use planning level

Spatial planning/land use planning instrument

Ministry of Construction and Regional Development

National government

National level Plan for Spatial Development of Slovakia

Municipality Regional municipality

Ministry of Construction and Regional Development

Regional level Regional spatial/land-use plan

Obec Obec Municipal

construction bureau

Local/municipal level

Local spatial/ land-use plan, Spatial/land use plan of zone

Obec Obec Municipal construction bureau

local/municipal level

Comment: The local administrative authority issues the building permit for construction development based on the spatial plan approved at the appropriate level and based on the standpoints of all the appropriate state/public administration authorities. As a foundation for the processing of spatial plans at all levels, there are various sectoral and departmental plans (e.g. Plan for Water Management, Waste Management Programme etc.).

9. Does Your Country have a system for the interpretation and integrated analysis of

data on land use and land resources? If yes please provide details.

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Yes, there is such system. For more details see chapters 10.12

10. Have detailed land use capability inventories been developed? If yes, please specify to what extent data is used to guide sustainable land resource allocation, management and use at national and local levels?

Not for the purposes of sustainable land resource allocation and management. Such inventories have been developed by real estate agencies for commercial purposes.

11. Is there a legal obligation for authorities at any level to systematically assess the environmental, social and economic impact, risks, costs and benefits of specific actions? If yes, please provide details (including information on the criteria to determine when such assessments are required and on strategic environmental assessment requirements) and 1 -2 examples.

The demand to apply the process of environmental assessment to higher “strategic-level” activities (Strategic Environmental Assessment – SEA) is reflected in the Act of the National Council of the Slovak Republic No. 127/1994 on the Environmental Impact Assessment (the EIA Act), which came into force on 1 September 1994, as amended by Act No. 391/2000.

12. Please specify how research on land resources management and spatial planning is promoted and supported by the authorities in your country, at various levels. Please give 1-2 examples of relevant research projects in the Carpathian region in your country.

There is no specific research. 13. Does Your Country encounter specific transboundary issues with regards to spatial planning in the Carpathian region that require special attention and international coordination? Please list them and provide details on transboundary/cross border cooperation.

There are issues mainly at the border s with Poland, Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic. All these issues are reflected in the Slovak Spatial Development Perspective 2001. For example: § Tisa River alluvium – Slovak – Hungarian transboundary location – a Ramsar site

(wetlands of the Pannonian biogeographic area) § Domica – sub-surface wetlands – the plateau karst shared by Slovakia and Hungary.

The Slovak Spatial Development Perspective specifically addresses the Carpathian region by designating the development of the Košice -Prešov settlement centre as a settlement centre for the whole Carpathian Euroregion, as being one of the principles of development from the international point of view. There are also other transboundary and international initiatives dealing with issues of the Carpathian region from a broader point of view. The Slovak Spatial Development Perspective lists the following international documents as of interest to and relevant for Slovakia: the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP), Vision Planet, Danube Space Study, Red Octopus (a dynamic scenario of Europe ’s spatial development).

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14. What are the main sources of funding (domestic and external) for implementation of activities related to land resources management and spatial planning policies in the Carpathian region? Are there any specific financing or economic instruments provided for in the legislation to support such activities? Please provide details.

The state budget, the budgets of municipalities and of regional self-government authorities, sectoral funds, foundations, sponsors, structural instruments of the EU – Interreg, Phare CBC, the State Environmental Fund, municipalities, internal sources.

15. Please provide details on the participation of your country in international (global,

regional or sub-regional) initiatives relevant to sustainable land use and management of land resources in mountain areas.

The Phare CBC programmes between Slovakia and Austria, Slovakia and Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, OECD, IAEA, IEA, US AID, UNICEF, European Council, Wor ld Bank, PHARE, Czech Republic – Austria – Slovakia, Research institutions, universities, SAV, EU, OECD, IEA, Council of Europe, the World Bank. In accordance with the recommendations of the 1993 Helsinki Conference, the monitoring system “Lesy” (Forests) is being implemented in Slovakia , w ith the aim of monitoring the health of the forests. It is a part of the European monitoring system “FOREST”. There is also a “PÔDA” (SOIL) monitoring system, the first phase of which was realised between1992 and 1996. EUROMONTANA, Mountain Partnership.

16. Please evaluate briefly the main achievements and the main obstacles and barriers

to sustainable land resources management and spatial panning in the Carpathian region in your country.

The policy documents fully integrate the Agenda 21 objectives in the areas of an integrated approach to planning and the management of land resources within the dimensions of sustainable development. The programme of past reforms strengthened the system of planning and of the management of economic development, including the development of society in Slovakia, while fully accepting the possibilities and the given facts and meeting the conditions of the EU accession process , which respects the limitations of sustainable development. From the point of view of strengthening the system of planning and management, an important role is played by the reform of public finances with the introduction of programming budgeting and the preparation of a middle-term financial plan. The e laborated financial plan for budge tary chapters limits the use of financial resources from the state budget in the respective year. The preparation of a “Register of investments” for individual budgetary chapters in preparation for the draft state budget is an important step towards strengthening the planning and management system. The objective of this process for the management of public finances is to contribute to the greater effectiveness of the state support policy. Obstacles and barriers can be found in the field of the implementation of these policy measures.

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Serious problems in land resources management arise as a result of the situation in property relationships. The designation of protected areas on private lands , and the related land-use restrictions, should be compensated by providing financial resources to land owners. This is problematic due to the lack of funds in the state budget allocated for this purpose. Another still growing problem is the conflicts of interest between nature protection and the economic use of land resources. This problem is being experienced, for example, in the High Tatras, after the serious natural disaster that occurred in 2004. During renewal works in the protected areas, including the Tatra National Park, there are increasing pressures to reduce the nature protection rate in these areas so that they can be used for economic activities, e.g. tourism.

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2. Conservation and sustainable use of biological and landscape diversity (Article 4 Carpathian Convention

Article 4: Conservation and sustainable use of biological and landscape diversity 1. The Parties shall pursue policies aiming at conservation, sustainable use and restoration of biological and landscape diversity throughout the Carpathians. The Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure a high level of protection and sustainable use of natural and semi-natural habitats, their continuity and connectivity, and species of flora and fauna being characteristic to the Carpathians, in particular the protection of endangered species, endemic species and large carnivores. 2. The Parties shall promote adequate maintenance of semi-natural habitats, the restoration of degraded habitats, and support the development and implementation of relevant management plans. 3. The Parties shall pursue policies aiming at the prevention of introduction of alien invasive species and release of genetically modified organisms threatening ecosystems, habitats or species, their control or eradication. 4. The Parties shall develop and/or promote compatible monitoring systems, coordinated regional inventories of species and habitats, coordinated scientific research, and their networking. 5. The Parties shall cooperate in developing an ecological network in the Carpathians, as a constituent part of the Pan -European Ecological Network, in establishing and supporting a Carpathian Network of Protected Areas, as well as enhance conservation and sustainable management in the areas outside of protected areas. 6. The Parties shall take appropriate measures to integrate the objective o f conservation and sustainable use of biological and landscape diversity into sectoral policies, such as mountain agriculture, mountain forestry, river basin management, tourism, transport and energy, industry and mining activities.

1. Please list the 3-4 main impacts on biological and landscape diversity in the Carpathian region in your country (take into account a wide range of sectors of activity e.g. agriculture, industrial hot spots, forestry, tourism etc.).

The main impacts result from: building construction activities, tree cutting, terrain modifications, agricultural practices resulting in the reduction of biodiversity and the extinction of several threatened plant and animal species. Activities with a strong negative impact on species, habitats and landscapes are agriculture, forest management, mining, transport and industry.

2. Please list the nature protection areas in the Carpathian region of Your Country and provide information on the type, status, management authority and size/area coverage of each one. Please provide maps, if available.

(All of the required information is also available on www.sopsr.sk)

Protected area Contact address Email/web page Mala Fatra National Park

Malá Fatra National Park Administration, Hrnciarska 197, 013 03 Varín

[email protected], www.sopsr.sk

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Muranska Planina National Park

Muranska Planmina National Park Admiosnitration, Zelena Janka Krála 12, 050 01 Revuca

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], www.sopsr.sk

Nizke Tatry National Park

Nizke Tatry National Park Administration, Zelená 5, 974 01 Banská Bystrica

[email protected], [email protected],

Pieninsky National Park

Pieninsky National Park Administration, 059 06 Cervený Kláštor

[email protected], [email protected] www.sopsr.sk

Poloniny National Park

Poloniny National Park Administration, Partizánska ul. 1057, P.O.Box 47, 069 01 Snina


Slovensky Kras National Park

Slovensky Kras National Park Administration, 049 51 Brzotín, Biely Kaštiel 188

[email protected],www.sopsr.sk

Slovensky Raj National Park

Slovensky Raj National Park Administration, Letecká 3, 052 01 Spišská Nová Ves

[email protected], www.sopsr.sk, www.atlantel.sk/slovraj

Tatra National Park Tatransky National Park Administration, 059 60 Tatranska Lomnica

[email protected], [email protected], www.sopsr.sk

Velka Fatra National Park

Velká Fatra National Park Administration, Cachovský rad 7, 038 61 Vrútky


Biele Karpaty Protected Landscape Area

Správa CHKO Biele Karpaty, Trencianska ul. 31, 914 41 Nemšová


Cerova vrchovina Protected Landscape Area

Správa CHKO Cerová vrchovina, Železnicná 31, 979 01 Rimavská Sobota


Horna Orava Protected Landscape Area

Správa CHKO Horná Orava, Bernolákova ul. 408, 029 01 Námestovo


Kysuce Protected Landscape Area

Správa CKO Kysuce, U Tomali 1511, 022 01 Cadca


Male Karpaty Protected Landscape Area

Správa CHKO Malé Karpaty, Štúrova 115, 900 01 Modra


Polana Protected Landscape Area

Správa CHKO Polana, ul. J.M. Hurbana 20, 960 01 Zvolen


Ponitrie Protected Landscape Area

Správa CHKO Ponitrie, Samova ul.3, 949 01 Nitra


Stiavnice Vrchy Protected Landscape Area

Správa CHKO Štiavnické vrchy, Radnicné námestie 18, 969 01 Banská Štiavnica


Strazovske vrchy Protected Landscape Area

Správa CHKO Strážovské vrchy, Orlové 189, 017 01 Považská Bystrica

[email protected]

Vihorlat Protected Landscape Area

Správa CHKO Vihorlat, ul. Frana Krála 1, 071 01


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Michalovce Vychodne Karpaty Protected Landscape area

Správa CHKO Východné Karpaty, Lipová ul. 19, 066 01 Humenné


3. Have any studies (e.g. assessments, gap analyses) on the status of and trends in

biological diversity in the Carpathian region been undertaken in your country? If yes, provide title, scope, place where it is available, and the year of completion. Please list the main conclusions or attach final documents (if in English).

Convention on Biological Diversity – The latest report on the measures adopted to implement the Convention was submitted in 2001. Important events in this area include the 4th session of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, which was held in May 1998 in Bratislava, Slovakia. Regarding the conservation of biological diversity, the National Strategy for the Protection of Biodiversity in Slovakia and the Action Plan for the Realization of the National Strategy for the Protection of Biodiversity in the Slovak Republic were elaborated in 1997. The main principles and strategic objectives of the National Strategy for the Protection of Biodiversity in Slovakia are that: ü Biodiversity has to be protected comprehensively, preferably “in situ” ü The unnatural decrease of biodiversity has to be compensated as much as possible ü Landscape diversity has to be protected to maintain variability of forms of life at all

levels ü Natural resources have to be utilised in a sustainable way

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ü Everybody has to be responsible for the protection and sustainable utilisation of biodiversity

In 2001 the second National report on the state of biodiversity in Slovakia was submitted to the CBD Secretariat. Habitat conditions are respected in forest management. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Last report submitted in 2000 Emerald Project – in the framework of this project several assessments have been carried out, including an assessment of the existing database on nature areas, plant and animal species, their accessibility and use; and an analysis of information sources relevant to Natura 2000 Natura 2000 project – questionnaires on 43 plant species, 7 moss species, 143 animal species, 110 bird species and 80 habitats National Approximation Strategy (Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic ) Research in the area of forestry has been oriented towards issues of biodiversity, ecological stability, integrated protection and the maintenance of genetic resources. The research project “Maintenance of biodiversity in selected forest communities and their integrated protection” was completed in 1999. Protected areas in Slovakia constitute 23.2 %of the Slovak territory, and 43 % of forest land.

4. Please list the main policies and legislative acts in the area of biological and landscape diversity (provide title, year of adoption, legal status and scope). Please refer to any known inconsistencies among these different policies and legislative acts and measures to address them.

National Strategy for Biodiversity Protection in Slovakia NSBPS (1999) This document, prepared by the Ministry of the Environment and approved by the government, contains several strategic goals:

- Control of processes that negatively influence biodiversity - Continual replacement of improper economic activities by ecological and sustainable

management - Support for biodiversity through the introduction of sustainable practices in hunting

and fishery - Change of policy towards the interconnection of biodiversity protection with the

utilisation of natural resources. The main principles and strategic objectives of the National Strategy for the Protection of Biodiversity in Slovakia are mentioned under Q 3 of this section. The Actualized Action Plan for the Implementation of NSBPS for 2003 - 2010 In this document, concrete activities are defined that fulfil the strategic goals of NSBPS.

The Actualised Programme for Wetlands Protection in Slovakia for 2003-2007 (2003) This document focuses on the strategy for the protection of Ramsar sites and wetlands in the Slovak Republic, including concrete goals and activities. Each Ramsar site has its own

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management plan, and a few selected sites (including Senné fishpond, located in TRB) ha ve Preservation Plans. The National Strategy for Sustainable Development in the Slovak Republic. Part of this document is also concerned with nature protection, as defined in Strategic Goal 3.28: Improvement of the quality of the environment in the regions of Slovakia.

The main legislative provisions are: § The Constitution of the Slovak Republic § The Act on Nature and Landscape Protection (law No. 543/2002 Z.z.) and the

execution of Decree no. 24/2003 The new Act on Nature and Landscape Protection (replacing Act No. 287/1994) aims to comply w ith the relevant EU legislation, and at the same time reflects other international concepts and agreements in the area of nature conservation. All EU regulations related to nature conservation were transposed into this law. Act No. 543/2002 regulates civ il service and local government authorisation, as well as the legal rights and legal duties of subjects and persons , with respect to nature and land protection, with the goal of contributing to the conservation of the multiplicity of the environment and life forms. It also regulates conditions for the sustainability, regeneration and rational exploitation of natural resources, the conservation of natural heritage and the characteristic appearance of the landscape , and the achievement and preservation of ecological stability. The National List of Planned Protected B ird Territories (Government Resolution no. 636/2003 from 9 July 2003), and the National List of Planned Sites of European Significance (Government Resolution no. 239 of 17 March 2004, issued by the writ of the Slovak Ministry of the Environment No. 3/2004-5 of 14 July 2004). The Act on Environmental Impact Assessment (Law No. 127/1994 Z.z.) This law is important since the public can influence the EIA process and its results. In the course of the EIA process, public interests can be represented through civic initiatives of at le ast 500 persons, listed on the petition sent to the Ministry of the Environment. Such initiatives have the right to provide a written opinion on the assessed investment activity. Such initiatives can be transformed into civic associations with the aim of further support ing their opinion, or with the aim of environmental protection connected with the assessed investment activity. In this case, the civic association has the right to participate in the decision-making process.

5. Has Your Country taken measures to integrate the objective of conservation and sustainable use of biological and landscape diversity into sector-specific policies? If yes, which among the following policies integrate conservation and sustainable use of biological and landscape diversity concerns? Please, specify at what level (local/regional/national) the integration has occurred and provide details.

Policy Type Y/N Local/Regional/

National Mountain agriculture Y All levels Mountain forestry Y All levels Water management Y All levels Tourism Y All levels Transport N

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Energy N Industry N Mining activities N Others

6. Which among the following policies for the conservation and sustainable use of

biological and landscape diversity of mountain areas has been adopted in Your Country? Please specify at which level and provide details.

Policy Y/N Local/ Regional/

National Level Conservation of biological diversity in the mountain areas

Y All levels

Conservation of landscape diversity in the mountain areas

Y All levels

Promote sustainable use of biological diversity in the mountain areas

Y All levels

Promote sustainable use of landscape diversity in the mountain areas

Y All levels

Restoration of biological diversity in the mountain areas N Restoration of landscape diversity in the mountain areas N

7. Please state which among the following is addressed by the biodiversity policies and

legislation in Your Country and provide details:

Natural Biodiversity Aspects Y/N Natural and semi-natural habitats Y,

more details in the action plan

Natural and semi-natural habitats’ continuity and connectivity ditto Species of flora and fauna characteristic for the Carpathians ditto Protection of endangered species ditto Protection of endemic species ditto Protection of large carnivores. ditto Adequate maintenance of semi-natural habitats ditto Restoration of degraded habitats ditto Support of development and implementation of relevant management plans ditto Prevention of introduction of alien invasive species ditto Prevention of release of genetically modified organisms threatening ecosystems, habitats or species

ditto

Control or eradication of genetically modified organisms threatening ecosystems, habitats or species

ditto

Others

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8. Are there any other specific measures/regulations to ensure a high level of protection and sustainable use of the Carpathian biodiversity already taken or in discussion, such as the ones listed below? Please provide details.

Instruments for enhancing biodiversity policies Y/N Compatible monitoring systems Y Coordinated regional inventories of species Y, list of

species Coordinated regional inventories of habitats Y, list of

biotopes Coordinated scientific research Y, there is

research but not coordinated

Networking among inventories and research N Others

9. What is the institutional set up on the national, regional and local level in the area

of biodiversity and landscape diversity? Please shortly describe the role of the main authorities and explain any horizontal and vertical cooperation mechanisms (e.g. intersectoral coordination bodies). Please list areas where overlaps of responsibilities occur and describe measures taken or planned to address these.

Responsible authorities at the national, regional and local level include the:

• Ministry of the Environment, Bratislava – the central state administrative body in the area of nature protection and biodiversity issues

• Head Office of the State Nature Protection, Banská Bystrica (State Nature Protection, Banská Bystrica) and its 25 components (9 national park administrations, 14 protected area administrations and 2 Regional Administrations for the Protection of Nature and the Countryside in Bratislava and Prešov) – a professional expert organization operating under the Ministry of the Environment. It is responsible for the management of protected sites in Slovakia.

• Slovak Agency of the Environment, Banská Bystrica – a general professional organization operating under the Ministry of the Environment , providing expertise and advice for the Ministry on various environmental issues.

• Administration of Slovak Caves, Liptovský Mikuláš – a professional organization operating under the Ministry of the Environment, responsible for the protection and management of caves.

• Ministry of Agriculture, Bratislava – a central state administrative body in the area of agriculture and forest management. It ccoperates with the Ministry of the Environment on a number of “conflicting” common issues, such as tourism and forestry.

• Sapard Agency, Bratislava – an agency operating under the Ministry of Agriculture, responsible for the use of EU funds under SAPARD.

• Ministry of Construction and Regional Development, Bratislava – a central state administrative body, responsible for regional development in Slovakia. It is responsible, inter alia, for the coordination of the use of EU funds.

• Regional State Administration offices – departments of regional development.

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• District state administration offices – departments of regional development. • County offices of the environment . • District offices of the environment – the county and district offices for the

environment are state administration bodies operating under the responsibility of, and coordinated by the Ministry of the Environment in various areas of the environment.

• Individual municipalities. • Slovak Inspectorate of the Environment – a state administrative body

responsible for the enforcement of environmental law (inspections, imposing penalties, etc.).

10. Please describe briefly any activities undertaken within the Carpathian region in

your country by civil society organisations relevant for the purposes of art. 4 of the Carpathian Convention

Carpathian Ecoregion Initiative – promotes the harmonization of socioeconomic development and biodiversity conservation in this unique European ecoregion. More than 50 governmental, non-governmental, and academic/research organizations in six countries are working together to achieve sustainable development and the conservation of biodiversity and cultural heritage in the Carpathian ecoregion. Coordination activities of DAPHNE – Institute for Applied Ecology, Bratislava . The Institute of Applied Ecology is a non-profit organization whose name refers not only to the mythological symbol but also to the subject of the first project completed by the DAPHNE team – a study of the population biology of the Daphne arbuscula, an endemic Slovak plant species. Projects also include the “Development of a Carpathian Ecological Network”, which aims to strengthen the capacities of the Carpathian Eco-Region Network (CERI) in supporting the implementation of the Carpathian Convention.

11. Are joint or coordinated management plans for protected areas situated near or across borders and other tourist sites required in Your Country? If yes, please give details on the relevant provisions. Please see also question 8, under chapter 7 of this section.

There are agreements for cooperation between cross -border protected areas in all neighbouring countries and a Committee for Cross-Border Cooperation aimed at nature protection. The Slovak–Polish border: A Slovak–Polish intergovernmental commission for transboundary cooperation has been established, chaired by the Slovak Minister of the Interior. A number of sector-oriented working groups have been established in the framework of this commission. As regards the environment sector, the Ministry of the Environment is responsible for the working group on environmental protection and forestry. Membership of the group includes the Ministry of the Environment, the State Nature Protection Agency, and representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture. The working group deals with the issues of tourist corridors, border crossing points, common projects, the preparation of various agreements on the ministerial level, cooperation in the area of Natura 2000, environmental impact assessment, the implementation of conventions, the common monitoring of protected species, etc.

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The Slovak–Hungarian border: A common Slovak–Hungarian Commission for Issues of the Environment and Nature Protection has been established. Several working groups have been created which operate within this commission – a nature and landscape protection working group, a working group for the protection of environmental components, a waste management working group, an EIA working group, a geology working group, a consultation forum for education and awareness, etc. As rega rds Slovak–Ukrainian cooperation, an intergovernmental commission for transboundary cooperation has recently been established, on the Slovak–Polish model.

12. Has Your Country participated in international cooperation projects which aim at developing an ecol ogic network in the Carpathians as a constituent part of the Pan-European Ecological Network? Please name and briefly describe these projects and the results in your country.

Concerning the implementation of the Natura 2000 Programme, Slovakia is participating in Emerald, a pilot project to assist signatory countries of the Bern Convention in the creation of the Natura 2000 network. The programme uses the same software as Natura 2000 and differs only in the registration of some species. In the course of the Emerald project, 43 areas were selected as important nature protection areas from the national IUCN ecological network (Neconet), Ramsar areas (11 internationally important wetlands) and proposed bird habitats. For the Emerald database, Corine mapping data, habitat mapping, grass areas mapping, wetlands inventory, and existing fauna and flora databases were used.

There is also a Slovak–Norwegian Cooperation Project on supporting a network of Carpathian Protected Areas and Ramsar Sites. Projects carried out by the State Nature Protection A gency are : ü Twinning PHARE: Implementation of the Habitats Directive and Birds Directive. ü Bilateral project with Germany: Evaluation of the state of habitats and species of the

appendices to the Habitats and Birds Directives. ü Initiation of the Carpathian Wetland Initiative by Slovakia .

13. What are the main sources of funding (domestic and external) for implementation of activities related to biological and landscape diversity in the Carpathian region in your country? Are there any specific financing or economic instruments provided for in the legislation to support such activities? Please describe briefly such mechanisms.

The state budget of the Slovak Republic, international research programmes, various funds . The issues of nature and biodiversity protection were included in the activities supported by the EU Funds in the framework of the National Development Plan for 2004-2006. It is expected that these issues will also be included in the following programming period, 2007-2013.

14. Please provide details on the participation of your country in international (global, regional or sub-regional) initiatives relevant to conservation and sustainable use of biological and landscape diversity.

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Slovakia participates in all international conventions in the field of biodiversity and fulfils the relevant obligations. As regards the implementation of the Biodiversity Convention at the national level, there are problems related to insufficient administrative capacities, lack of funds in various sectors that should deal with issues resulting from the C onvention. Cross-sectoral communication also needs to be enhanced. Several small successful projects related to biodiversity have been implemented in Slovakia . For example:

ü “Trilate ral cooperation on the Ramsar site of the Morava and the Dyje rivers confluence”, organized by four NGOs: Disteverain (A), Daphne (SK) Veronica (CZ) and WWF International.

ü The Palava Mountains and Male Karpaty Mountains are part of a proposed trilateral Ramsar site. The project has been managed for 12 years. In the year 2002, the above-mentioned NGOs received a Wetland Conservation Award for this project.

ü Slovakia is also involved in various regional initiatives in the field of the protection of the Danube and Tisza international rivers.

ü The State Nature Protection Agency is a member of the international associations IUCN, the EUROPARD Federation, Wetlands International, Mountain Partnership, International Mire Conservation Group, EIONET of the European Environment Agency, and the Large Herbivore Initiative.

Actualised National Action Programme for the Danube watershed (2000) Most of the goals and activities are oriented towards international issues in relation to the protection of the Danube watershed: ⋅ Improvement of surface water quality ⋅ Decreas ing of emissions ⋅ Construction of wastewater treatment plants and canalisation ⋅ Rational utilisation of waters, decreasing of outflows from deficit regions . List of most important International Declarations and Agreements signed by Slovak Republic (listed according to the date of ratification): Slovakia has signed, and in most cases also ratified, most of the important biodiversity-related international agreements. § The Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the

Carpathians (Kiev, 2003). Ratified on 3 March 2004. § Convention on the Protection of European Wildlife and Natural Sites (Bern, 1979).

Ratified on 1 January 1997. § Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (Bonn, 1979).

Party since 1 March 1995. § Convention on Biological Diversity. Ratified on 23 November 1994. § Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

Succession on 1 January 1993. § Convention on Wetlands Protection (Ramsar, 1990). Ratified on 2 July 1990.

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As mentioned above, Slovakia formally complies with all international agreements to which it has acceded. Although the Slovak Republic has made considerable progress in the implementation of the mission, objectives and main obligations of the different Agreements, the relevant responsible bodies still have to face a lack of administrative capacities and financial resources.


to conservation and sustainable use of biological and landscape diversity in the Carpathian region in your country.

Achievements: The National Biodiversity Strategy of Slovakia was elaborated in compliance with the Convention on Biological Diversity (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), which was signed by Slovakia on 23 November 1994. The first Action Plan for the implementation of the National Biodiversity Strategy of Slovakia for the years 1998 to 2010, as approved by the Slovak Government in 1998, represents the initial programme of the implementation package for specific tasks and the main strategic national goals for the implementation of the Convention. Slovakia has also maintained a relatively high proportion of protected areas. Obstacles: A unified set of indicators for the assessment of biodiversity, applicable to all parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, has not yet been defined, as individual countries attempt to create their own national sets of indicators. The MŽP SR prepared a set of indicators for the state and protection of biodiversity, which was submitted to the SR Government at the end of 2000 with plans to have it approved at the beginning of 2001. The statute, position and level of protection of protected areas do not reflect their needs, nor does the categorization of national parks reflect the international criteria of the IUCN.

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3. Sustainable and integrated water/river basin management (Article 6, Carpathian

Convention)

Article 6: Sustainable and integrated water/river basin management Taking into account the hydrological, biological and ecological, and other specificities of mountain river basins, the Parties shall:

(a) take appropriate measures to promote policies integrating sustainable use of water resources, with land-use planning, and aim at pursuing policies and plans based on an integrated river basin management approach, recognizing the importance of pollution and flood management, prevention and control, and reducing water habitats fragmentation,

(b) pursue policies aiming at sustainable management of surface and groundwater resources, ensuring adequate supply of good quality surface and groundwater as needed for sustainable, balanced and equitable water use, and adequate sanitation and treatment of waste water,

(c) pursue policies aiming a t conserving natural watercourses, springs, lakes and groundwater resources as well as preserving and protecting wetlands and wetland ecosystems, and protecting against natural and anthropogenic detrimental effects such as flooding and accidental water pollution,

(d) further develop a coordinated or joint system of measures, activities and early warning for transboundary impacts on the water regime of flooding and accidental water pollution, as well as co -operate in preventing and reducing the damages and giving assistance in restoration works.

1. Please list the 3 -4 main impacts on waters in the Carpathian region (taking into

account a wide range of sectors of activity, e.g. agriculture, industrial hot spots, forestry, tourism).

The main impacts are:

ü pressure on nature and rivers, due to uncontrolled economical development ü biological pollution caused by agriculture ü chemical pollution caused by industry and biological and chemical pollution

caused by the lack of water power plants in many cities ü biological and chemical pollution caused by industrial activity and the lack of

waste water treatment plants in many cities. The northern, hilly part of the country is wood covered, and here intensive forestry is one of the most common economic activities. This intensive forestry has a negative impact on the retention capacity of the landscape. Water and nature quality in this area are relatively good, and several large dams have been constructed here in the past for flood protection. The southern lowlands are agricultural lands, where intensive agric ulture is the typical economic activity, although in recent years agricultural activities have been decreasing. In these regions are also located some of the biggest sources of water pollution, and the quality of water and nature are not good in general. Also, in this area, most of the streams ha ve been canalised.

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The biggest water consumers and polluters are regulated by the Water Act and the State Water Management Balance (following internal information from the Slovak Water Management Enterprise): The biggest consumers of surface water in 2002 were : ⋅ SE a.s., Vojany (Laborec) – electric al works ⋅ Slovnaft, a.s., Bratislava (Dunaj) – oil refinery ⋅ SE, AS., AE Jaslovské Bohunice – nuclear works ⋅ SCP, ZAV.CELPAP Ružomberok ⋅ Slov.elektrarne, AE Mochovce ⋅ KBS Kremnica ⋅ KAPPA (KSL CELPAP) Štúrovo ⋅ Duslo, a.s. Šala ⋅ SE, a.s., ENO Zem. Kostolany ⋅ SEVaK PR Žilina ⋅ StVaK –skup. Vod., H-L-F Hrinová ⋅ Biotika, a.s. Slovenská Lupca (Hron) ⋅ StVaK – skup.vodovod Rimavská Sobota ⋅ U.S. Steel s.r.o, Košice (Hornád) – steel works ⋅ VVaK, o.z. Vranov nad Toplou (Cirocha) – water supply company ⋅ Bukocel s.r.o., Vranov nad Toplou (Ondava) – timber processing ⋅ Energetika Chemko, a.s. Strážske (Ondava river) – chemical industry ⋅ SEP Tepelná energetika, Košice (Hornád) – central heating plant ⋅ Chemes a.s., Humenné (Laborec) – chemical industry ⋅ Východoslovenské vodárne a kanalizácie OZ Košice – (Hornád) water supply company ⋅ Východoslovenské vodárne a kanalizácie OZ Prešov (Torysa) – water supply company. The biggest polluters of surface water in 2002 (more than 1,000,000 cubic metres of wastewater production per year). Wastewater is produced mainly by industry and municipalities (sewage systems). Due to insufficient treatment, large amounts of pollutants and substances supporting seaweed growth are reaching the surface water, which finally leads to an overall worsening of water quality in watercourses and standing water (eutrophisation). The overall volume of wastewater discharged to the surface water has been relatively stable in the recent decade, with a moderate increase since 1994 (report on the State of the Environment in the Slovak Republic, 2000). The biggest polluters (according to amount of emissions): Hornád River ⋅ Wastewater treatment Košice – the biggest source of surface water pollution in the Slovak

Republic (37,843,200 cubic meters) ⋅ US STEEL Košice ⋅ Wastewater treatment Prešov ⋅ Wastewater treatment Spišská Nová Ves ⋅ Wastewater treatment Levoca ⋅ Wastewater treatment Sabinov ⋅ Šariš brewery, Velký Šariš

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Tisza River ⋅ Slovak Railway Company – reload station. Cierna nad Tisou (on the Ukraine boundary) Bodva River ⋅ Wastewater treatment Šaca Bodrog, Ondava, Laborec and Latorica rivers ⋅ Bukocel Hencovce ⋅ Chemko, a.s. Strážske ⋅ Wastewater treatment Humenné ⋅ Wastewater treatment Michalovce ⋅ Wastewater treatment Snina ⋅ Wastewater treatment Svidník ⋅ Wastewater treatment Bardejov ⋅ Wastewater treatment Vranov ⋅ Wastewater treatment Trebišov Danube River ⋅ Wastewater treatment plant Petržalka ⋅ Wastewater treatment plant Istrochem a.s ⋅ Wastewater treatment plant Pezinok ⋅ Wastewater treatment plant Vrakuna ⋅ Slovnaft a.s. Bratislava Váh ⋅ Duslo a.s. Šala ⋅ Cukrovar Sládkovicovo ⋅ Menert – Therm, s.r.o Šala ⋅ SCP Ružomberok ⋅ Ružomberok, Žilina, Kysucké Nové Mesto sewage systems ⋅ Aquachémia, s.r.o. Žilina Nitra ⋅ Nitra sewage works ⋅ NB Bana Cígel – mining works ⋅ NCHZ, as. Nováky –chemical industry ⋅ Prievidza and Topolcany sewage system Hron ⋅ Biotika a.s. Slovenská Lupca ⋅ ZSNP a.s. Žiar nad Hronom ⋅ HP a.s. Harmanec ⋅ Banská Bystrica and Zvolen sewage systems

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2. Please list the main river basins in the Carpathian region in your country (if maps are available please attach them). If some of them are transboundary please indicate so, and the other riparian countries.

The main river basins in the Carpathian region are:

- Váh River Basin (main rivers: Váh and Nitra) - Hron River Basin (main rivers: Hron, Slaná and Ipel) - Bodrog and Hornád River Basin (main rivers: Bodrog, Tisza, Hornád, Bodva,

Poprad , Uh, Laborec, Latorisa and Dunajec - Dunaj River Basin (main rivers: Dunaj, Morava)

The Slovak Republic is situated in the catchment area of the B lack and Baltic Sea. The total average water flow in Slovak watercourses is 2,912 m3.s-1. This volume constitutes a theoretical potential of all surface water. From this water discharge, only 398 m3.s-1 (14%) arises in SR territory, and the remaining 86 % flows in from neighbouring states in the Danube, Morava, Dunajec, Uh, Latorica, and Tisza watercourses. With regard to the location of Slovakia, which is situated on the very hydrological roof of Europe , up to one-third of water originating in our territory runs off beyond the SR borders. The Danube and Morava are rather our geographical borders of the Carpathian region.

3. Have any studies on sustainable water management (e.g. gap analyses, recommendations for adapting the legal and institutional frameworks) been undertaken in your country? If yes, provide title, scope, place where it is available, and the year of completion. Please list the main conclusions or attach final documents (if in English).

Many such studies were carried out in the period of Slovakias’ accession to the EU. However, nowadays Slovak water legislation is in line with the EU. The main studies carried out on sustainable water management are:

- Assessment of Legal, Policy and Institutional Frameworks related to Sustainable Water Management Issues in five Tisza Riparian Countries – National Assessment Slovakia, prepared by REC Slovakia and Sosna Civic Association, Košice, 2003-2004 (document attached)

- Danube Basin Analysis (WFD Roof report 2004). The Danube River Basin District – river basin characteristics, impacts of human activities and economic analysis required under Article 5, Annex II and Annex III, and inventory of protected areas required under Article 6, Annex IV of the EU Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC), Part A: Basin-wide overview – IC/084. Prepared by the International Committee for the Protection of the Danube Countries of the Danube River Basin District, 18 March 2005, web: http://www.icpdr.org/DANUBIS (document attached)

- Furthermore, several Slovak NGOs (Ludia a voda, VLK) prepared alternative documents focused on an ecological and integrated approach. These documents have the character of recommendations, but are unfortunately not taken seriously by officials. Some of the documents ha ve the character of legislative proposals, and are partly accepted and adopted in the legislation.

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4. Please list briefly the main policy documents and legislative acts related to sustainable water management (provide title, year of adoption, legal status and scope). Please refer to any known inconsistencies among these different policies and legislative acts and measures to address them.

§ Actualised National Action Program me for the Danube Watershed (2000)

This document was developed in the framework of the Environmental Programme for the Danube Watershed, which is the international governmental programme of the Danube riparian countries, defined by the Bucharest Declaration (see international agreements). The document includes a definition of the situation, problems and conflicts, as well as solutions and economic and legislative tools, and concrete goals for the reduction of negative impacts on the Danube watershed in Slovakia.

§ Hydro-Ecological Plan s for Watersheds

The hydro-ecological plans that are being worked out for pa rtial catchments on Slovak territory are the main instruments for the protection and rational use of water and water resources in accordance with the Water Act. These plans are processed by the Slovak Water Management Enterprise, in cooperation with other related organizations of the Ministry of the Environment. In these plans, the distribution of water in particular watersheds is defined, as well as progress in terms of water quality and appropriate methods of water protection. The basic principles of these plans are that:

- the basis of the region is the hydrological watershed or part of it - the document is focused on parametrical solutions - it includes obligatory and informative sections for state administrative bodies - its actualization is in 5 years - the ecological approach is strengthened - the motivation of the plan is water protection

§ River management plans for watersheds

River management plans for watersheds are also prepared by the Slovak Water Management Enterprise. The difference between the Hydro-Ecological Plans (HEP) and the River Management Plans (RMP) is that HEPs deal mostly with the quality of surface water, while RMPs deal mostly with the quantity of surface waters. The river basin management plans partially fulfil the requirements of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The main feature of the integrated approach is that this document has been created using a participatory method, involving the public in the planning process. The water management plan is prepared in two phases: 1. Open planning process – Identification of problems 2. Proposed solutions The document includes information and prognosis (trends) with respect towater sources, water quality, pollution sources, water consumption, and water protection. It also contains a comple te list of activities planned in the watershed (dam constructions; bank regulations and maintenance; the building of wastewater treatments, irrigation facilities, water supplies and pipelines; canalization; erosion prevention activities; water monitoring; water recycling; neutralization of mine waters, etc.). Also included are the economic aspects of water management, prices , and the costs of various services, etc. Importantly, this document already contains some features of the integrated river basin approach.

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§ Strategy and action plan for the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) in the Slovak Republic (2003)

The document was prepared by the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Soil Management, the Water Research Institute, Bratisla va, and the Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute, and was approved by the Government in January 2004. The strategy covers the whole territory of Slovakia and, through the Ministry of the Environment, responsibilities for its implementation are assigned to the Slovak Water Management Enterprise and its particular branches. The process for fulfilling the requirements of the EU is set out by this document, which also contains defined steps towards achieving the “good ecological status” of waters, the timetable for the realization of partial tasks of the WFD, the definition of the methods of WFD implementation, strategic goals for the Ministry of the Environment, a definition of the Water Plan of Slovakia, public participation principles, etc. § Programme for Water Management Development up to 2010 and Programme of Flood Protection in Slovakia up to 2010 (1999).

This basic document was prepared by the Ministry of Soil Management and approved by the previous government, when water management was the responsibility of the Ministry of Soil Management. This document defines the financial requirements from the EU for wastewater treatment and water sources for the Mochovce nuclear power plant, as well as financial requirements for the construction of controversial big dams (Tichý potok and Garajky). The document also contains suggestions by the government w ith regard to flood protection and prevention activities. The document remains valid since the transition of water issues to the Ministry of the Environment. The Programme for Water Management Development up to 2010 is focused mainly on the rational management of expenses as well as cost-effective water management. The Programme for Flood Protection in Slovakia up to 2010 is the result of long-term field research into the needs and problems of water management in Slovakia. This Programme can be considered as the database and the source of background information for decision making and for the selection of priorities and arrangements in water management. The Programme was agreed by the Government of the Slovak Republic by bills no. 31/2000, no. 990/2000, no. 990/2001a, and no. 25/2003. § Concept of the Water Management Policy of the Slovak Republic up to 2005

(approved by Government documents 404/2002 and 1477/2001). The priorities here are water monitoring, water balance management, the building of waterworks and wastewater treatment. The document is focused towards the application of the WFD. § Regional Strategy for the Sustainable Development of Slovak Regions (2002 ).

This is the e laboration of the National Strategy for Sustainable Development for particular regions, in accordance with the principles of Local Agenda 21, accepted by the Slovak Government. One good example of this is the fact that Regional Agendas 21 were coordinated by REC Slovakia with the support of UNDP and the Ministry of the Environment in Stredne Pohronie district, as well as by the NGO People and Water in Levoca/Sabinov district (which is part of TRB) in 2002 - 2003. The Slovak Environmental Protection Agency is preparing Regional

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Agendas 21 in other regions using the methodology developed in the framework of the REC Slovakia “Capacity Building for Sustainable Development” project.

§ Sector Operational Plan of the National Plan for Regional Development (2000)

This document, which has been approved by the Government , also include s water issues. The goals and activities are mostly concerned with the implementation of EU Directives and with the definition of investments with respect to water utilisation and protection. (http://www.seps.sk/zp/plany/nprr.htm) § Application of requirements of Directive EÚ 91/271 for the assignment of sensitive regions (2003)

This document was prepared by the Water Research Institute in Bratislava and the Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute, and is available a t: http://www.enviro.gov.sk/minis/voda/projekty/sprava.htm It is a good source of information about surface water quality, pollution sources (mainly inadequate wastewater treatment), the definition of sensitive regions (including TRB), and suggested solutions. The whole Slovak Republic falls under the sensitive regions. The document also focuses on the transboundary effects of pollution and the transposition of EU water legislation.

§ Actualized Action Plan for the Implementation of NSBPS for 2003 - 2010

This document defines the concrete activities that fulfil the strategic goals of NSBPS. These activities include:

- The mapping of selected wetlands for the completion of a database for NATURA 2000.

- The monitoring of vegetation in wetlands in compliance with watershed regulations.

- The monitoring of changes in biodiversity in the Tisza, after the cyanide catastrophe .

§ Actualised Program me for Wetlands Protection in Slovakia (2000)

This document is focused on the strategy for the protection of Ramsar sites and wetlands in the Slovak Republic, including concrete goals and activities. Each Ramsar site has its own management plan, and a few selected sites have a Plan for Preservation. § National Development Plan of Slovakia (NDP) - Operational Programme : Basic Infrastructure (2003)

This document was prepared by the Ministry of Construction and Regional Development. The objectives of the Basic Infrastructure Operational Programme (OP BI) are derived from the objectives and priorities of the National Development Plan. The OP BI is a programme document of the Slovak Republic for drawing aid from the Structural Funds of the European Union. Its objective is to solve the regional development problems of the Slovak Republic. The OP BI is aimed at removing the existing regional disparities identified and recorded in the NDP for regional transport, environment and local infrastructure. It is intended to improve local conditions by ensuring equal access to infrastructure for local deve lopment centres. In accordance with Priority no. 2: Environmental Infrastructure (the responsibility of the Ministry of the Environment), it is expected “to ensure the connection of inhabitants with canalization and wastewater treatments, to decrease the amount of pollutants in emissions according to the limits, to ensure the drinking water supply, to minimize water losses in

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pipelines, to realize technical arrangements for water protection and to decrease the environmental and health consequences of floods. The document thus also focuses on technical solutions and consequences, without the application of sustainable best practices. The SWOT analysis in this document has shown that the situation with respect to water pollution is worst in the Košice region. In this region the rate of connection with canalization and wastewater treatment is also below the standard levels. A map of water pollution sources is available a t: http://www.sazp.sk/slovak/struktura/cer/Pictures/vod117.htm § General Plan for Water Protection and its Rational Utili zation (2002)

This important document of the Ministry of the Environment was prepared by the Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute. It defines the long-term strategic goals for rational water consumption and protection, based on the application of the river basin principle. The document includes complex information on the water sources of Slovakia, their quality and quantity, as well as some prognoses. It also contains a monetary evaluation of water sources, and the possibilities for their utilization, management and protection. This document is used, for example, as:

− the background for concepts of long-term water protection and utilization − the background for decision making on the development of water management and

its rela tion to other sectors − the background for the development of other sectors − background information for decision making by governmental bodies and water

management organizations at all levels. § State Water Management Balance

This Balance shows details of all big surface water consumers (more than 1,250 m3 per month) as well as of the big surface water polluters (the material is processed by the Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute). The Balance includes information for one calendar year regarding: water sources, water consumption, emissions, list of regulations on drinking water supply, list of wastewater treatment plants, pollution sources, and an assessment of the water balance. The document can be considered as a report on water treatment during one year, as well as on the overall characteristics of the year from the water management point of view for all watersheds in Slovakia. Other water management and water-related documents and plans have to take this information into consideration, especially in the course of decision making and planning. The most important water-related legal instrument in Slovakia is law No. 364/2004 (the Water Act), based on the valid EU legislation. § Implementation of EU legislation and transitional periods

The institution responsible for the process of the Slovak Republic’s accession to the EU under the respective chapter is the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic (www.enviro.gov.sk). The Environment chapter also includes EU legislation in the areas of water protection, waste management, nature and landscape protection, industrial pollution control, risk management, chemical substances, climatic changes, civil protection, etc.

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The Slovak Republic’ s negotiating position on chapter 22 - Environment was passed by the Government on 6 December 2000 and subsequently submitted to the EU representatives. The Slovak Republic accepts the acquis under the Environment chapter valid as of 31 December 1999, and has implemented it, with the exception of the following legislation, for which the Slovak Republic has requested transitional periods (concerning water): ⋅ Council Directive 98/83/EC relating to the quality of water intended for huma n

consumption (drinking water) – transitional period until 2008. ⋅ Council Directive 91/271/EEC concerning urban wastewater treatment – transitional

period until 2015. ⋅ Council Directive 76/464/EEC on pollution caused by certain dangerous substances in the

aquatic environment – transitional period until 2006. ⋅ Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution

caused by nitrates from agricultural sources – transitional period until 2008. ⋅ Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive 96/61/EC – transitional period until

2011. All these transitional periods are necessary because of the need for big investment and because of the complex changes required in different areas of the Slovak economy. As a result of the complexity of the problems, the transitional periods for water-related Directives are the longest in the Ministry of the Environment. The other transposed Directives are: ⋅ Directive 80/68/EEC on the protection of ground water against dangerous substances ⋅ Directive 80/778/EEC on water for human use ⋅ Directive 78/659/EEC on the quality of water which needs protection or increased quality

due to supporting the life of fish. The selection of Directives was based on the most important environmental problems in the regions of Slovakia (untreated wastewaters, nitrates from agriculture, endangered drinking water sources and endangered biotopes). For each of these Directives, the Slovak Government and its bodies ha ve prepared Implementation Plans, including a description of the situation, a definition of the goals, tasks, activities and responsibilities, as well as timetables and financial plans. A significant part of the EU requirements has already been fulfilled by the Slovak Government. The rest of them will be completed according to the defined terms and dates. The process of fulfilling the requirements is defined by the Strategy for the Implementation of the Water Framework Directive in the Slovak Republic (2003), which will soon be approved by the government. In the Summary Monitoring Report on the Preparedness of Slovakia for EU Membership, of 5 November 2003, prepared by the European Commission, it is stated that, in accordance with Directive 91/692/EEC on the Standardization and Rationalization of Reports on the Implementation of Directives, Slovakia has prepared the pilot report for water issues and delivered it to the European Commission. In this Monitoring Report it is also stated that Slovakia has to make stronger progress in the area of the technical preparedness of projects for Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund. For the utilization of these funds, Slovakia has fully respected the relevant acquis, including the environment, since 1 January 2004.

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§ Other important national laws, including environmental and water issues, are: − The Constitution of the Slovak Republic − The Act on Nature and Landscape Protection (Law No. 543/2002 Z.z.). The new Act

on Nature and Landscape Protection (replacing Act No. 287/1994) aims to comply with the relevant EU legislation and at the same time reflects other international concepts and agreements in the area of nature conservation. All EU regulations related to nature conservation were transposed into this law. Act No. 543/2002 regulates civil service and local government authorization, as well as the legal rights and legal duties of subjects and persons in relation to nature and land protection, with the goal of contributing to the conversation of the multiplicity of the environment and life forms. It also regulates conditions for sustainability, regeneration and the rational exploitation of natural resources, the conservation of the natural heritage, the characteristic appearance of the landscape and the achievement and preservation of ecological stability.

− The Act on Administration in Water Management (Law No. 135/1974 Zb.). This act defines flood prevention and protection.

− Law on Flood Protection (Law No. 666/2004 Z.z.) − Law on Public Waterworks and Public Sewerage (Law No. 442/2002 Zb.) − Forest Act (Law No. 265/1995 Z.z.) − Act on Support for Regional Development. This law also includes the Programme

for Territorial Development on the level of self-governments (Law No. 503/2001, Z.z.)

− Act on Public Water Supplies and Canalization (Law No. 442/2002 Z.z. ) − Act on Environmental Impact Assessment (Law No. 127/1994 Z.z.) This law is

important, because the public can influence the EIA process and its results. − Act on the Right to Access to Information (Law No.211/2000 Z.z.) − Act on Integrated Prevention and Environmental Pollution C ontrol (Law No.

245/2003 Z.z.) − Act on Ecological Farming (Law No. 224/1998 Z.z.) − Act on State Administration of the Environment (No. 525/2003 Z.z.) − Act on Waste (No. 223/2001 Z.z.), of importance because unregistered waste dumps

are sources of river pollution in many cases. The relationship between the Act on State Administration in Water Management (Law No. 135/1974 Zb.) and the Water Act (364/ 2004 Z.z.) requires comment. The Water Act deleted paragraphs regarding the structure of the state government in the Act on State Administration in Water Management. The new structure is defined by the Water Act (364/ 2004Z.z). There are now District Offices of the Environment and Regional Offices of the Environment, self-governments and Inspectorates. The main problem of the water- and environment-oriented policy documents in Slovakia is not their content and quality or the aim of the strategies, but the reflection of their concepts and suggestions in the national legislation and the realization of the proposed suggestions in practice. It is not possible to enforce these strategic documents and their suggestions (for example by sanctions) if they are not implemented in the legislation. In Slovakia, one kind of governmental document is missing – the “Plan of adoption into the legislation of suggestions defined in strategic documents” – which should ensure the implementation into national legislation of the suggestions defined in the documents.

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In general, the listed official documents do not include best ecological practices and successful examples of river management from EU countries or other parts of the world. Sections on river restoration, landscape revitalization and sustainable water management, and sustainable alternatives are not sufficiently processed. Most of the documents are technically oriented. In EU countries, the changing of environmental, economic and social preferences has an influence on river management. This process and these principles are not enforced in the listed strategic documents. A lso absent from the listed documents in general is the restoration of the multi-functional use of rivers and the restoration of their natural conditions. Furthermore, in general they are also lacking support for public awareness. On the other hand, the documents include a good analysis of water quality, pollution sources, water consumption, SWOT analysis, as well as presenting technical solutions and the legislative framework.

5. Do the policy and legislative acts in Your Country reflect the elements of

integrated water resources management listed below? Please provide details.

Elements of integrated water resources managements

Y/N

River basin management approach

partially

Dual approach towards water quality protection: emission limit and quality objectives

Y

Sectoral integration Y Water pricing Y Public participation N Monitoring for all waters Y Flood management and control Y others

§ The r iver basin management approach is part of the environmental policy of Slovakia. A

river basin management approach is applied partly in the “Hydro-Ecological Plans for Watersheds”, and “River Management Plans”, which are the most important documents for river management in practice. In these documents, which are prepared by the Slovak Water Management Enterprise and Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute, it is possible to see some positive shift towards a more ecological attitude. The application of the principle of integrated watershed management and respect for the protection of ecosystems and human health is ensured by the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD), which has recently been transposed into the new draft law of the Water Act.

§ The principle of flood prevention and control is part of the environmental policy of

Slovakia. However, there is no official document analyzing the real causes of the last big floods in the Slovak part of the Tisza River Basin (TRB) (deforestation, intensive agriculture, artificial river banks arrangement, etc.). The official documents also lack any stress on real improvements in the water cycles or the improvement of the retention capacity of the landscape. Also, flood prevention is defined there mostly in the technical sense. River Restoration is taken as the technical management of the river, realized with “more ecological tools”. It can be said that this problem is a “remainder” from the Soviet era, when there was a tendency to prefer huge technical arrangements rather than smaller,

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environmentally friendly “soft” solutions. What can be regarded as progress is the fact that in some cases polders (semi-natural reservoirs) are being used for water retention rather than an artificial riverbank arrangement.

§ Public participation is allowed during the public commentary stage of strategic documents

prepared for the approval and EIA process. The participation of the public and of all stakeholders has to be strengthened in the development of water management strategies through consultations and public information in terms of WFD. The public has the right to comment on each strategic document that comes under SEA at least two months before its approval. The SEA process will be organized according to the new Act on EIA, which has recently undergone the public commentary process. According to this law, the Ministry of the Environment must announce the place and time of public negotiation, and must enable public participation. In general, there are quite good “passive” sources of information on water issues, available on the Internet. The active dissemination of information from the Ministry of the Environment and its organizations is not so good. The provision of information to the public in response to telephone calls or e-mail requests is also quite good, based on the Act on the Right to Access to Information.

§ The Slovak Republic has signed, and in most of cases also ratified, most of the important

water-related international and bilateral agreements. However, their application in practice is not always well realized.

§ In water issues, new legislation has been accepted based on the Slovak Water Act (2004),

which is in accordance with the acquis and the Water Framework Directive. This represents positive progress, supporting water protection issues and integrated watershed management. As a result, the recent period is complicated from the legislative point of view, since it is a time of transition. Laws and competencies are in the process of change, so that the situation is sometimes unclear even for clerks and governmental bodies. In the case of two EU Directives there are relatively long transition periods, because of the need for high investments and the complex situation.

§ Following the official reaction of the EU (as published in the media), dealing with

industrial pollution in CEE countries causes many problems because regional and local authorities are, in some cases, unable to introduce the requirements of EU in practice.

Law enforcement, existing corruption and low legislative and environmental awareness are the general problems in Slovakia, even if the situation is not as bad as in most Carpathian countries. Problems can be expected with the enforcement of EU Directives and their application in practice, because of the lack of investments. One very important element in sustainable river basin management is the ensuring of consistent control over the respecting of Directives in practice by all the relevant bodies: the Slovak Water Management Enterprise, the Inspectorate of Water Protection, and regional and self-governments. Up to now, ignorance of legislation and breaches of it have not been taken very seriously by the responsible bodies; penalties ha ve not been applied very often and these have mostly been at the bottom level of the potential fines. In order to improve water protection, it is essential to increase the strictness of the responsible organisations, mostly in the case of unregistered waste dumps, wastewater emissions, and wastewater treatment. Many institutions, including foreign investors , are simply ready to pay the fines for emissions of wastewater, without any motivation to improve their policy. It is therefore necessary to ensure that the Polluter Pays Principle is enforced with adequate payments.

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Improved enforcement of the law and its application without any exceptions – in each case and dealing with any subject – is essential.

§ Agriculture and forestry come under the competence of the Ministry of Soil Management.

In the past there was an absence of legislative -based motivation for farmers to practice bio-farming as an important method of water sources protection, and no motivation for foresters to practice ecological forestry in the watersheds. The valid Act on Ecological Farming provides only weak motivation for water protection. The most important changes can be expected after the introduction of the relevant EU legislation and the Codex of Good Environmental Practice. Also, even though clear cuts in forests, which are one of factors contributing to increased flood risk, are not allowed by the Forest Law, they are practised from time to time.

§ The monitoring of water quality has been carried out until now by the Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute as well as by the Slovak Water Management Enterprise. From 2004, there will only be one common system, thus removing this duplicity and following EU standards . Water quantity is continually monitored by the SHI.

§ Until now there has been a lack of high-quality projects prepared in Slovakia for financing

from EU sources, so there is a need to improve the quality of the proposals. To date , for water-related projects, the main EU accession fund was the ISPA. The high priorities for ISPA were drinking water and wastewater. The building of canalisation and wastewater treatment plants was carried out from this source in the past. Since its accession in 2004, Slovakia has been able to use structural funds for water -related projects, mainly the European Agricultural Polic y’s Guidance and Guarantee Fund, the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund.

§ There is a good level of vertical co-operation between the Ministry of the Environment

and its institutions. Unfortunately, horizontal co-operation between the Ministry of the Environment and the other institutions, sectors and NGOs is not so good and mostly only at a formal level. The co-operation between the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Soil Management is defined by the Act of Competence, as well as by the Implementing Plan for Directives of EU legislation. Since the shift of competencies to the Ministry of the Environment, there is no legal mechanism for this co-operation (for example , defined by Directives or inter-ministerial agreements). Co-operation is only at the level of common projects. The consequence of this missing mechanism is that in some cases practical problems are not being addressed and conflicts of interest are not being resolved. For example, Forest Management Plans are often not sufficiently taken into consideration in terms of nature protection in protected areas.

§ The Ministry of Soil Management, with competencies in the area of agriculture and

forestry, which, in many cases, are a source of conflicts of interest with nature and river protection, also has a stronger position and budget than the Ministry of the Environment. This means that there is an unbalanced position regarding the mechanism of budget distribution.

§ In practice (at the local level), horizontal co-operation between the sectors of water

management and forestry is not very good. For example, the Forest Management Plans and the Water Management Plans are not co-ordinated, since this is not required by law.

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As a result , the consequences of deforestation in some parts of the watershed are sometimes not taken into consideration. Only in the case of sources of drinking water is there a duty to accommodate in the Forest Management Plan respect for the protection of water sources. In the case of conflicts of interest, the Regional Office of the Environment calls on the representatives of the two sides to resolve the problem. The resolution of conflicts of interest is based on the laws in force (the Water Act, the Environment and Landscape Protection Act, the Agricultural Soil Fund Protection Act), which defines procedures in case of conflicts of interests.

§ There are quite good contacts between self-governments and the Slovak Water

Management Enterprise (SWMC), although there are sometimes problems with delays in the realization of concrete activities, such as the cleaning of banks and river beds , the removal of sediments, etc. Also, there is a problem of lack of finances for the realization of flood prevention activities at the local level. For the management (cleaning) of river beds (excavation of gravel), public tenders are announced. In some cases, private companies are contracted rather than self-governments, and this can influence relations between self-governments and the SWMC, since self-governments expect this to be their business.

§ The attitude of clerks (bureaucracy) from the Departments of the Environment in district

offices has , in some cases, been a hindrance to the provision of permissions for the realization of some positive activities (landscape revitalization, river restoration, communal composting, alternative waste water treatments, etc.) suggested by NGOs. Since January 2004 there has been a change in the structure of the state administration in the field of the environment (based on reduction and change in territorial distribution).

6. Which among the following principles have been implemented through concrete

measures? Please specify at what level (local/regional/national) at provide details:

Measures Y/N Local/Regional/National Level

Integrating sustainable use of water resources with land-use planning

Y All levels

Taking into account pollution reduction, prevention and elimination concerns in the planning activity

Y All levels

Flood prevention and control Y Local level Reducing water habitat fragmentation N Promoting sustainable management of surface and groundwater resources

Y All levels

Ensuring adequate supply of good quality surface and groundwater for sustainable, balanced and equitable water use

Y All levels

Ensuring adequate sanitation and treatment of waste water Y All levels Preserving natural watercourses, springs, lakes and groundwater resources

Y All levels

Preserving and protecting wetlands and wetland ecosystems, especially against natural and anthropogenic detrimental effects such as flooding and accidental water pollution

Y All levels

Developing a coordinated or joint system of measures, N National

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activities and early warning for transboundary impacts due to floods and accidental water pollution (Povapsys) Co-operating to prevent and reduce the damages and provide assistance in restoration works

Y All levels

others

7. What is the institutional set up on the national, regional and local level in the area of water management? Please shortly describe the role of the main authorities (explain which authority is in charge of specific aspects of water management, e.g. policy and legislation making, monitoring, permitting, management of drinking water supply, operation and maintenance of waste water treatment systems, fee collection, enforcement of legislation etc.. Please explain any horizontal and vertical cooperation mechanisms (e.g. information on intersectoral coordination bodies). Please list areas where overlaps of responsibilities occur and describe measures taken or planned to address these.

According to the Constitution of Slovakia, all waters are the property of the nation. Water issues and water legislation (including the implementation of EU legislation) come within the competence of the Ministry of the Environment. This Ministry is also the Central Body of the State Water Administration, responsible for watershed management, the monitoring of water quality and quantity, flood protection and water sources protection. Other organizations in the field of water administration and management are: regional governments, district governments, Inspectorates of Water Protection, the Slovak Inspectorate of the Environment, and the self-governments. All of these water administration organizations are part of the public administration, which is divided into the Local State Government and the Local Self-Governments.

The Local State Government includes District Offices of the Environment and Regional

Offices of the Environment. There are two kinds of self-government: the local self-governments of cities and villages and regional self -governments (for NUTS II level). Cities and villages have competencies in the field of water protection for small water courses , and regional self-governments have competencies in the field of landscape planning. ü Aspects of policy and legislation and water management issues (river basin management

approach, water quantity management, flood protection and control, co-operation between stakeholders at national/river basin level)

All competencies in the area of water management and protection were moved from the

Ministry of Soil Management to the Ministry of the Environment in 2003.

The Ministry of Soil Management of the Slovak Republic is responsible for agriculture and forestry. There are several “contact points” with the Ministry of the Environment: irrigation systems, emissions from agricultural activities, etc. These points are managed at ministerial level, as defined by the Act on Competencies. On the practical level, these duties are managed by the Slovak Water Management Enterprise, according to its statute. Conflicts of interest in water issues between the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Soil Management are defined by the Water Act and the Act on Nature and Landscape Protection.

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The Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic is responsible for the safety of drinking water and swimming areas. Its executive organizations are the State Health Departments and the Regional Hygiene Se rvice. Below is a list of institutions, which are responsible for river issues, belonging to the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic:

− Section of Waters (at the Ministry of the Environment ) This department is responsible for fulfilling the tasks of the state environmental policy in terms of water protection, balance, and rational utilization, as well as conceptual, technical and legislative means of water protection. It manages the preparation of the General P lan for Water Protection and its Rational Utilization, the hydro-ecological plans of watersheds, and the State Water Management Balance, with the overall aim of protecting water and utilizing it in a rational way. It is the main authority for the protection of water accumulations and the removal of pollution. It manages the hydrological service, fulfilling tasks in relation to accident services and water protection.

It is responsible for respecting international agreements and laws on water protection and utilization, and is also responsible for the goals of research on water issues.

The department is subdivided into the :

⋅ Branch of plans and water planning ⋅ Branch of watersheds administration and streams administration. ⋅ Branch of state water administration

− Council for the Integrated Utilization of Watersheds

The Minister of the Environment can create various commissions and consultative organizations, financed from the resources of the Ministry. The most important with respect to surface water issues is the Council for the Integrated Utilization of Watersheds. Members of this Council are experts from the Ministry of the Environment, from the Slovak Technical University, the Slovak Academy of Science, the Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute, the Union of Slovak Cities and Villages, and representatives of NGOs.

− Council for the Integrated Management of the L andscape − Other working groups , created by the Minister of the Environment and active

since 2002 are the Central Anti-flood Commission and the ICOLD.

The Central Flood Committee is the official body of Slovakia in the field of flood prevention in accordance with the Act on State Administration in Water Management SNR c. 135/1974 Zb. The chairperson of the Central F lood Committee is the Minister of the Environment. The Central Flood Committee:

coordinates and controls the preparation and realization of flood prevention activities at central and county level

discusses and approves plans for complex flood prevention in Slovakia.

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In times of flood risk, and during floods, the Central Flood Committee: observes and evaluate s progress in the flood situation and manage s and

coordinates the activities of the Regional and County Offices and provides the necessary help

controls and coordinates all flood prevention activities at times of flood risk and during floods that cause damage to large territories

controls and coordinates all flood prevention activities on transboundary streams

in cooperation with bodies from neighbouring countries (including Hungary and Ukraine), carries out flood prevention activities on transboundary streams based on bilateral and multilateral agreements, etc.

evaluates the damage caused by floods and prepares official reports on large-scale floods, etc.

− Slovak National Committee on Large Dams

This Committee is a member of the International Committee on Large D ams. It is a voluntary association of companies dealing with water reservoirs and dams , as well as of individual experts. Its activities include information exchange and the transfer of know -how in relation to waterworks and dams.

− The Slovak Water Management Enterprise (SWME)is located in Banská

Štiavnica. It has branches relating to the main river basins (watersheds) of Slovakia. The SWME is directly subordinate to the Ministry of the Environment. From the water management point of view, there are four watersheds in Slovakia: Danube Váh Hron Bodrog and Hornád

− Speciali zed offices for State Administration of the Environment

In accordance with the Act on State Administration of the Environment (No. 525/2003 Z.z.), there is a new structure (slightly reduced in comparison with the previous system) of state administration of the environment, including water issues, within the competence of the Ministry of the Environment. According to this law, all competencies in water management were allocated to specialized offices for the State Administration of the Environment from 1 January 2004. These offices operate at both district and regional level. In the whole of Slovakia there are 46 new District Offices of the Environment and 8 Regional Offices of the Environment.

According to information from the Slovak Water Management Enterprise, there will be no important changes in water issues in practice. The competencies of the new Offices of the Environment are already defined by law.

ü Financial aspects of water management: water pricing, financing sustainable river basin water management

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All these aspects come within the competence of the Ministry of the Environment, and are carried out through the Slovak Water Management Enterprise. Investments are also realized through the Programme of Support for the Realization of Environmental Activities. Financial requirements in relation to the construction or reconstruction of the 102 wastewater treatment plants and canalization in 2000 - 2002 were defined by the Competence and Development Programme for Public Works, prepared by the Ministry of Soil Management in 1999. In spite of this, several of these works ha ve not been realized to date (e.g. in Košice). A massive amount of activity is now expected, when Structural Funds will be available for Slovakia. Up to now, private companies have not been very keen to increase funding for improving environmental policy and decreasing the level of pollution, or even for sustainable management. One possible solution is the Good Neighbour hood Agreement, used in the USA and other countries, in order to increase investments by big polluters in their regions. ü Water quality and monitoring: water quality management, use of emission limit values

and water quality standards, monitoring system

− The Slovak Inspectorate of the Environment – Inspectorate of Water Protection

The Slovak Environmental Inspectorate is financed from the national budget, through the budget of the Ministry of the Environment. The Slovak Environmental Inspectorate (established by the Ministry of the Environment), has its seat in Bratislava and includes five regional Water Protection Inspectorates. It is a professional control body of the state administration in the area of water resource protection, defined according to river basin. The Inspectorates are also responsible for imposing penalties, which are added to the government budget (part of which is allocated to the Ministry of the Environment). The Košice branch of the Slovak Environmental Inspectorate is responsible for the control of TRB, with the exception of the Slaná River, which is covered by the branch in Banská Bystrica.

− Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute The Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute is a specialist (expert) organization of the state administration, established by the Ministry of the Environment to deal with the monitoring and evaluation of the state and quality of water resources. This is a contributory organization, thus its budget is partly covered from the national budget and partly from its own activities. Regional centres are responsible for data collection. The flood protection service is realized by the Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute and its Division of Forecasts and Alarms, part of which is the Hydrological Information and Forecast Service . This service is very important during floods. The Division coordinates the national flood prevention program POVAPSYS and operates a Hydrology Information and Forecast Service (www.shmu.sk/hips) in four regional offices. There is also a secreta riat of the Global Water Partnership for Central and Eastern Europe , currently hosted by the Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute, which is active in integrated water management.

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− The Water Research Institute, Bratislava The Water Research Institute, Bratislava, is a specialist (expert) organization within the competence of the Ministry of the Environment. This is a contributory organization, thus its budget is partly covered from the national budget and partly from its own activities.

The major activities are: · the development and validation of hydro-analytical methods · the harmonization of methods used in Slovakia with those used in the EU · the implementation of state-of-the art analytical techniques · the organization of training for the staff of hydro-analytical laboratories · the organization of proficiency testing for the water sector in Slovakia · cooperation with the Slovak National Accreditation System as an expert centre in the process of the accreditation of hydro-analytical laboratories in the Slovak Republic · responsibility for the supreme audit in the field of water analysis.

Water quality is also monitored by the Slovak Water Management Enterprise. The monitoring of surface water quality was previously the activity of the Department of Surface Water Quantity and Q uality, the Division of Hydrological Services at the Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute.

Following the adopted EU legislation, there has been a change in the extent of the monitored parameters. The management of the tasks connected with the monitoring of the new (adopted) parameters is realized by the Ministry of the Environment, through the Working Group for Monitoring, and the Working Group for Intercalibration. From 2004, these working groups will manage the new approach to monitoring, including the unified approach to water sampling, sample processing and databases preparation. The new plan will remove the overlaps in monitoring and will be based on EU standards and parameters. The Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute is fully responsible for quality monitoring. The cooperating organization is the Slovak Water Management Enterprise. The results of monitoring will be available on the Internet. Due to the new situation, there is a lack of skilled experts to deal with the new parameters (especially in the field of bio-monitoring). There is also a lack of necessary equipment, thus monitoring will be realized in cooperation with the Geological Institute of Dionyz Stur in Bratislava, which has well-equipped laboratories. Currently , surface water emission limits and quality standards are defined by Government decision No. 491/2002. In this document not all the EU limits are fully implemented. A new Water Act is currently under preparation, in which the EU Water Framework Directive will be fully implemented. After the approval of this new law, all EU limits and quality standards will be fully adopted. Water levels and discharges are continually monitored by the Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute and delivered for processing to the Slovak Water Management Enterprise. There are many monitoring stations in the whole of Slovakia, continually monitoring water levels and discharges as well as flood levels. Regularly actualized summaries of measurements are available to the public at http://www.povodia.sk/bh/en/

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ü Environmental protection: environmental governance, environmental impact assessment, biodiversity and ecological stability, application of polluter pays principle

§ Environmental governance comes within the competence of the Ministry of the

Environment, Section for Environmental Protection, Department of Environmental Protection

§ Biodiversity and nature protection are also within the competence of the State Environmental Protection (organization of the Ministry of the Environment)

§ Environmental Impact Assessments are within the competence of the Ministry of the Environment, Department of Assessment of Impacts

§ The Pollute r Pays principle is applied by the Slovak Water Management Enterprise (this organization collects charges from registered polluters for their permitted emissions).

According to the National Strategy for Sustainable Development in the Slovak Republic, comparing the proportions of individual water purity classes at all monitored segments of watercourses in Slovakia in the period 1991 to 1998, it can be stated that there is no apparent positive trend in the development of surface water quality in Slovakia. Despite a reduction in the amount of wastewater discharged to watercourses, and despite a growing treatment rate, some of the basic water quality indicators are not improving (especially biological and microbiological indicators and basic chemical and physical indicators). This demonstrates the relatively large proportion of “unregistered” untreated wastewater and the aerial origin of water pollution, in particular from agriculture and from households in rural areas. One important aspect is the application of the Polluter Pays principle - each registered polluter has to pay penalties for emissions. This payment is income for the government. The payments are made by companies that produce emissions to surface waters. It represents a motivation for the polluter, although in practice it is a fairly weak tool. Since the legislation for the calculation of fines dates back to 1989 (with no changes to date), the fines are quite low and do not reflect the real situation. It is expected that in 2004 this will be changed in accordance with the new Water Act. At present, penalties are regarded in many cases as merely a formalit y and do not represent a real instrument leading to the improvement of water quality or motivating polluters to improve their environmental policy. Penalties tend to be included in polluters’ plans as one of their necessary expenses. In addition, there are a number of small, “unregistered” local polluters who are not fined. To date , in several cases the clerks in District Offices of the Department of the Environment have not been keen to permit the realization of some positive activities (landscape revitalization, river restoration, alternative wastewater treatments, communal composting, etc.) suggested by NGOs. In some cases it has been extremely difficult to obtain the necessary permits. This situation could be improved by some good internal legislative documents of the Ministry of the Environment. ü Uses of water: effectiveness of local water management companies, integration of

sustainable water management concerns into other sectors, industrial risk prevention and control, liability, waste water management, drinking water management, local and regional development and land use.

The structure of self -governments in Slovakia is as follows:

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§ Self-Governing Regional Governments. It is the duty of self-governments to prepare and realize a “P lan for economic and social development”. This document can also include a section focusing on the environment and water. Some self -governments have prepared such a document, but for most self-governments environmental issues are not a high priority.

§ Local Governments (at city and village level: at present, each municipality in Slovakia has a self-government).

§ Slovakian Waterworks Companies. These are joint stock companies, created by transformation in April 2003. They are responsible for drinking water supply, for canalization and for the treatment of was tewater in Slovak watersheds.

There is a plan to create a new Centre, located at the Water Research Institute , Bratislava, which will introduce the principles of the Water Safety Plan (a methodology defined by WHO and accepted by the EU) for drinking water in Slovakia and acting as an independent institution for the benchmarking of Waterworks Companies. Since there is a monopoly of waterworks companies in Slovakia, the benchmarking approach (based on comparing analyses, using defined indicators) for the evaluation of the water supply systems can be very important. Most of the listed organization and bodies have a webpage for presenting information. Some organizations publish reports and journals, available to the public. The Ministry of the Environment has a “Green Line” for advice.



NGOs have carried out many activities in the water sector, e.g. § Danube Environmental Forum, Bratislava § SOSNA, Košice § Ludia a voda, Košice § Ekosvinka, Obišovce § O.z. Tatry, Liptovský Mikuláš § Vlk, Tulcík § REC Slovakia § DAPHNE, Bratislava Several activities by NGOs have been in the field of the preparation of alternative materials, for example:

• The civic association Ludia a voda, Košice (The Blue Alternative). This document describes alternative methods for increasing the retention ability of the landscape, decreasing water runoff from the landscape and revitalizing watersheds. • The Vlk civic association, Tulcík (Save the Natural Forests). This document presents alternative ways to increase drinking water supplies and improve flood protection through the improvement of the condition of forests. The promotion of this programme is well managed at the level of public authorities.

The activities of these NGOs include river watches, watershed revitalization and protection, campaigns, education, alternative concepts, and lobbying. Examples include :

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- The feasibility study “Integrated Management of the Carpathian River Basins - Tools and Implementation”, prepared by REC Slovakia in 2000.

- The analysis “NGO Participation in the Danube River Basin Management Plans”, prepared by REC Slovakia in 2002.

List of other NGO projects :

• Tice oxbow revitalization in Královský Chlmec district (K. Chlmec self-government) • Upper Tisza valley monitoring (Tisza klub and partners in HU - SK - RO - UA), 1998. • Microregion project on flood prevention and sustainable development activities in the

Svinka river basin (Ekosvinka association) • Voluntary river watch on the Hornád - Hernád river (SOSNA - SK, Holocén - HU) • Blue Slovakia (Modré Slovensko) – Programme for solving water management

problems in selected watersheds (Ludia a voda) • Prevention of erosion and floods in the Upper Torysa region (Ludia a voda) • Revitalization of “Budov kút” oxbow on the Hornád river close to the Slovak -

Hungarian border (SOSNA 2003 - 2004) All this projects were oriented towards practical and alternative solutions to local problems, but they are small-scale projects, realized with modest budgets.

9. What are the competent authorities for the main river basins within the Carpathian region in your country?

The Slovak Water Management Enterprise (SWME), located in Banská Štiavnica. This has branches according to the main river basins (watersheds) of Slovakia. The SWME is directly subordinated to the Ministry of the Environment. From the water management point of view, there are four watersheds in Slovakia:

Danube Váh Hron Bodrog and Hornád

The SWMEs are key institutions responsible for the management of the rivers and streams that belong to the Slovak watersheds. These state organizations carry out the practical maintenance and management of watercourses, waterworks and water resources, the management of water quality and quantity, water monitoring, flood prevention and protection activities, water protection, water supply for all sectors of the economy, the removal of accidents, the development of waterways, cross-boundary cooperation. With the exception of the State Water Management Enterprise, which is responsible by law for the management of all watersheds in Slovakia, the Water Act enables the transfer of the management of small streams at the local level. In this case, the self-government can take on the whole management of a small stream or a part of it. The management of water supplies and wastewater treatment is possible at the local level, mostly in villages (using their own ground water sources). By law it is also possible to create local water supply companies , managing water supplies and wastewater treatment, but there are only a few examples of this in Slovakia. Most supplies are managed by big waterworks companies. On the other hand, there are attempts by multinational companies to buy some of these waterworks companies.

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Local land-use plans and local development plans are developed by self-governments. Self governments provide permits for the consumption of surface and ground water by natural persons, and for drainage of land up to 5 ha, etc.

10. What are the main sources of funding (domestic and external) for sustainable water

management activities in the Carpathian region in your country? Are there any specific financing or economic instruments provided for in the legislation to support such activities. Please describe briefly such mechanisms?

The main sources of funding are the s tate budget of the Slovak Republic, the finances of cities and towns, the internal resources of water management enterprises, the finances of industry, and loans. The quality of water protection and management depends on the available resources and funds, as described below. The Ministry of the Environment has a relatively weak position and its budget has a decreasing tendency. In the year 2004 the income for environmental competences was 1.519 billion Slovak crowns (about 40 million EUR) – almost 40% of this sum was from EU sources. The total expenses are calculated at 80 million EUR. In comparison with 2003, expenses were reduced by 8 million EUR. The governmental proposal regarding the expenses of the Ministry of the Environment in 2004 was not sufficient for environmental investments, or for the newly established specialist state administration of the environment. This will also have a negative effect on water management issues, since everything depends on the state budget. As stated by Mikuláš Huba, an environmental expert from the Society for Sus tainable Life, Slovakia, there is a risk of overestimated expected budgetary incomes in the sphere of water management, at 4.5 million EUR higher than reality. These incomes are mostly from fees for emissions. Due to a change of technologies and the structure of the economy, emissions to surface waters have a decreasing tendency, so incomes are decreasing. The main problem is that only about 1% of expenses from the national (governmental) budget is reserved for environmental issues, which is an extremely low proportion. However, the worst problem is the imbalance between planned investments and real needs. For infrastructure for water protection and its rational use alone , the real needs are almost 10 times higher ( in order to fulfil EU conditions for the transition period). Contributions for Slovakia from EU funds, designated to improve water management infrastructure, will represent 334 million EUR for the years 2004 – 2006. Altogether, w ith national resources, this comes to 401 million EUR. From the European Fund for Regional Development, for Slovakia the amount of 46 million EUR is designated for projects in the field of water protection and rational utilisation, and 228 million EUR for nature protection projects. The other problem is that the Ministry is more interested in the realization of big investments (dams) than in sustainable river management. As a result, there is strong criticism of the Minister, László Miklós, and of the Ministry on the part of NGOs and nature protectors.

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The Ministry of the Environment and its water -related organizations are still interested mostly in a technical approach to river management, including the building of large dams and other river regulation methods (for example, the recent plan to construct the Tichy Potok dam on the Torysa River). Improving the environmental sensitivity of this organization is still very important. Money is used mostly for technical solutions and there is still a lack of support for alternative solutions, such as river and wetlands restoration, the building of biological wastewater treatment plants, etc.

11. Please describe the main steps taken by your country for international cooperation on transboundary rivers in the Carpathian region, both in the context of the ICPDR and on a bi- or multi-lateral level. Mention if there is a formal cooperation mechanism or not, at what level coordination is taking place, what are the main priorities for cooperation, results and future plans. Please provide details on the participation of your country in any other international (global, regional or sub-regional) initiatives relevant to sustainable management of waters, besides the ones mentioned above.

§ The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) In 1998, the Danube River Protection Convention (DRPC) came into force after ratification by eight Danube states and the European Commission (EC). The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) was created to coordinate the implementation of the convention. Since its creation, the ICPDR has been effective in finding consensus among basin countries on priorities and strategies for improving the Danube and implementing the DRPC. The objectives of the ICPDR’s 2001-2005 Joint Action Programme for the Danube River Basin are directed towards the improvement of the ecological and chemical status of the water; the prevention of accidental pollution events; and the minimization of flood impacts.

§ Water monitoring and flood prevention on transboundary streams Water monitoring is carried out in accordance with international and bilateral agreements and coordinated by the commissions for transboundary streams:

− Slovak–Ukrainian Commission for transboundary waters − Slovak–Hungarian Commission for transboundary waters. This Commission

includes several working groups, among them the “Working group for the Tisza and its tributaries”

Information exchange, the harmonization and planning of common activities, the preparation of treaties and conventions are carried out through the Commission for Trans boundary flows, and the responsible body for these tasks is the Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute (as a member of the Commission). There are several examples of transboundary cooperation, both on the official (governmental) level, as well as on the non-governmental level:

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a) Activities at governmental level

− Monitoring of boundary parts of rivers – control of pollution transmission from Slovakia to Hungary (Slovak Water Management Enterprise)

− Slovak – Ukrainian project on flood prevention in the Tis za River (Self-Governing Regional Government Košice)

− Pilot project Latorica and Uh between Ukraine and the Slovak Republic – monitoring of transboundary water quality (Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute)

Below is a list of important projects at governmental and institutional level:

• Twinning project SK/98/IB/EN/01: Expertise in harmonizing sectoral policy and institutional enforcement in water management (2000 - 2001, The Ministry of Water Management of the Netherlands and the Ministry of the Environment of SK) The aim of this project was the transposition, implementation and application of EU legislation for water issues in Slovakia, and the assessment and implementation of selected parts of the Water Framework Directive from the point of view of the legislative and organizational competencies and duties of water management bodies in Slovakia.

• Twinning project SR99/IB/EN/01. This was focused on the development of a methodology for the assessment of eco-toxicological tests of wastewaters. It included a programme of bio-monitoring based on warning systems and the bio-monitoring of wastewater treatment in SK.

• Real-life -scale integrated catchment modelling for supporting water-

related environmental management decisions (2002-2004 Water Resources Research Centre, Hungary). Partners for this project are from Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Germany, Belgium, Austria, and the UK. The aim is the development of an integrated computer watershed model, the application of a hydro-ecological approach in large watersheds, and the revitalization of wetlands.

• The Slovak Water Management Enterprise, Hornad and Bodrog River basin

branch, is participating in a joint project with Ukraine: “Flood prevention in the Tisza River basin”, supported by NATO. The goal of the project is to improve the existing warning system, to enhance its capacity and to provide early flood warning for citizens in the Tis za River basin areas of Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Serbia and Montenegro. Real-time data will be obtained from the hydro-meteorological network using a satellite system. In close cooperation with Belgium as the lead country for the first phase, regional cooperation centres will be established, and measures will be proposed for the future development of water management activities, such as the construction of polders and dikes and the collection of available data.

• An international consortium consisting of water management organizations

from Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania is currently implementing the EU TACIS project “Cross -border flood management in the Tisza River basin” , which is implemented in the territory of the above-mentioned

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countries. The goal of this initiative is to analyze the current situation, to set up a pilot early warning centre in Uzghorod, Ukraine , and the proposed construction of two monitoring stations in Ukraine. Two workshops were organized in 2001 where the situation in the Tisza River basin was compared to the Moselle River, Germany.

• Another international project of the Slovak Water Management Enterprise was

“Flood management in Slovakia and Ukraine”, realized according to the agreement between the Slovak Ministry of Soil Management and DANCEE in the Bodrog basin , in cooperation with the Danish Hydraulic Institute (DHI). The goal of the project is to propose a rainfall-drainage model for the upper parts of the basin as well as a hydrodynamic model for the lower parts of the basin. Part of the project is the development of a cross-boundary system of flood forecasting and the development of retention basins and polders for flood protection.

• In the framework of Slovak – Dutch cooperation between 1994 and 2001, the

project “Improvement of water management in the agriculture sector” was carried out at the agricultural farm Malcice, Slovakia. The project contributed to improved agricultural production by means of better management of surface and ground water drainage canals on the Malcice farm. With the use of Dutch technology, the Slovak Water Management Enterprise has regularly maintained the drainage canals since the completion of the project.

• Tisza River Project - River Basin Integrated Modelling (2002-2004). The

main goal of the project is to develop tools for integrated river basin management with the involvement of stakeholders. The implementing bodies are the Slovak Research Institute of Water Management, Bratislava , and the Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute, Bratislava.

b) Projects realized in cooperation with institutes and NGOs

− The Danube Regional Project (DRP), the official tit le of which is

“Strengthening the Implementation Capacities for Nutrient Reduction and Transboundary Cooperation in the Danube River Basin”, was launched on 1 December 2001. As the next phase of the GEF/UNDP’s long-term commitment to achieving environmenta l health in the Danube River basin, the main goal of the DRP is to strengthen many of the structures and activities already in place in the basin, building on what is there and on the lessons learned, and facilitating a regional approach. A key focus is st rengthening the capacity of the ICPDR and Danube countries to fulfil their legally binding commitment to implement the Danube Convention. This now includes the development of a River Basin Management Plan in line with the EU’s Water Framework Directive.

− Wetland Restoration in the Laborec – Uh Rivers Floodplains (2002). Integrated Ecosystem and Natural Resource Management. Realized by the Ministry of Soil Management of the Slovak Republic and the NGO DAPHNE.

− Ecologically Sensitive Rural Development in the Tisza Watershed Region. This project focussed on the elaboration of a plan to help rural communities

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living in the Tisza watershed to find new ways of development and natural preservation (2000 – 2001). The project was realised by the Carpathian Foundation in Hungary, Ukraine, Romania, Slovakia, along with expert groups.

− Regions 21 – Capacity building for sustainable development a t local level (REC Slovakia, 2003). There are three components of this project: the preparation of a National Strategy for Sustaina ble Development in

Slovakia the preparation of a model Regional Agenda 21 for a selected region in

Slovakia a small grants programme for NGOs and municipalities in order to

support the development of activities oriented towards sustainable development.

− Establishment of Natura 2000 Network in the Slovak Republic : Partners from NL: VVMZ (lead), Wetlands International, SOVON, AVALON Partners from SK: DAPHNE Institute for Applied Ecology, Institute of Botany of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences of Comenius University, SOVS. MATRA. 2001 - 2003.

− Environmental Management in the Karcava and Tice Hydro-Geographical network. Phare CBC 2003. Regional development agency, Královský Chlmec.

− Hornád River Coalition (SOSNA – SK; Holocén – HU).This is an association of 24 subjects (self-governments, NGOs, businesses, schools, the Slovak Water Management Enterprise, etc.) acting in the Hornád watershed, coordinated by SOSNA. The aim of the association is to carry out activities to improve the quality of water in the Hornád watershed and its environment, as defined in the “River Contract”). This project is one of the outcomes of several years of cooperation and the realization of common projects in the Slovak–Hungarian border area of Abov. The aim of the project is to develop networks among local actors in two neighbouring regions, which will participate in the process of the development of a River Basin Coalition. The objectives are:

to create a River Basin Coalition based on cross-border and cross-sectoral cooperation

to carry out concrete activities to improve water quality, as defined in the River Contract

to improve information flow in the river basin regarding the above-mentioned topics.

At present, SOSNA has a project on the transfer of know-how on the development of the River Coalition to partners in Hungary, Romania, Croatia and Serbia. There are still only a few big and good-quality projects realized with the mutual cooperation of institutes and NGOs.

c) Activities on a commercial level: § The passable canalization of the Bodrog river and the building of a ship port in

Ladmovce village , next to the Hungarian boundary, to enhance water transport between Hungary and Slovakia.

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§ Forest certification process according to FSC scheme . Gemer Regional Assoc iation of Private Forest Owners, 2003. The goals are the creation of a group scheme for the forest certification process according to FSC, with the aim of creating suitable conditions for the involvement of small private owners (in relation to the high price of certification for individual small private forest owners); and the promotion of sustainable forestry through certification with regard to nature conservation and local social conditions.

§ There are a few other projects for the building of small hydro power plants, for fishpond

management and for the development of recreational zones. Good commercial projects are quite rare up to now. Most of them lack an integrated

approach and are focused only on the economic aspect of short-term financial profit (e.g. gravel mining). Now, following EU accession, there will probably be much better conditions for Slovak – Hungarian transboundary cooperation, mostly at the regional level, using Structural Funds. A good common water quantity monitoring system on the TRB in Ukraine and Hungary has been established. Slovakia is not currently participating in this system, but is interested in joining it

§ Bilateral cooperation on transboundary waters – intergovernmental agreements 1.1 Agreement between the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and the Austrian Republic on

the reform of water management issues relating to transboundary waters Date of signature: 7 December 1967 Place of signature: Vienna Date of coming into force: 18 March 1970 1.2 Agreement between the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and the Government of the

Hungarian People’s Party on the reform of water management issues regarding boundary waters

Date of signature: 31 May 1976 Place of signature: Budapest Date of coming into force: 31 July 1978 The agreement was mutually succeeded following the formation of the Slovak Republic in

1993. 1.3 The agreement between the Slovak Republic and the Government of the Ukraine on the

reform of water management issues regarding trans boundary waters Date of signature: 14 June 1994 Place of signature: Bratislava Date of coming into force: 15 December 1995 1.4 The agreement between the Slovak Republic and the Government of the Polish

Republic on the reform of water management issues regarding transboundary waters Date of signature: 14 May 1997 Place of signature: Warsaw Date of coming into force: 6 December 1999

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1.5 Agreement between the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic on cooperation on transboundary waters.

Date of signature: 16 December 1999 Place of signature: Židlochovice Date of coming into force: 16 December 1999 2. The following agreements are currently in the process of preparation (i.e. ratification): 2.1 Agreement between the Slovak Republic and the Austrian Republic on water

management cooperation on trans boundary waters. Date of signature: December 2001 Place of signature: Bratislava Date of coming into force: Its ratification on both sides is still pending 2.2 Agreement between the Slovak Republic and the Government of the Hungarian

Republic on transboundary waters. § Committee for transboundary waters with neighbouring countries On the basis of individual intergovernmental agreements and international contracts, the following committees were set up for elaborating the interests of the Slovak Republic in relation to boundary waters: 1. Slovak–Austrian Committee for Transboundary Waters; 2. Slovak–Hungarian Committee for Transboundary Waters; 3. Slovak–Ukrainian Committee for Transboundary Waters; 4. Slovak–Polish Committee for Trans boundary Waters; and 5. Slovak–Czech Committee for Transboundary Waters. At the head of individual parts of the Committees are the plenipotentiaries of the government, that is, the president of the Slovak delegation, those designated by the government of the Slovak Republic from the section of Waters of the Slovak Ministry of the Environment:

1. Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Government for water management issues in

trans boundary waters with Austria; 2. Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Government for water management issues in

trans boundary waters with Hungary; 3. Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Government for water management issues in

trans boundary waters with Ukraine; 4. President of the Slovak part of the Slovak–Polish Committee for Transboundary

Waters; and 5. Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Government for water management issues in

trans boundary waters with the Czech Republic. Representatives of other ministerial departments are also named as members of individual committees:

1. Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic – issues of state borders; 2. Ministry of Transport, Post and Telecommunications of the Slovak Republic –

issues of shipping;

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3. Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic; and 4. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic.

Tasks relating to water mana gement measures of a technical nature are mainly carried out

as part of the work of individual committees on trans boundary waters in the following fields:

a) changes in water management; b) the maintenance and repair of rivers and streams; c) constructions, equipment and activities, which may influence river activity; d) defence against floods, internal waters and ice flows; e) measures in particular cases of the worsening of water quality and exceptional hydrological

events, including warning and response services; f) withdrawal of surface and ground waters; g) release of waste and other waters; h) defence of surface and ground waters against pollution, and the maintenance and

improvement of their quality; i) protection zones around water sources; j) improvement measures; k) use of water energy; l) extraction of sand, gravel, rock and other materials from river beds; m) the construction, operation and maintenance of water management works and equipment on

them; n) the measurement and surveillance of water management works, as well as evaluation and

change s in their results; o) water management planning and balancing; p) protection of aquatic and littoral biotopes; q) river shipping, in terms of maintenance, marking out, signalling and construction of water

courses in boundary waters; r) protection of boundary w aters as a component of the environment; and s) other water management measures.

For the resolution of individual tasks, the Committees set up working groups and groups of experts with every contractual state separately. These work on the basis of assignments, according to the principle of cooperation and directives set up by the individual committees, as they are influenced by intergovernmental agreements, that is, international contracts, in which individual fields of cooperation are specified.


to integrated water management in the Carpathian region in your country.

Institutional aspects

• Due to the decentralization process in Slovakia, an important element of decision making has been transferred to the local level, so that the municipalities can manage their development and finances independently from central government. Thanks to the transfer of competencies, problems can be solved where they are raised.

• One disadvantage is that at the beginning of the decentralization process there were strong differences on the level of the development of municipalities in Slovakia. This unequal development may be even worse in the future. In particular, small villages

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lack qualified staff (lawyers, financial managers). As a result it is possible to expect that in the near future small villages will be forced to create some united (joint) offices with common equipment and qualified staff.

• The raising of environmental and legal awareness among the public and the strengthening of public participation are very important for improving the public control of institutions. On the other hand, it is necessary to increase the professional abilities and skills of staff through regular training. The increasing of human capacity and the completion of fiscal decentralization are also important. Up to now, only 6% of government income from taxes is distributed back to self-governments.

• In Slovakia, up to now (fortunately) there have been no big floods, industrial accidents or other river-related disasters as, for example, in Hungary. It is perhaps for this reason that the creation of a disaster prevention system is not the highest priority. The other problem is that the activities are in general focused on the consequences rather than on the reasons for the water -related problems. From the analysis of the situation in several official documents, it is clear that the worst situation with respsect to water quality is in Eastern Slovakia (part of the Tisza watersheds). For example, the map of the surface water pollution (the worst case), available on http://www.sazp.sk/slovak/struktura/cer/Pictures/vod116.htm,shows that the whole TRB falls to class 5 of the worst pollution.

• The adoption of EU legislation (especially of the Water Framework Directive) is a challenge that should improve attitudes towards river basin management and promote the introduction of the principles of integrated watershed management. It is already possible to observe some positive shift on the part of water managers towards more ecological and integrated approaches.

• Other opportunities are environmental projects: good-quality projects financed from EU sources, multilateral projects, as well as the private sector looking for new possibilities for investments.

• The main constrain ts on the realization of positive changes are: a lack of local, regional and national funds, the preference of the economy over the environment, the weak influence and financial sources of the Ministry of the Environment and its organizations, the lack of well-prepared projects, projects focused on environmentally unfriendly solutions (big dams, regulation of rivers), lack of public participation, a low level of enforcement of law, and bureaucracy.

• At the same time, the increased probability of the occurrence of rainfall extremes can be expected in relation to global climate change, which will cause increased flood hazards (see, e.g. , State of the World 2003, or Natural Capitalism). Along with climatic extremes, the reason for floods is , in particular, the inappropriate state of river basins, causing unbalanced runoff conditions and a rise in extreme flow rates. Today, it is generally recognized that technical measures are not sufficient to protect territory against floods, thus the revitalization of whole river basins, based on an integrated, ecological approach, is necessary. And this must be adopted by official water policy documents.

Policy aspects In general, the situation in terms of the preparation of environmenta l and water -oriented policy documents in the Slovak Republic is relatively good. There are a number of official documents, covering all aspects of river basin management, flood prevention and water protection, prepared by the Ministry of the Environment. On the other hand, these basic documents, such as the National Environmental Action Programme and the National Strategy

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for Sustainable Development, are in many cases not taken seriously at local level. Also, the general awareness of the public regarding these documents is low. The reason for this problem is probably the low level of environmental and legislative awareness. However, these documents and strategies have defined the framework for the necessary changes in national legislation and the principles of the national environmental policy. There is good access to these documents for the public, mostly via the Internet. Documents prepared by other resorts are mostly technically and economically oriented, and in general they do not take into account the principles of sustainable water management. Other conclusions: § In general, there is no efficient communication between decision makers and the public

(including NGOs) on water-related issues. § Water quality and its protection is not a high priority for politicians. § Awareness of water protection and its importance is quite low in general. § Administrative boundaries do not correspond to watersheds. § Rural (regional) development programmes are not interconnected on the river -basin level

and they are not aligned w ith river management plans . § There is still a high number of unregistered sources of water pollution (unregistered waste

dumps, emissions from farms, etc.), not punished by law. § The ranking of the revitalization of wetlands and river systems among the priorities. Major obstacles to transboundary co operation

The political and economic situation in Ukraine is one of the obstacles. For example, several accidents on the Latorica R iver ha ve been caused by local people, damaging the oil pipelines. Because of the big differences in stream flows on boundary rivers (the Latorica and Uh), it is very difficult to apply “flood walls” – the main tools to stop the diffusion of oil outflows. The main obstacles to trans boundary cooperation are: § Lack of functioning contacts among various organizations, companies and other bodies in

the watershed (businesses, NGOs, etc.). This is caused by the visa duty between Slovakia and Ukraine. This will be even more complicated in 2004 because of the “Schengen border”. Anther problem, in my opinion, is the corruption of officials.

§ In 2003, there was no meeting of the Slovak–Ukrainian Committee for transboundary waters and no transboundary water sampling.

§ Lack of financial and information sources at all levels: governmental, regional and local. Especially at the local level, it is a problem to find sources of cooperation.

§ Weak respect for environmental legislation by private companies and farmers, and their low environmental awareness. Water and environmental issues are not their priority.

§ Trans boundary cooperation between Slovak and Hungarian partner organizations (governmental bodies, private companies, institutions, universities and civic organizations) is much more effective, since there is no problem with travelling and communication. The Slovak–Hungarian Committee for transboundary waters ha s regular meetings and carries out common water sampling.

§ For the preparation of good quality transboundary projects, information and contacts on foreign partners are often lacking, as are partnerships at local and regional level. Another problem is co-financing, since the organizations in many cases are not able to ensure co-financing.

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4. Sustainable agriculture and forestry (Article 7, Carpathian Convention)

Article 7: Sustainable agriculture and forestry 1. The Parties shall maintain the management of land traditionally cultivated in a sustainable manner, and take appropriate measures in designing and implementing their agricultural policies, taking into account the need of the protection of mountain ecosystems and landscapes, the importance of biological diversity, and the specific conditions of mountains as less favoured areas. 2. The Parties shall pursue policies aiming at developing and designing appropriate instruments, such as the crucially important agri-environmental programs in the Carpathians, enhancing integration of environmental concerns into agricultural policies and land management plans, while taking into account the high ecological importance of Carpathian mountain ecosystems, such as natural and semi-natural grasslands, as part of the ecological networks, landscapes and traditional land -use. 3. The Parties shall pursue policies aiming at promoting and supporting the use of instruments and programs, compatible with internationally agreed principles of sustainable forest management. 4. The Parties shall apply sustainable mountain forest management practices in the Carpathians, taking into account the multiple functions of forests, the high ecological importance of the Carpathian mountain ecosystems, as well as the less favourable conditions in mountain forests. 5. The Parties shall pursue policies aiming at designating protected areas in natural, especially virgin forests in sufficient size and number, with the purpose to restrict or adapt their use according to the objectives of conservation to be achieved. 6. The Parties shall promote practice of environmentally sound agricultural and forestry measures assuring appropriate retention of precipitation in the mountains with a view to better prevent flooding and increase safety of life and assets. Agriculture

1. What is the percentage of agricultural land within the Carpathian region in your country?

The total area of agricultural land is 2,440,667 ha (Implications of Biodiversity Conservation in Rural Development Programmes of Slovakia, Project “Nature conservation in rural policy”, Part II) – valid for the whole of Slovakia.

2. What proportion of the agricultural economy of your country is taking place in the Carpathian region in your country?

The proportion of GDP from agriculture in 2000 was 4.34% (valid for the whole of Slovakia).

3. What are the main problems/impacts of agriculture on environment in the Carpathian region? Please compile the answers you provided on the impacts of agriculture on the different environmental factors throughout this report.

The main problems deriving from agriculture are: the acidification of soil, soil contamination, water contamination, the biological degradation of soils, eutrophication of waters, etc… Agriculture is an activity with a strong negative impact on species, habitats and landscapes.

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4. Has there been any significant change in the ownership structure or permitted uses

of areas allocated for agriculture and forestry in the Carpathian region in the last 5-10 years? If yes, please briefly describe these changes.

An analysis of agriculture, the food industry and rural areas shows that the whole sector has undergone important changes since 1989. The ownership structure has not changed significantly dur ing the last 5t to 10 years. A much bigger change occurred in the early 1990s when land was given back to private owners. The agricultural crises in the early 90s had positive and negative effects on protected areas as production became more extensive, but on the other hand the least productive areas , with limited accessibility and environmental restrictions, were neglected. The definition of the problem has changed in the meantime from preventing agricultural intensification to maintaining extensive farming and sympathetic management. The majorit y of the land is in private ownership and only a small part of the region is owned by the state. However, the large-scale organization of farms has been preserved even after the privatization programmes of the 1990s. Thus a small number of large commercial farms (> 500 ha) cultivate half the agricultural land in the protected landscape areas. They operate within and outside the core zone of the protected landscape area, usually on rented land, that is often formally owned by hundreds of small landowners. The decrease of human interventions (withdrawal of grazers, abandonment of meadows, etc) in the Carpathian grasslands has resulted in the overgrowth of dominant species and the degradation of mountain grassland ha bitats, and has diminished diversity at the landscape/ecosystem, habitat and species levels. While collectivized agriculture was the principal cause of the abandonment of upland grasslands, the land remains abandoned even now, fifteen years after collectivization ended, because it is no longer profitable for the average farmer to continue to utilize these upland grasslands given the low market incentives and the current costs of time/labour and transport, as well as one-time costs associated with fencing and procuring additional animals.

5. Have any studies (e.g. assessments, gap analyses) on sustainable agriculture in the Carpathian region been undertaken in your country? If yes, provide title, scope, place where it is available and the year of completion. Please list the main conclusions or attach final documents (if in English)

There are several studies, e.g.:

- State of the Environment Report - Green reports - National study “Implications of Biodiversity Conservation in Rural Development

Programmes of Slovakia” - Country Profile, CSSD Status report, 2002 - Rio + 10 Report, 2002

Conclusions are mostly as follows:

- The largest contribution to the decrease of agricultural land is caused by afforestation, civil and housing construction

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- Considering the real soil and ecological conditions, it is necessary to decrease the proportion of ploughed land (nowadays it represents nearly 60%), resulting in the higher share of permanent grasslands and special crops.

Needs:

- Afforestation of agriculturally unsuitable soils - To protect the soil in SR against unfounded takings - To promote ecological agriculture - To establish agri-environmental proceedings which will regulate agricultural activity

in order to protect and improve the quality of the environment according to particular agri-environmental schemes

6. Please list the main policies and legislative acts related to agriculture in mountain

areas (provide title, year of adoption, legal status and describe briefly the scope). Please refer to any known inconsistencies among these policies and legislative acts and measures taken to address them.

Policies:

1. Mid-term Concept of Soil Management Policy for 2004-2006 – a strategic planning document defining the starting points and strategic objectives of the soil sector. It also describes the main roles and tasks to be fulfilled.

2. The Concept of Ecological Agriculture in the SR, 1995 – a document approved by the Government in 1995, defining the basic orientation of ecological agriculture until 2010. It also includes a set of implementation measures.

3. Agri-environmental Programme of the Slovak Republic, 2002 – a document defining a set of measures in agricultural activities in harmony with environmental protection. It defines a number of categories of supporting schemes (payments) for various environmentally friendly agricultural techniques.

4. Strategy for Soil Protection and Soil Exploitation. 5. State Soil Policy of the Slovak Republic – a basic policy document in the area of soil

protection. It declares soil as a fundamental national asset and heritage. It defines the obligations of soil protection against its degradation.

6. Code of Good Agricultural Practice in the SR – soil protection, 1996 – constitutes a list of good agricultural practices ensuring the productivity of farmers and simultaneously the protection of the environment. Good agricultural practice is laid down for various areas of agricultural production.

7. Code of Good Agricultural Practice in the SR – proper fertilizer usage principles, 2000 8. Code of Good Agricultural Practice in the SR – water pr otection against nitrate

pollution from agricultural sources, 2001 9. Rural Development Policy - In accordance with the conclusions of the Pan-European

Conference on Rural Development, which was held in Bratislava in May 1997 under the responsibility of the Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for Agriculture and Rural Development, the “Rural Development Policy in the Slovak Republic” was worked out and approved by the Slovak Government in 1998. It sets out the principles which are in compliance with EU principles, for example, integrated principles, economic and social diversification, sustainability, as well as the principle of planning and projecting the development of agriculture and rural areas “from bottom to top”. The Policy is an innovative trans-sectoral document, and together with the act passed on ecological agriculture it represents a very important document necessary for the integration of the Slovak Republic into the European Union. The

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sustainable development of agriculture belongs among the priorities of the sector of soil management and the SAPARD Programme for the period 2000 – 2006.

10. Following the Plan of Rural Development, the Plan of Rural and Agricultural Development was passed in 2000, which declares the need to promote an ecological approach to, and the sustainable development of , rural areas. The main priorities include:

- the improvement of agricultural primary production and the food industry,

- sustainable rural development, the development of human activities. Legislation: Act No. 307/1992 on the protection of agricultural land was passed, together with subsequent executing regulations – regulation of the Government No. 152/96 on basic rates of payment for the use of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes, as amended by the regulation of the Government 188/200. From the point of view of the protection of land quality the decision of the Ministry of Soil Management of the Slovak Republic on the maximal acceptable values of harmful substances in the soil has been adopted.

7. Does your country have a specific policy with regards to promoting sustainable

agriculture in the mountain areas? If yes, please specify at which level (local/regional/national) and specify which of the following aspects has been taken into account:

Sustainable agriculture principles are recognised in national level policies, but there is no specific reference to sustainable agriculture in mountain areas.

Aspects Y/N Local/Regional/National Level Integration of environmental concerns into land management plans

Y national

Protection of natural and semi-natural grasslands

Y national

Consideration of the impact of agricultural policies on ecological networks

Y national

Consideration of the impact of agricultural policies on mountain landscapes

Y national

Consideration of the impact of agricultural policies on traditional land-use

Y national

Need for the protection of mountain ecosystems and landscapes

Y national

Importance of biological diversity Y national Specific socio-economic conditions of mountains as less favoured areas

N

Environmental sensitivity of certain areas Y national Prevention of floods N Others

8. Have any specific measures/instruments (such as agri-environmental programs) for

implementing sustainable agricultural policies been adopted for the Carpathian mountain areas?

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According to the National Plan for Regional Development, the National Plan for Rural Development, and the Agri-environmental Programme of the Slovak Republic, there are measures to determine a set of agri-environmental procedures which will regulate agricultural activity in order to protect and improve the quality of the environment according to particular agri-environmental schemes:

- Basic schemes (so-called zero packets with no claim for supportive payments) - Universal agri-environmental schemes (payments for specified farming/landscape

management) - Specific agri-environmental schemes (increased supportive payments for the

protection of remarkable ecosystems) - Complementary schemes (payments for distinctively gentle farming in the landscape,

such as for the application of sustainable development agricultural practices.

9. What is the institutional set-up on the national, regional and local level in the area of agriculture? Please shortly describe the role of the main authorities and explain any horizontal and vertical cooperation mechanisms (e.g. intersectoral coordination bodies). Please list areas where overlaps of responsibilities occur and describe measures taken or planned to address these.

The responsible authorities at the national, regional or local level include the: ü Ministry of Agriculture, Bratislava – a central state administration body responsible

for agriculture, forest management, water management (within a specified scope), fisheries, hunting and the food industry. It carries out state administration and expert oversight of the agricultural sector, as well as expert supervision, direction and inspection of the administration that is legally carried out by other bodies and organizations in the agricultural sector and by territorial state administration authorities. It directs and guides the state’s economic policy in agriculture in line with the government’s Policy Statement. In order to implement and facilitate activities, it establishes and systematically directs state public benefit enterprises, organizations and agencies, primarily in the fields of science, research, development, inspection, control and supervision, certification, training, consulting and forestry.

ü SAPARD Agency, Bratislava – a key body responsible for implementing SAPARD. This agency manages and distributes funds of European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)

ü Ministry of Construction and Regional Development, Bratislava . ü Regional state administration offices – departments of regional development. ü District state administration offices – departments of regional development. 10. Please describe briefly any activities undertaken within the Carpathian region in

your country by civil society organisations relevant for the purposes of the agricultural aspects of art. 7 of the Carpathian Convention.

There are several non-governmental organizations wor king in the area of agriculture, for example EKOTREND – Union of Ecological Agriculture. This is a non-governmental, non-profit organization operating throughout the whole territory of the Slovak Republic. The Agro-Eko Forum is another non-governmental organization actively working in the area of agriculture. Its aim is to participate in enforcing sustainable agriculture, including the Carpathian region. It covers areas such as nature and landscape protection, agri-environmental programmes, GMOs, food quality, the provision of information, participation in legislative

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activities, education, ecological agriculture etc. It cooperates with other NGOs operating in the area of agriculture, such as Agrokruh, Alter Nativa o.z., CEPA (Centre of Environmental Activities), Daphne, Greenpeace, Ekotrend, etc. As regards concrete activities, the Agro-Eko Forum has criticized the lack of transparency in the creation of strategic documents such as the sectoral operational programme “Agriculture and Rural Development”, and the inadequate communication between the Ministries of Agriculture and the Environment.

11. What are the main sources of funding (domestic and external) for activities related to sustainable agriculture in the Carpathian region in your country? Are there any specific financing or economic instruments provided for in the legislation to support such activities? Please provide details.

ü State budget of the Slovak Republic ü EU structural tools :

- Phare – since 1990 Phare has been the first instrument for financial assistance provided by the EU for the social and economic development of Slovakia

- SAPARD – financial assistance focused on promoting measures in the areas of agriculture and rural development. To fulfil the EU condition for such funding, the National Plan for Rural Development in Slovakia was developed and approved in November 2000.


regional or sub-regional) initiatives relevant to sustainable agriculture (e.g. Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development – SARD initiative, Agricultural Diversity International Initiative under the CBD etc.).

A UNDP GEF-funded project (medium size) targeting Carpathian region is currently being developed: “Conservation of biological diversity of the Carpathian Mountain grasslands in the Slovak Republic through targeted application of new EU funding mechanisms”. The Ministry of the Environment is the executing agency. The objective of this project is to strengthen the conservation management of globally significant biodiversity in species-rich mountain grassland habitats (grasslands and pastures) in two protected landscape areas (PLA) which are included in the Slovak candidate list of Special Protection Areas under the EU Habitat Directive. The project is designed to test and validate the assumption that existing and future EU financial support mechanisms, properly oriented, will sufficiently offset the additional costs that landowners incur when managing the more inaccessible, biodiversity-rich mountain grassland habitats, so that they will be willing to participate in the designed grassland conservation management plans. The GEF funding will be targeted towards developing the initial capacity to identify the most valuable mountain grassland areas, gaining and sharing expertise in securing EU funding for grassland management projects, monitoring the outcomes of management, and disseminating the knowledge among others involved in mountain grassland management, particularly parties to the Carpathian Convention. The project will provide tangible results that will enable the EU financial support mechanisms to be fine-tuned at the national level to strengthen their applicability for mountain grassland conservation (Morava river basin) , and, as such, to contribute to the sustainability of the Slovak protected area system.

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13. Please evaluate briefly the main a chievements and the main obstacles and barriers

to sustainable agriculture in the Carpathian region in your country. Achievements The return of traditional sheep and cattle grazing to some regions of the Carpathians is definitely a very positive thing, since traditional agricultural methods are more and more difficult to protect and practice. Therefore the agro-environmental program me and the special fund for organic agriculture are very helpful tools. Several efforts of NGOs to work closely with farmers and land owners in so called land trusts are very positive tool as well in keeping traditional farming and natural values of mountain meadows and pastures. Obstacles Nevertheless, not practising agriculture is still the major problem in the Carpathians. Especially in the mountains, the afforestation (financed from donations from EU programmes) of some meadows or pastures may become a serious problem in some areas. As regards the main obstacles to sustainable agriculture in the Carpathian region, mention should be made primarily of the unfavourable economic development of agriculture (the overall reduction of production and employment), the low level of restructuring and insufficient technologies (the conservation of obsolete organizational forms, low labour productivity, weak competitiveness with developed countries), the long-term decrease of the area of agricultural land, and insufficient support for the development of alternative (organic, ecological) agriculture and integrated rural development. Forestry

14. What is the percentage of forest areas within the Carpathian region in your country?

The total forest area in Slovakia is 1,997,901 ha.

15. Please list the protected areas designated in natural, especially virgin forests in the Carpathian region in your country.

ü Biele Karpaty – PLA ü Cerova vrchovina – PLA ü Horna Orava – PLA ü Kysuce – PLA ü Make Karpaty – PLA ü Mala Fatra – NP ü Muranska Planina – NP ü Nizke Tatry – NP ü Pieniny – NP ü Polana – PLA ü Poloniny – NP ü Ponitrie – PLA ü Slovensky Kras – NP ü Slovensky raj NP ü Stiavnicke vrchy PLA ü Strazovske vrchy – PLA ü Tatransky NP ü Velka Fatra – NP ü Vihorlat PLA

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ü Vychodne Karpaty PLA Certain primeval forest protected areas were proposed as parts of UNESCO World Natural Heritage sites (Horný les, Šúr, the primeval forest of the Kovácovské Hills – South, Boky, Kašivárová, Sitno, Vtácnik, Havešová, Vihorlat, Badín, Stužica, Dobroc, Hroncecký Grún, Klenovský Vepor, Padva, Tlstá, Zadná Polana, Babia Hora, Skalka, the primeval forest of Kôprová Valley I, II, and the primeval forests of Mengusovská and Mlynická valleys).

16. What are the main impacts of forestry practices on the mountain ecosystem in the Carpathian region in your country? Please refer to specific situations, such as illegal forest cutting, that pose a serious challenge for the mountain forests.

The unfavourable development of the state of health of the forests due to harmful impacts, in particular the synergistic influence of emissions and climatic factors (extreme droughts and warming during recent years), which reduces the functional potential of the forests and causes huge losses not only in timber production but in fulfilling the public functions of forests as well, highlights the need to concentrate attention on enhancing the ecological stability and resistance of forest vegetation. The improvement of the situation requires an increase in the proportion of resistant plants (particularly deciduous trees). The question of the re-evaluation of the plan for target representations of woody plants in Slovak forests in relation to global warming is also urgent. The management of fragile forest ecosystems in mountain areas is being realized mainly through the “Implementation Programme for the Removal of Damages Caused by Human Activities, in Particular by Emissions in Forest Ecosystems”. The programme encompassed recovery measures in forests on almost the whole territory of Slovakia. Since this programme is extraordinarily expensive, its limitation to the most endangered areas was adopted in 1996. Projects for the areas of the Low Tatras, Kysuce, Orava and Stredný Spiš have been worked out, and have started to be implemented. During recent years the state of forest health has started to stabilize. However, the state of health of the forests is considerably worse than the European average. The worst situation is to be found in the upper border forests, where there is a threat of destruction. The proportion of accidental felling is high (45% of all felling in 1999). In order to improve the current situation, in 2001 the Slovak Government adopted a report on the removal of damage caused by anthropogenic activities in forestry, in which it ordered the responsible ministers to elaborate a draft Programme for the Removal of Damage in Forest Ecosystems up to 2010.

17. Have any studies (gap a nalyses, assessments, etc.) related to sustainable forestry practices in the Carpathian region in your country been undertaken? If yes, provide title, scope, place where it is available, and the year of completion. Please list the main conclusions or attach final documents (if in English).

The Ministry of Agriculture publishes annually a comprehensive report on forestry (Green Reports), which address in detail all aspects of forest management in Slovakia – the role of forestry in the Slovak economy, institutional and organizational arrangements, health state, management methods, economic results, functions of forests, etc. The English version of the summary of the latest report is attached as a separate document. It can also be found at: http://www.mpsr.sk/slovak/dok/zs2005/zsles2005_14.pdf

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18. Please list the main policies and legislative acts in the area of sustainable forestry (provide title, year of adoption, legal status and scope) Please refer to any known inconsistencies among these policies and legisla tive acts and measures to address them.

1. The Strategy and the Concept of Forestry Development in Slovakia and the Principles

of the State Forestry Policy 2. The Action Plan for the Implementation of the National Strategy for Biodiversity

Protection in the Slovak Republic for 1998 – 2010. This document was adopted by the Government in 1998, based on background documents provided by a number of ministries. It sets out a series of tasks to be implemented in order to support the implementation of the National Biodiversity Strategy in Slovakia. In 2002, the Updated Action Plan for 2003-2010 was adopted by the Government.

3. The Concept of Forestry Policy up to 2005. This is one of the main strategic planning documents for forestry in Slovakia. It defines the strategic and policy targets of forestry policy for the beginning of the century, including management methods, the protection of the environment and funding. The document lays down programming objectives and the methods and tools to achieve them. A special chapter is devoted to an analysis of the impacts of forestry policy on the environment.

4. The Report on the Forestry Management of the SR (Green Report). Green Reports are documents published annually, which deal with forestry in the previous year in detail. They provide data on forest area, economic performance, forestry–environment interface, employment in forestry, timber processing, research and education and many more areas.

Forest vegetation protection is an integral part of the protection of forest resources, which is rooted in the national planning documents. The primary objective of the Strategy and Plan of Forestry Development in Slovakia and the Principles of State Forestry Policy in Slovakia is the maintenance of the forests, that is, the maintenance and gradual increase of forested territory. This objective is also pursued by legislation that deals with forest management in accordance with the law. All forests, regardless of their size and form of management, have to be managed according to plans. The most important indicators of forest management are determined by forest management plans, which ensure and increase the production and public functions of forests, that is, the interests of the state. In this context, an important role is assigned to the management arrangement of forests and its results, the forest management plans, through which the main principles of forest protection are applied under concrete conditions.

19. Do the policies pursued by Your Country reflect the principles listed below? Ple ase provide details.

Principles Y/N Sustainable management of forest resources and forests lands

Y

Protection of forests against pollution Y Prevention and protection against fire, pests and diseases

Y

Public information on forests ecosystems Y Public participation in development, Y

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implementation and planning of national forest policies Recognition of vital role of forests in maintaining the ecological processes and balance

Y

Aforrestation and reforestation Y Assessments of economic and non econom ic values of forest goods and services

Y

Protection of natural forest areas Y Protection of ecologically representative or unique types of forests

Y

Consideration of alternative uses of forests N Ensure appropriate retention of precipitation in the mountains for flood prevention

Y

Others

20. Has Your Country developed any afforestation or reforestation programmes in the mountain areas exposed to erosion and degradation? Please provide details. Is the protection of non forest valuable habitats taken into account by these programmes?

In the context of this strategic objective, the Slovak Government has approved the Programme for the Reforestation of Lands not Suitable for Agricultural Production. According to this programme, by 2000 some 50,000 hectares of agricultural land will be reforested. The introduction of certification according to PEFC and FSC systems will constitute a further instrument oriented to the sustainable management of forests. In 2001, approximately 50,000 ha of state-owned forests were certified. In 2002, it was planned to establish the National Certification Centre , the Center would issue PEFC and FSC certificates. Because of the lack of available financial sources for afforestation, this programme has been cancelled. Only 3,536 ha have been afforested.


of forest management? Please shortly describe the role of the main authorities and explain any horizontal and vertical cooperation mechanisms (e.g. intersectoral coordination bodies). Please list areas where overlaps of responsibilities occur and describe measures taken or planned to address these.

- The Ministry of Agriculture, Bratislava, is the central state administration body

responsible for agriculture, forest management, water management (within a specified scope), fisheries, hunting and the food industry. It carries out state administration and expert supervision of the agricultural sector, as well as the expert supervision, direction and inspection of administration that is legally carried out by other bodies and organizations in the agricultural sector and by territorial state administration authorities. It directs and guides the state’s economic policy in agriculture in line with the government’s Policy Statement. In order to implement and facilitate activities, it establishes and systematically directs state public benefit enterprises, organizations and agencies, primarily in the fields of science, research, development, inspection, control and supervision, certification, training, consulting and forestry.

- The Ministry of Construction and Regional Development, Bratislava - Regional State Administration Offices – departments of regional development,

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- District State Administration Offices – departments of regional development - County Forest Offices - Municipal Forest Offices


your country by civil society organisations relevant for the purposes of the forestry aspects of art. 7 of the Carpathian Convention.

As regards the forestry aspects of the Carpathian Convention, there are a number of activities carried out by civil society organizations in the territory of the Carpathian region of Slovakia. The forest protection association VLK (wolf) carries out a number of projects oriented towards the protection of forests and forest animals. It is also very active in regeneration activities after the disaster in the High Tatras. There are also several associations of forest landowners trying to protect their proprietary interests.

23. What are the main sources of funding (domestic and external) for implementation of activities related to sustainable forest management in the Carpathian region in your country? Are there any specific financing or economic instruments provided for in the legislation to support such activities. Please provide details.

- The State Budget of the Slovak Republic - policy of subsidies for forestry and

agriculture - EU structural tools - Phare – since 1990 Phare has been the primary financial assistance provided by the

EU for the social and economic development of Slovakia - SAPARD – financial assistance focused on promoting measures in the areas of

agriculture and rural development. To fulfil the EU conditions for such funding, the National Plan for Rural Development in Slovakia was developed and approved in November 2000. The last payments for these projects have to be made by the end of 2006, that is, in the case of incomplete projects the beneficiaries can apply for a payment by 30 September 2006 and controls can be carried out within five years.


regional or sub-regional) initiatives relevant to sustainable forest management (e.g. the Expanded Programme of work on Forest Biological Diversity, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests under the United Nations Forum on Forests etc.)

Certain activities of the Institute of Forest Ecology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Zvolen, and possibly also by the Forestry Research Institute in Zvolen. The SR and Slovak NGOs participated in the T rilateral Ramsar initiative , which also included forest management and forest practices. A Trilateral (Sk, A, CZ) Ramsar site will be adopted at the end of the year.

25. Please evaluate briefly the main achievements and the main obstacles and barriers to sustainable forestry in the Carpathian region in your country.

Main achievements: • The high percentage of nature monuments and nature reserves • Three protected landscape areas

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• The return of the wolf and brown bear • Increase of timber reserves • Modest increase in forest area in Slovakia in the recent period • As regards the monitoring of the state of health of the forests, carried out on the basis of

defoliation rate, a considerable improvement has been registered since 1997. The overall improvement has been caused by a reduction in both domestic emission sources and in the long-range transboundary transfer of pollution from abroad.

Main obstacles: • The unfavourable economic development of forestry – decrease of GDP and employment • The lower quality of products • The unfavourable development of the production capital factor accompanied by low investment

rate, only partially balanced by some improving indicators (increase of area, improvement of age structure, positive development in wood stocks)

• The planting of an unnatural composition of new forests after clear-cuts • The high percentage of clear-cuts • Illegal downhill runs , especially in the Tatra mountains • The high abundance of game • The low numbers of big predators • Lack of respect for the functions of forests in protected areas other than those relating to

production • Forest property detriment removal after 1989 led to the gradual transition of forest state

property to factual owners. This phenomenon, as well as the new market environment, has radically affected sustainable forestry practices.

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5. Sustainable transport and infrastructure (Article 8 CC )

Article 8: Sustainable transport and infrastructure 1. The Parties shall pursue policies of sustainable transport and infrastructure planning and development, which take into account the specificities of the mountain environment, by taking into consideration the protection of sensitive areas, in particular biodiversity-rich areas, migration routes or areas of international importance, the protection of biodiversity and landscapes, and of areas of particular importance for tourism. 2. The Parties shall cooperate towards developing sustainable transport policies which provide the benefits of mobility and access in the Carpathians, while minimizing harmful effects on human health, landscapes, plants, animals, and their habitats, and incorporating sustainable transport demand management in all stages of transport planning in the Carpathians. 3. In environmentally sensitive areas the Parties shall co -operate towards developing models of environmentally friendly transportation

1. Please list the major transport and infrastructure development plans (ongoing projects and future plans) in the Carpathian region in your country.

In February 2001, the government of the Slovak Republic approved a new project for highway and motorway construction in the SR. The project draws upon the process of long-term pre-investment preparations for the construction of a highway network in the Czechoslovak Federal Republic and the Slovak Republic. It also draws upon the Europe-wide transportation network (TINA project). Highway and motorway plans are defined in the Slovakia Development Perspective (2001) and also in several regional land-use plans.

Within the structure of European intermodal corridors, the government decree defines the highway network of the Slovak Republic as follows: § D1 – Bratislava – Žilina-Košice – Záhor, state border the Slovak Republic/Ukraine § D2 – Czech Republic state border – Kúty-Bratislava (Rusovce) and the

Slovak/Hungarian border § D3 – Žilina (intersection with D1) – Cadca – Skalité, the SR/Poland state border § D4 – the SR/Austria n state border – Bratislava(Jarovce) – intersection with D2

The network of motorway connections is proposed in the routes of the supplementary TINA network and also in the routes of road E under the AGR agreement. The supplementary TINA network in the territory of the SR consists of two north–south corridors: Martin – Zvolen –Šahy – Budapest, and Rzeszow – Vyšný Komárnik – Prešov – Košice – Miskolc.

The priorities for the development of railroad transportation are as follows: the modernization of railroad tracks in the European multimodal corridors crossing the terr itory of the SR (Czech Republic – Kuty – Bratislava – Šturovo – Hungary; Bratislava – Žilina – Košice – Cierna nad Tisou – Ukraine; Žilina – Cadca – Skalité – Poland.)

2. Please provide details on the 3-4 main impacts on the Carpathian region resulting

from transport and infrastructure development. Please refer to both positive and negative impacts. When answering this question, please refer to the outcomes of EIA or SEA processes assessing the environmental aspects of major projects or relevant sectoral programmes.

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Transport and infrastructure play an important role in economic and social development but have considerable impacts on the environment and health. Negative impacts: 1. Besides visual impacts, major motorway projects have significant impacts on ecosystems , since they increase land use and put pressure on biodiversity by the destruction and fragmentation of habitats (infrastructure constitutes a barrier to migratory routes). 2. Rising air and noise pollution levels, in particular during the construction phase. Positive impacts: 1. Building transport infrastructure provides opportunities to increase employment in affected regions. 2. The development of road connections provides mobility and access throughout the whole region, including isolated areas. 3. Motorways and higher-quality roads generally lead to increased safety on the roads. All of these considerations were assessed through EIA/SEA processes with a view to identifying the best alternatives for the Slovakian projects.

3. Have any studies (assessments, gap analysis etc.) on sustainable transport and

infrastructure in the Carpathian region in your country been undertaken? If yes, provide title, scope, place where it is available, and the year of completion. Please list the main conclusions or attach final documents (if in English).

No such studies have been undertaken specifically for the Carpathian region. An SEA

procedure was used for the Trans-European Infrastructure Network Assessment (TINA). Nevertheless, this procedure was undertaken on the basis of the old EIA law, which was not very detailed with regards to SEA procedure. Since then, a new law has been adopted. The TINA network was created in 1996 in preparation for the Eastern enlargement of the European Union. The European Commission launched TINA in order to guide and oversee the development of an integrated multi-modal transport network in the eleven Central and Eastern European countries that were applicants for EU membership at that time—Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Cyprus. The TINA exercise was intended to design an extension of the TEN-T network (existing in the EU) on the territory of the candidate countries, creating a coherent transport network in Europe ultimately to “increase the efficiency of the Single Market and maximize the potential of European trade”. The TINA network development was to take into account the relevant work of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE; the Working Party on Transport Trends and Economics, WP 5) and previous analytical work of the European Commission services, while complying with the principles, objectives and criteria set out in the EU Guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network.

4. Please list and the main policies and legislative acts for sustainable transport and

infrastructure development in Your Country (provide title, year of adoption, legal

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status and scope). Please refer to any known inconsistencies among these policies and legislative acts and measures to address them.

1. Programme for the Development of Railway Routes until 2010 – adopted in 2001.

Based on this document, a number of railway routes are currently under reconstruction.

2. Policy for the Development of Combined Transportation until 2010 – elaborated in 2001 by the Ministry of Transport, Post and Telecommunications. This document deals with: i) the legislative, organizational and economic assumptions of the development of combined transport; ii) the potential for combined transportation, proposal of routes and division of work; iii) the development of infrastructure; iv) draft financial assurance; v) the ecological, safety and quality aspects of combined transportation.

3. The Policy for the Development of Water Transportation, 2000 – updated in 2003. This is a strategic document for the development of the water transport system in Slovakia. It addresses the legislative, organizational and economic assumptions, the development and upgrading of the transport infrastructure, ecological, safety and quality aspects and social assumptions, and also education, science and international logistical issues.

4. Transport Policy up to 2015 – adopted by the Government in 2005. This is a long-term strategic document through which the Government declares objectives and targets in order to achieve the sustainable development of the transport sector with a focus on greater mobility, while respecting the common transport policy of the European Union. It lays down a set of principles, objectives and priorities. A global target is to achieve the sustainable development of mobility perceived as meeting the growing transport needs of society while reducing adverse impacts on the environment.

5. The Concept of Motorway Infrastructure Development – approved by the Government in 1999. It defines the main work plan for the 1999–2002 period.

6. Concept of Road Infrastructure Development – adopted in 1999. This is a strategic document dealing with the development and maintenance of the road infrastructure in Slovakia.

7. Slovak Spatial Development Perspective – a basic spatial planning document for Slovakia, worked out under the responsibility of the Ministry of the Environment in 2001. This national document presents the transport sector in one of the basic sections dealing with spatial reserves for the development of transport infrastructure within the framework of the approved polycentric variant of Slovakia’s spatial development.

8. The national regional development plan for 2001-2006 – approved in 2001 by the Slovak Government with regard to trans-European transport networks. This sets out in detail the development plans for transport infrastructure in different regions of Slovakia. It resulted in the construction of a road connecting Viedenska Cesta and Pristavny Most and was intended to improve the quality of the transport corridor in Bratislava and reduce heavy traffic on the existing roads in the area.

5. Which among the following aspects are addressed by the sustainable transport and

infrastructure policies? Please specify at which level (local/regional/national) and provide details.

Issues Y/N Local/regional/national Level Protection of areas rich in biodiversity Y national Protection of migration routes N

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Protection of areas of international importance Y national Protection of landscapes Y national Protection of areas of particular importance for tourism

N

Addressing the concerns revealed during the EIA/SEA processes

N

Others

6. Has any strategy which aims at reducing the risks deriving from inter-Carpathian and trans-Carpathian traffic (e.g. danger of accidents and risks deriving from natural dangers) been adopted in Your Country? If yes, please specify at which level (local/regional/national) these measures have been adopted and give details.

The Action Plan for Transport and the Environment was adopted by the Slovak Government in 1999 and focuses on a change in the direction of transport development towards increased sustainability. It includes 67 interconnected actions at national level, the implementation of which is foreseen in the long-, medium - and short-term period. This Action Plan includes some tasks in the area of reducing the adverse impacts of transport in environmentally sensitive areas and tourist areas. It also defines goals for traffic safety and for the reduction of accidents and ecological accidents in transport. A system of criteria for the evaluation of traffic accidents linked to urban planning is proposed in order to elaborate recommendations and measures to be used in transport development and physical planning processes towards the elimination of traffic accidents. A methodology for the economic impacts of traffic accidents and an analysis of the costs of traffic accidents are elaborated, as well as technical and organizational measures for preventing traffic accidents. Strategic tasks in the field of road safety are included in the National Plan for the Enhancement of Road Safety. The first Plan was presented on 15 May 2005, and it has been decided to implement only countermeasures with the highest potential to reduce fatalities. Road safety projects and events implemented by the police are aimed at reaching the general road safety target. There are also intermediate goa ls which relate to speed, drink-driving, drugs, seatbelt wearing rate, etc. In line with European Recommendations, the concrete measures proposed focus on:

• preventive measures to reduce the number of road accidents caused by exc essive speed and drink-driving

• preventive measures related to the use of seatbelts and child restraint systems • increased activities focusing on measuring speed • identification of critical localities with high accident rates (black spots) • improvement of road infrastructure, including level (road/rail) crossings and lowering

the traffic speed in urbanized areas • increasing the surveillance of road safety and traffic flow, including the monitoring of

the behaviour of pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users • informing the general public and increasing legal conscience • improvement of the effectiveness of road safety legislation, coordination of activities.

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of transport and infrastructure? Please shortly describe the role of the main authorities and explain the horizontal and vertical cooperation mechanisms (e.g., intersectoral coordination bodies). Please list areas where overlaps of responsibilities occur and describe measures taken or planned to address these.

- The Slovak Ministry of Transportation, Post and Telecommunications is the main

coordinating body at national level. - The Slovak Road Administration constitutes an executive body. This independent non-

profit organization, established by the Ministry of Transport, Posts and Telecommunications of the Slovak Republic , carries out transport planning for motorways, express ways, and 1st-, 2nd- and 3rd-class roads. It also maintains central technical databases and a central databank, oversees technical developments, and manages the 1st-class roads and land owned by the Slovak Republic.

- Slovak Railways (ZSR) is managing the railways infrastructure. It provides transport services as well as other related activities in line with state transport policy and market demands. It is in charge of the management, construction, regulation and maintenance of railway infrastructure.


your country by civil society organisations relevant for the purposes of art. 8 of the Carpathian Convention.

There are some organizations in the non-state sector that are trying to assess the effectiveness of building the so-called northern motorway route in Slovakia at the cost of slowing down the building of motorways in southern parts of Slovakia. When dealing with a specific transport infrastructure project, non-governmental organizations try to question these projects mainly from the point of view of the protection of ecosystems and from the point of view of the quality of life of the affected inhabitants.

9. Please specify and provide examples on mechanisms for co-operation with

neighbouring Countries which is aimed at developing models for environmentally friendly transport, especially in environmentally sensitive areas of the Carpathians.

There are no specific mechanisms for such cooperation.

10. Has Your Country adopted any infrastructure-related measure, which aims at obtaining a more substantial transfer of transport onto railways (especially transport of goods)? Are there any sound market incentives provided for this purpose?

A committee for combined transportation, working at the Association of Employers in the transport sector has been established. Its membership includes representatives of the various involved ministries and employers working in the area of transport. The committee deals with the issue of combined transportation and tries to support the operation of combined transportation. The Slovak Government has adopted a Concept for Combined Transport for the period up to 2010.

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11. What are the main sources of funding (domestic and external) for activities related to sustainable transport and infrastructure developments in the Carpathian region in your country? Are there any specific financing or economic instruments provided for in the legislation to support sustainable transport and infrastructure developments? Please provide details.

The main sources of funding are the state budget and EU funds. During the period 2004–2006, Slovakia is benefiting from the Community cohesion fund to the amount of € 570 million, in order to co-finance infrastructure in the environment and transport sectors. The strategy focuses on fostering balanced regional development by improving transport accessibility, improving the environment and renovating local infrastructure.


regional or sub-regional) initiatives relevant to sustainable transport and infrastructure (e.g. EU, UNECE – WHO Pan-European Programme for Transport, Environment and Health (THE PEP) etc.).

Slovakia is part of Cross Border Co-operation Programmes such as: § The Phare–CBC Slovakia –Austria project for the Reconstruction of Road III/520 19

Oravice – Zuberec at the Polish/Slovak State Border § The Phare–CBC Slovakia –Poland project for the construction of a bridge over the Morava

River

13. Please evaluate briefly the main achievements and the main obstacles and barriers to sustainable transport and infrastructure in the Carpathian region in your country.

Achievements

• The rapid introduction of technologically modern personal motor vehicles with three -way catalysts and with lower fuel consumption, as well as stricter control of the technical state of motor vehicles and the introduction of emission controls , has had a positive impact on transport emissions.

• The gradual renewal of the fleet of passenger cars has decreased the levels of emissions per car.

Obstacles

• The decrease in the importance of public transportation leads to a greater burden on the environment, including residential areas, caused by noise and pollutant emissions.

• Preference for road passenger and freight transport, and insufficient use of combined transportation are noticeable.

• The decline in railway transport ation – decrease in performance, inadequate technical background, delays in the modernization of railway tracks and infrastructure – has not been resolved.

• The insufficient development and maintenance of transport infrastructure of the lower order (in particular in peripheral regions) results in poor safety and mobility.

• The fact that transport programmes and projects focus mainly on economic effectiveness is a significant barrier.

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6. Sustainable tourism (Article 9, Carpathian Convention)

Article 9 Sustainable tourism 1. The Parties shall take measures to promote sustainable tourism in the Carpathians, providing benefits to the local people, based on the exceptional nature, landscapes and cultural heritage of the Carpathians, and shall increase cooperation to this effect. 2. Parties shall pursue policies aiming at promoting transboundary cooperation in order to facilitate sustainable tourism development, such as coordinated or joint management plans for transboundary or bordering protected areas, and other sites of touristic interest.

1. Please list the types of tourism activities (both specific and non specific to mountain regions, e.g. mountain sports vs. cultural monuments) that play an important role in the Carpathian region in your country and provide a brief description of each. Please describe briefly the development potentials for tourism activities in the Carpathian region in your country, by referring to both the strengths and weaknesses.

The main forms of tourism in the Slovak Republic are city and cultural tourism, spa and health tourism, winter tourism and winter sports, summer hiking, as well as waterside and countryside holidays. The most visited areas are the High Tatras, the Low Tatras and the area known as Považie. The most frequently visited areas are also those with the greatest number of tourist attractions both from the point of view of natural beauty (national parks, natural attractions) and from the point of view of cultural attractions in Slovakia. These include the whole area of the Tatras (High Tatras, Western Tatras and Low Tatras), the High and Low Fatra mountains, Spiš, and the areas in the vicinity of Poprad, Liptov, Turiec and Horehronie. The area with the highest tourist density significantly overlaps with the territory w ith the highest concentration of tourism location factors, whether in terms of natural (national parks, protected nature areas) or cultural historical attractions in the Slovak Republic, and it covers a compact continuous area including the High Tatras (Vysok Tatry, Západné Tatry and Nízke Tatry), Vbelká and Malá Fatra and the vicinity of Poprad, Liptov and the Turiec basin and the upper Hron valley.

Strengths:

• advantageous geographical position in the middle of the continent, the proximity to

various markets, morphology of the area, elevation • very attractive conditions in Central Europe for mountain tourism in both summer and

winter • heterogeneity and variety of tourist attractions for various groups • high number of national parks and accessible caves • cultural heritage, folk art, music, customs, crafts, folklore, architecture and cultural

programmes • a well-marked network of tourist footpaths • mountain transport services and equipment, snow machines

Weaknesses:

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• absence of significant tourist image, weak knowledge of Slovakia on the part of foreign tour operators

• high proportion of one -day and transitory visitors, low number of tourists staying overnight

• insufficient care taken of cultural/historical monuments, insufficient accessibility to scared monuments

• incomplete network of local and regional associations and tourism/information offices • few products of so-called economic forms of tourism – cycling and agro-tour ism,

water recreation, fitness, wellness • insufficient coordination of tourism subjects at the local and regional level • insufficiency of complete tourist products 2. Please list the main impacts of tourism activities on the environment in the

Carpathian region in your country. Many of the nega tive environmental effects of tourism are strongly related to the seasonal and local concentration of tourism , the construction of ski resorts and accommodation capacity. In environmentally sensitive areas, and in areas where tourist activities are concentrated with high seasonal peaks, the negative impacts of tourism on the local level can be significant, mostly:

• air emissions resulting from individual car transport • degradation of fragile ecosystems, energy consumption • water consumption • deforestation

From the point of view of the anthropogenic burden on the natural environment, the locations for active sports as well as the network of marked hiking paths are concentrated in the area of Tatransky National Park (Rohácska and Žiarska valleys in Západné Ttatry and Mlynická, Mengusovská, Velická, Malá and Velká Studená valleys, the northern slopes of Chopok, Bystrá and Vajskovská valleys and the southern slopes of Chopok) and in the Malá Fatra (Vrátna dolina) National Park. Many of the negative environmental results of tourism depend on the season or the local concentration of that tourism. Significant impacts occur mainly in environmentally sensitive areas in the following forms:

• air pollution from individual car travel • degradation of ecosystems, energy use • consumption of water

Such areas include: TANAP (the Rohácska and Žiarska valleys in the Western Tatras and the Mlynická, Mengusovská, Velická, Malá a Velká Studená valleys, the northern slopes of the Chopok, Bystrá a Vajskovská valleys and the southern slopes of Chopok) and the Lower Fatra (Vrátna valley).

3. Have any studies (assessments, gap analysis etc.) on sustainable tourism in the

Carpathian region in your country been undertaken? If yes, provide title, scope, place where it is available, and the year of completion. Please list the main conclusions or a ttach final documents (if in English).

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The IUCN Slovakia Study “Implementation aspects of the Slovak National Ecological Network” (1996) determined the following principles of the sustainable tourism development approach:

- To protect biodiversity and ecological processes in the protected areas – evaluations of the functions and possible activities in these areas should be worked out in respect to the protection of their biodiversity and the maintenance of ecological processes;

- To perform activities within the limits of the carrying capacity – all planned activities must respect the limits of the carrying capacity of the area. Tourism should be more strictly regulated in NPs and core areas of NECONET, while in the protected landscape areas it should be suppor ted;

- To enable the participation of the involved parties in the management of NPs, PLAs and NECONET core areas – the administration of a national park or protected landscape area must be aware of possible benefits from tourism. Therefore, the goal should be cooperation with the representatives of municipalities, entrepreneurs in tourism and non-governmental organizations and initiatives;

- To develop new ethical principles for sustainable tourism – the development of tourism should observe the Charter of Sustainable Tourism in Slovakia. The use of green labels as a sign of sustainability should be implemented;

- To support the development of local tourist infrastructure and the involvement of the local public – the local public should realize that only a well-preserved natural landscape can be beneficial for the development of local communities, villages or towns, and their involvement should evolve into active participation in the management of protected areas;

- To support trends towards ecotourism and to suppress other types of tourism in these areas – ecotourism should help protected areas and local people.

“Biodiversity and Tourism - The Case for the Sustainable Use of the Natural and Cultural Heritage of Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia ” is a case study including conclusions and recommendations for the promotion of sustainable tourism in the region of Banská Štiavnica. It was carried out in the framework of the project “Promoting Sustainable Tourism in Central and Eastern Europe: A demonstration model applied to the natural and cultural heritage of Banská Štiavnica”, funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. Conclusions of the study: • To improve the regular collection of the necessary information and data from protected

landscape areas. • To ensure that information, data and know-how that are known in other departments

and/or abroad will not be collected again. • To improve mutual communication among stakeholders concerning the collecting and

exchange of information. • To analyse existing plans and studies of the area, to extract the most important statements

and include them in regional strategies. • To invite the collaboration of authors of particularly good projects/plans/cooperation

proposals. • To elaborate a new law on tourism based, for example, on the Austrian tourism law. • To increase the effectiveness and degree of enforcement of legislation related to the

protection of cultural and natural heritage. • To encourage m ore effective expert participation in law preparation.

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• To involve to a greater degree local/regional stakeholders and decision makers (e.g. water- and forest managers, tourism developers, civil society, etc.).

• To foster more intensive cooperation among the ministries of economy, environment and agriculture (forestry and water management); the establishment of an inter-ministerial steering committee.

• To develop a set of principles that should be the base for new legislation and decisions or/and the adjusting of existing ones. 4. Please list the main policy documents and legislative acts related to mountain

tourism in your country (provide title, year of adoption, legal status and scope). Please refer to any known inconsistencies among these policies and legislative acts and measures to address them.

Documents specially dedicated to the development of tourism in mountain areas have not been produced, but the problem is a component of all strategic documents that affect tourism, as follows: • The Strategy for Tourism Development in Slovakia up to 2013 – a document adopted by

the Government in 2005. This defines the central areas of tourism development, which include: urban and culture-oriented tourism, spa and health-care tourism, winter tourism and winter sports, summer tourism and water recreation, rural tourism. It sets out the strategic objectives for tourism (e.g. strengthening the position of tourism in the national economy, the growth of competitiveness of the tourism sector, increasing the attractiveness of Slovakia as a holiday destination, improving services).

• The Policy for Tourism Development in Slovakia – a document adopted by the Government in 2005 after the adoption of the Strategy. It specifies and elaborates more concretely the strategic objectives included in the Strategy.

• The National Strategy for Sustainable Development – a strategic cross-sectoral document adopted by the Government in 2001 and by the Parliament in 2002, specifying the main principles and strategic objectives of sustainable development in Slovakia. As regards tourism, one of the strategic objectives is the “improvement of the transport and technical infrastructure, development of tourism”.

• ÚSES documentation (documentation of the territorial system of ecological stability) – documents defining bio-centres and bio -corridors connecting the bio-centres at national and regional levels.

• Law no. 281/2001 Z.z. on excursions . • Decree MH SR no. 419/2001 Z.z. on the categorization of accommodation facilities. • Regionalization of Tourism in the Slovak Republic – a document drawn up by the

Ministry of the Economy in 2004 with the aim of creating a basic starting document for the further development of tourism. It analyzes the current situation and conditions in the sector, evaluates the potential of the territory and drafts categories of the Slovak regions and the development priorities of tourism in the regions.

• Systematic Measure s for the Solution of Limitations to the Development of Business Activities and Tourism from the Viewpoint of the Environment – a document of the Ministry of the Economy analyzing obstacles to the development of tourism imposed by the interests of the protection of nature and the landscape .

• Programme for Tourism Development, SR, 2002 - a document defining policy targets and objectives in the tourism sector, including a number of institutional instruments. Measures and tools for the implementation of the programme also include financial instruments allocated for the purposes of promotion and marketing.

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• The National Plan for Rural Development, 2000 – adopted by the Slovak Government and by the European Commission in 2000. The adoption of this plan was a condition for the use of funds from the European Union.

5. Which among the following policies reflect the needs for sustainable tourism in the

Carpathian region of Your Country? Please, specify at which level (local/regional/national) and provide details.

Development Policies Y/N Local/regional/national Level Agricultural policy Y National Mountain policy N There is nothing specifically defined for the

Carpathian region Forest policy Y National Spatial planning policy Y All levels Infrastructure policy N Industrial policy Y National Environment protection policy Y National Education and training policy Y All levels others – Cultural policy Y All levels


of sustainable tourism? Please provide a chart including information on the national, regional and local level. Please shortly describe the role of the main authorities and exp lain the horizontal and vertical cooperation mechanisms (e.g. intersectoral coordination bodies). Please list areas where overlaps of responsibilities occur and describe measures taken or planned to address these.

The Ministry of the Economy of the Slovak Republic

• Produces conceptual and strategic documents, deals with the planning of the economic and social development of counties, and with urban planning at the national level

• Suggests economic and legislative measures for the management of tourism • Coordinates the activities of different ministries in the field of tourism • Provides information for the marketing and presentation of Slovakia • Serves as the dedicated body to deal with tourism activities in EIA

Regional self-government authorities • Prepare plans for the development of tourism at the county level • Provide information for the marketing and presentation of tourist attractions and activities

in the county • Coordinate activities in the field of tourism • Prepare the land-use planning documentation for the county

Municipalities, towns , i.e. municipal and town councils • Prepare development plans including tourism, e.g. Strategies of Local Development • Award construction and make approval decisions for the construction of various facilities,

including those concerning tourism • Repair facilities with a tourism function and which have an effect on sustainable

development • Set local taxes

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There is no overlapping of competences among these institutions. 7. Please describe briefly any activities undertaken within the Carpathian region in


We have not succeeded in finding specific activities dealing explicitly with the issues of sustainable tourism. However, in S lovakia there are a number of local associations for tourism which try to develop their activities in such a way as to support sustainable tourism at the local level, in particular through organizing educational activities for tourist managers, organizing advisory activities and providing consulting services. As they are quite dispersed it is very difficult to find common feature s characteristic of all of them.

8. Has transboundary cooperation for facilitating sustainable tourism development especially in mou ntain areas been included among the actions foreseen by tourism policies in Your Country? If yes, which measures have been defined for promoting cooperation? Please, give some examples.

The Greenways Programme project “Jantárová cesta” (www.jantarovacesta.sk) is an international programme connecting valuable natural and cultural assets and local development initiatives in the corridor Budapest – Banská Štiavnica – Krakow. The programme is implemented by three independent foundations operating in Poland (Fundacja Partnerstwo dla Srodowiska in Krakow), Slovakia (Nadácia Ekopolis in Banská Bystrica) and Hungary (Ökotars Alapitvany, Budapest). It is part of the Central European Greenways , which is a programme implemented by the Environmental Partnership for Central Europe (EPCE) consortium. The Central European Greenways are oriented to the creation of an open network of cooperating civic, self-governmental, private and state organizations to provide support to local inhabitants to build corridors, roads and pavements (so-called greenways).

9. Are joint or coordinated management plans for protected areas situated near or

across borders and other tourist sites required in Your Country? If yes, please give details on the relevant provisions. Please see also Question 10 under Chapter 2 of this Section.

There are several transboundary protected areas in which Slovak territory is included. Examples include the Slovak Karst National Park in connection with the Aggtelek National Park (Hungary), the Pieniny National Park on the border with Poland (common educational corridors), and the White Carpathians protected site on the border with the Czech Republic. There are common transboundary commissions with Poland and Hungary which are very active in the management of common protected areas. Joint management plans are not required. Coordinated operational plans are prepared at the level of the County Office of the Environment, but these have a general focus and do not concentrate only on tourism.

10. What are the main sources of funding (domestic and external) for implementation of activities related to sustainable tourism in the Carpathian region in your country? Are there any specific financing or economic instruments provided for in the legislation to support such activities. P lease briefly describe such mechanisms.

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The main sources of funding are the state budget and the EU–Phare Programme. In 2002, the Slovak Government allocated the sum of 37.9 million Sk for the promotion of tourism in Slovakia . In t he same year, in the framework of the Phare programme, 35,894,000 Sk were allocated in particular for the development of services related to tourism (accommodation, reconstruction work at hotels and restaurants), the building of information facilities, tourist routes, etc .

11. Please provide details on the participation of your country in international (global, regional or sub-regional) initiatives relevant to sustainable tourism (e.g. EU Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas, Global Codes of Ethics for Tourism –WTO).

- The Slovak Republic supported the EC document “Basic orientations for the

sustainability of European tourism”, presented at a public discussion in 2003. On the basis of this document, the Commission formed the Group for Sustainable Development (TSG), which has until the end of 2007 to prepare a report on “The European Agenda 21 for Tourism”.

- The Global Ethical Codex of Tourism is accepted in Slovakia, but is not represented in any legal measures.


to sustainable tourism in the Carpathian region in your country. The main obstacles are the economic priorities for tourism development in SR. Slovakia has a great opportunity to implement the objectives of sus tainable development, since the negative impacts of the mass development of tourism have not been manifested so far. Small-capacity facilities, domestic capital, and the relatively low level of foreign indebtedness, compared to other sectors, prevail in the business area. Suppor t for the development of tourism should concentrate mainly on domestic tourism, active foreign tourism, and support for domestic small and medium-sized entrepreneurs. The development of tourism is focused on large, often devastating investments – including investments in protected areas, where the attempt is to reduce the degree of nature protection. The main success in the area of sustainable tourism was the production and acceptance by the Council of the Government for Public Administration last year of the document “The Regionalization of Tourism in Slovakia”. The document weighs up the tourism potential in Slovakia and proposes the main forms of tourism in 21 specific regions in Slovakia. The development proposals also fully respect the protection of nature and the countryside. The Regionalization of Tourism will serve as the founding document for the gradual transfer of its intentions into the regions, municipalities and cities , and also in the realization of land-use planning documents. It will also be the source document for the elaboration of conceptual documents for the realization of resources from the structural funds of the EU in the field of tourism in the planning period 2007 – 2013. One problem for the sustainable development of tourism in Slovakia is the insufficiently coordinated development of tourism at the county level, and at the level of cities and municipalities. We can assume that this will improve, since the competency for dealing with

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tourism development passed from the State Administration to the municipalities only in 2002, after which it became a significant component of strategic development documents at the level of county, city and municipality administrations. Improvements could also bring about the harmonization of requirements for the protection of nature and business interests in tourism.

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7. Industry and energy (Article 10, Carpathian Convention)

Article 10 Industry and energy 1. The Parties shall promote cleaner production technologies, in order to adequately prevent, respond to and remediate industrial accidents and their consequences, as well as to preserve human health and mountain ecosystems. 2. The Parties shall pursue policies aiming at introducing environmentally sound methods for the production, distribution and use of energy, which minimize adverse effects on the biodiversity and landscapes, including wider use of renewable energy sources and energy-saving measures, as appropriate. 3. Parties shall aim at reducing adverse impacts of mineral exploitation on the environment and ensuring adequate environmental surveillance on mining technologies and practices.

1. Please list the main industrial sectors in the Carpathian region in your country and list any hot spots, indicating specifically the mining hot spots (with regards to the hot spots please refer either to the National Environmental Action Plans, or relevant Local Environmental Action Plans and to work carried out by UNEP or under different international Conventions, e.g. the Convention for the Protection of the Danube River, the UNECE Helsinki Industrial Accidents Convention etc.). Please attach any relevant maps, if available.

The Slovak Republic ranks among the medium-developed industrial countries. Slovakia, as a part of Czechoslovakia, became a medium-developed industrial country with developed industry when, in particular after 1948, major investments went into building industry. Before 1989, Slovak industry began to lose its competitiveness, especially due to the low level of productivity (ca 30 – 40% of world productivity), the low quality of production, the low level of informatics and of the automatization of the industrial sectors , and missing the trends of the information society. The high proportion of the armaments industry and an orientation to the Eastern markets were specific to Slovak industry. § The main industrial sectors are:

- Food production - Machinery production - Production of electric equipment and transport facilities - Chemical production, production of metals, coke - Clothing industry - Glass-processing industry - Wood-processing industry

The assessment of exclusive deposit supplies in Slovakia as of 31 December 2001, contained data on 752 exclusive deposits. Slovak legislation makes a distinction between exclusive mineral deposits and other mineral deposits. Exclusive deposits include, for example, radioactive deposits, coal, oil, magnesite, etc. Geological supplies of exclusive mineral deposits in Slovakia for the monitored period reached more than 17 billion metric tonnes, with a significant dominance of non-metallic minerals (15.7 billion tonnes), geological stores of energy raw materials (0.4 billion tonnes), and ore-minerals (1.2 billion tonnes). There were 603 exclusive mineral deposits in the territory of the Slovak Republic in 2001. These included 379 deposits with a defined extraction site, also considered as protected deposit sites. In 2001, of the exclusive deposits 201 had only a protected deposit site defined,

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and 23 exclusive deposits were undergoing approval procedures. Besides these exclusive deposits, there were 193 non-limited mineral deposits in Slovakia in 2001. Practically all mines are now inactive in Slovakia. § List of largest polluters (concerning amount of emissions):

- US STEEL Košice - Slovak Railway Company – reload station, C ierna nad Tisou (on Ukraine boundary) - Bukocel Hencovce - Chemko, a.s. Strážske - Slovnaft a.s. Bratislava - Duslo a.s. Šala - Cukrovar Sládkovicovo - Menert – Therm, s.r.o Šala - SCP Ružomberok - Aquachémia, s.r.o. Žilina

o HNB Bana Cígel – mining works o NCHZ, as. Nováky –chemical industry o Biotika a.s. Slovenská Lupca o ZSNP a.s. Žiar nad Hronom o HP a.s. Harmanec

2. Have any studies on the sustainability and environmental friendly practices in

industrial activities in the Carpathian region in your country been undertaken? If yes, provide title, scope, place where it is available, and the year of completion. Please list the main conclusions or attach final documents (if in English).

With support from the World Bank, the National Study of Energy Effectiveness and the Concept for the Increase of the Use of Renewable Resources in Slovakia are under preparation. A number of co-generation units have been built in Slovakia , of which the biggest, with an output of 1 MW, has been built in Bratislava with a grant from the Dutch Government. A PHARE project oriented to the support of the Slovak Energy Policy has started, one of the sub-projects of which is directly oriented to energy effectiveness. The adopted and implemented schedule for the modification of regulated prices for the period 2000–2002 (including energy prices) considerably contributed to the reduction of price deformations. Citizens have also realized the real price of energy and have started to use energy more rationally. Similar to other countries in western and central Europe, in Slovakia too there are processes of deregulation, liberalization, restructuring and privatization. The third national report on climate change has been prepared together with the Strategy to Fulfil the Commitments of the Kyoto Protocol, which was submitted to the government with the proposal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. The Government agreed with the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol and took into account the Strategy.

3. Please list the main policy documents and legislative acts on industry and energy that promote sustainable and environmental friendly practices (provide title, year of adoption, legal status, describe briefly the scope) Please refer to any known

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inconsistencies among these policies and legislative acts and measures to address them.

ü The Ministry of Transport, Post and Telecommunications has worked out a National

Programme for the Stabilization and Reduction of CO2 Emissions in Transport of the Slovak Republic. The development of the real production of CO2 is monitored regularly on an annual basis and is compared to the prognosis elaborated up to 2005 within the National Programme. This Programme was updated in 2001.

ü The Energy Policy of the Slovak Republic was adopted by the Slovak Government in 2000, which enables the relevant targets to be fulfilled.

ü Taking into account the long-term losses incurred in the extraction and processing of ore resources in Slovakia, the Slovak Government adopted a resolution concerning the weakening programme in the sector of ore mining . On the basis of the 1991 resolution all ineffective mining and ore-processing operations are being closed down, followed by surface treatment and recultivation, including the removal of damages after mining activities.

ü In the area of industry, measures are included in the elaboration of the Principles of Industrial Policy of the European Union in the Slovak Republic (1999 ). The new industrial policy is primarily oriented towards achieving the competitiveness of industry in globalized markets under the conditions of growing competition. This mainly means the facilitation of the adaptation of industry to structural changes, support for the creation of an environment suitable for business initiatives , and the constant development of industry, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises, the promotion of an environment suitable for cooperation among enterprises and the promotion of better utilization of industrial potential. An integrated approach to land management planning is included in individual reform steps and processes, based on which the transformation of the Slovak economy is being carried out.

ü The document Principles, outputs and the direction of economic policy defines the transformation processes required to meet the basic development trends up to 2004, that is, expected estimates regarding the efficiency of the Slovak economy.

ü From the point of view of financing, an important document is the Middle -term financial outlook for the 2000–2003 period, which introduces a programming budgeting for public finances while ensuring the more effective utilization of these finances and more effective management of the non-financial resources of the country through individual development programmes. The priority is given to those development programmes that are oriented in particular to the more efficient use of resources and materials in industry or to energy-saving programmes. An important role is also played by development programmes which relate to the resolution of issues of competitiveness, since innovations and upgrading investments introducing new technologies in production processes fulfil the requirements of rational resources management.

ü In 2001, the basic objectives laid down in the 1999 programme Wood – Resource of the 21st Century were strengthened, and these supported the Programme to Support the Development of Processing and the Use of Wood, approved by the Government, which, in accordance with the act on state aid , is to initiate and support business activities oriented to the effective use of the domestic renewable source – wood. Wood is an important, renewable resource which is at present used at a lower level in Slovakia compared to the developed countries of the European Union. One of the objectives of this programme in the mid-term (by 2005) is to harmonize the strategies of forest management and the wood-processing industry of the Slovak Republic with the aim of

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utilizing the synergetic effects of both sectors in order to increase their effectiveness. This programme has as its objective to increase wood processing by 1 million m3 by 2005. It includes, in particular, the use of surplus wood which is not currently used and the application of wood in other sectors of the economy, as well as the creation of new jobs. Another potential source for the future is the use of biomass for energy production purposes. The role of the programme is to promote a higher level of the application of wood in construction activities, in the form of products for flats, construction systems of flats, industrial construction, etc.. Products from wood can easily be recycled, which increases their competitiveness on the market of developed countries with strict environmental legislation.

ü In the area of legislation, a number of draft acts have been worked out which will determine the development of industry (the draft act on support for industrial parks, the draft act on strategic investors, the draft act on investment stimuli and on amendment to some acts) and lead to an integrated approach to the management and planning of land resources.

ü In the area of energy production, nuclear power, hydro-energetic potential, gas cycles and the reconstruction of existing traditional energy sources, using the newest technologies that eliminate emissions of CO2, and NOX, are utilized exclusively for peaceful purposes. The measuring and regulatory technology is being upgraded.

ü The Energy Policy of the Slovak Republic was approved by the Government in January 2000 as a new document defining the main areas of development. It includes the principles of sustainable development and respects all the relevant international commitments of the Slovak Republic. One of its main objectives is the effective use of energy and the implementation of measures aimed at saving energy and fuels.

Attention is concentrated in particular on: - increasing effectiveness in the production, transportation and consumption of energy - increasing the proportion of alternative sources of energy to cover consumption - increasing the use of resources that do not produce CO2 - Updated frameworks for industrial development in Slovakia , determined by the document “Elaboration of the Principles of Industrial Policy of the European Union in Conditions of Enterprises of the Slovak Republic”, approved by the Government in 1999, were submitted to the European Commission in the framework of the integration process. One of priorities of the new policy approach is that, from the point of view of air protection, it tries to create proper conditions for investments, enabling the support and regulation of industrial development so that negative impacts on the air can be minimized. One of techniques of the selective approach towards support for the economic development of Slovakia is the establishment of economic parks and zones. Slovak legislation does not prevent the building of industrial parks: it creates real conditions for establishing such parks within industrial zones defined in the adopted spatial planning documentation of municipalities. The elaborated principles of the new industrial policy of Slovakia respect and implement the philosophy of sustainable development. In 2000, the integration processes relating to the European Union, OECD and NATO became important for establishing conditions enabling industrial development also in relation to the protection of the air. Meeting the conditions resulting from the approximation process of Slovak legislation with EU legislation has become the basic priority in the implementation of reform in the business sector. From the point of view of the acts approved in 1999–2000 it is possible to state that this process had the required dynamics and enabled the meeting of the commitments included in the amended National

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Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis (NPAA) as well as the commitments resulting from individual negotiations of the OECD CIME/CMIT committees. For the international transportation of toxic and hazardous products, specific regulations and international conventions are in force on the transportation of hazardous substances (ADR, RID), which are under the competence of the Ministry of Transport, Post and Telecommunications of the Slovak Republic.

4. Please explain to what extent the above mentioned policies integrate environmental concerns related to the specific status of mountain areas.

These policies are not related to the specific status of the mountain area.

5. Do the existing policies in your country address the following aspects (please provide details):

Aspects Y/N Regulate potential adverse effects of mining activities

Y

Prevention and management of industrial accidents

Y

Promote environmental sounds methods for the production, distribution and use of energy

N

Incentives for clean technologies, renewable energy and energy efficiency

Y

Promote research on clean technologies, renewable energy and energy efficiency

N

Identify alternative environmental friendly solutions to heavy industrial developments

Y

others 6. Please list the main legislative acts dealing with the permitting process of industrial

activities (EIA procedure, integrated pollution prevention and control, etc.) and describe briefly the environmental permitting system.

• Decree of the MoE SR No. 60/2003 Coll. , laying down the national emission ceilings

and emission quotas, sets out national emission ceilings for sulphide oxide for the years 2004–2010 and of nitrate oxide, ammonia, and vapour organic compounds for the year 2010, and governs the polluting compound and the years in which the emission quotas are instituted. Emission quotas are instituted for sulphide oxide for the years 2003–2006.

• Decree of MoE SR No. 202/2003 Coll., which establishes details about specialist assessments and about the right to measure emissions and air quality, governs in particular eligibility for issuing verification about professional competences for assessments.

• Announcement of MoE SR No. 204/2003 Coll. on the issuing of an edict concerning the technical assurance of licensed measurements and monitoring methods for emissions and the quality of air.

• Decree of MoE SR No. 408/2003 Coll. on the monitoring of emissions and air quality determines the limit values for air pollution, the limits of tolerance, target value s and

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long-term aims for ozone, provides information and warning terminal brims, requirements and criteria for the assessment of air quality, and determines agglomerations and zones and instituted signals for the smog regulating system.

• Decree MoE SR No. 409/2003 Coll on setting up emission limits, technical requirements and universal conditions for the operations of machines in which organic solvents are used, represents the full transposition of Council Directive No. 94/63/EC on the reduction of VOC emissions from gas stocks and its distribution from storage to gas stations.

• Decree of MoE SR No. 410/2003 Coll., which changes and compleme nts Decree MoE SR No. 706/2002 Coll., concerns sources of pollution, emission limits, technical impositions and general operating conditions, the list of polluting substances, the categorization of air pollution sources and requests for diffusion assurance of polluting substance emissions, amended the valid Decree.

• Ordinance of SR Government No.22/2003 Coll. establishing binding limits for the scope of waste packaging recovery and the scope of their recycling in relation to the overall mass of packaging waste. The a doption of this regulation resulted from the need for the transposition of Council Directive No. 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste.

• Decree of MoE SR No.5/2003 Coll on implementing certain provisions of the Act on packages.

• Decree of MoE SR No. 227/2003 Coll. as amended by Decree No. 234/2001 Coll. on waste classification to the Green Waste List, the Amber Waste List and the Red Waste List, and on document specimens required for the shipment of waste as amended by Decree No. 410/2002 Coll.

• Decree of MoE SR No. 335/2003 Coll., as amended by Decree of MoE SR No. 25/2003 Coll. establishing details on the processing of end-of-life vehicles.

• Decree of MoE SR No. 557/2003 Coll., as amended by Decree No. 5/2003 Coll. on implementing certain provisions of the Act on Packaging.

• Decree of MoE SR No. 258/2003 Coll., which implements the Act on environmental labelling of products.

• New Act No. 245/2003 Coll. on integrated pollution prevention and control and on the amendment and supplementing of certain ac ts was adopted, by which Slovakia has taken over Council Directive 96/61/EC on integrated pollution prevention and control and the EC resolution on the creation of a European pollutant emission register. The purpose of the law is to ensure sustainable deve lopment and to reach a high level of environmental protection by securing the balanced integrated assessment of all environmental components by the licensing of facilities causing environmental polluting and the institution of an information system of integrated pollution prevention and control.

• EIA Act NO. 127/1994 and amendments of this Act. • Decree of MoE SR No. 391/2003 Coll. was adopted for the implementation of Act No.

245/2003 Coll. on integrated pollution prevention and control and on the amendment and supplementing of certain acts.

• In the framework of harmonization with EU legislation, a new draft act on air was prepared, which transposes the framework directive on air quality 96/62/EC and daughter directives 99/30/EC and 2000/69/EC. A draft regulation on the limitation of emissions of volatile organic compounds from the storage and distribution of petrol to petrol stations.

• EIA Act No. 127/1994 resp. 391/2000

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7. Do you have in your country a Pollutant Emissions Register, similar to the

European Union E PER or the Aarhus Convention PRTR? If yes, please mention the legal act establishing the system and describe briefly the scope of the register, the rights and duties of the public and of the companies.

In accordance with Act 478/2002 on air protection which amends Act 401/1998 on payments for air pollution, as amended, an operator of large and medium air pollution sources is obliged by 15 February each year to provide the competent district environmental office with true information on the source, emissions and compliance with emission limits for the previous year. The district environmental office shall submit the data in electronic version to an organization authorized by the Ministry of the Environment, which the Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute (SHMI). The SHMI runs a central database of emissions. 8. What is the institutional set up on the national, regional and local level in the area of

industry and energy? Please shortly describe the role of the main authorities and explain any horizontal and vertical cooperation mechanisms (e.g., intersectoral coordination bodies). Please list areas where overlaps of responsibilities occur and describe measures taken or planned to address these.

National level:

• The Ministry of the Environment – hydro-ecological plans; cooperates with MP SR in working out the Principles of the Protection and Rational Use of Water. The Ministry of the Environment also cooperates with the Ministry of the Economy in the area of renewable energy resources.

• The Ministry of the Economy – the lead central state administration body in the areas of energy production and industry. Responsible for defining the policy orientation of the country in these sectors.

Regional and local level: • Regional and district offices – regional energy concepts


your country by civil society organisations relevant for the purposes of art. 10 of the Carpathian Convention.

There are several civil society organizations which are ac tive in the energy sector. Their activities are oriented primarily to protests against the use of nuclear power and to support for alternative, mainly renewable, energy sources. As far as concrete activities are concerned, the following can be mentioned as examples: The Ekopolis Foundation runs the programme “Alternatives to nuclear power”, through which non-governmental organizations are supported in their activities promoting the transfer from nuclear power to renewable resources of energy and the growth of energy effectiveness. In the framework of this programme the foundation supports projects dealing with the monitoring of the impacts of nuclear power plants and the rational use of all energy resources. The Energy 2000 is a non-governmental, non-profit organization associating natural persons and legal entities supporting sustainable methods for ensuring the energy needs of inhabitants and the development of society. Its objective is to promote environmentally friendly and

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economically efficient solu tions in the Slovak energy sector. Their activities include expertise activities (creating brochures and other publications on energy issues), legislative activities (commenting on governmental drafts of acts and submitting their own legislative proposals) and the provision of information. Greenpeace, an international non-governmental organization, is also quite active in Slovakia, including in the area of energy issues. It deals, for example, with issues of uranium extraction, the operation of nuclear power plants, and increasing the use of alternative and renewable energy sources.

10. What are the main sources of funding (domestic and external) for implementation of environmental friendly industry and energy solutions in the Carpathian region in your country? Are there any specific financing or economic instruments provided for in the legislation to support such activities. Please provide details.

The main sources of funding are the s tate budget of the Slovak Republic, the State Fund for the Environment, domestic and foreign loans, own activities, contributions by physical persons and legal entities, EU, PHARE, and means from deposited sanction measures.

11. Please provide details on the participation of your country in international (global, regional or sub-regional) initiatives aimed at integrating environmental concerns into energy and industry policies.

The Slovak Republic participates in several international initiatives via research institutes, the Slovak Academy of Science, universities, and other scientific institutions. Along with Lithuania, Brazil, Mexico, Thailand, the Russian Federation and Cuba, Slovakia is a partner in the project on Indicators for Sustainable Energy Development (ISED). It has three major objectives: (1) to fill the need for a comprehensive and consistent set of energy indicators that can be used in an effective manner to assess progress towards sustainable energy in the future; (2) to assist countries in energy and statistical capacity building necessary to induce energy sustainability; and (3) to supplement the general indicators efforts being undertaken by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. Launched in 2002, the second phase of the global project has been implemented by a Coordinated Research Project composed of teams of experts from the seven participating countries and completed in 2005. Slovakia is making efforts to include, as appropriate, selected ISED in the national databases and in on-going energy analysis. The Slovak Republic participates in the EU project CORINAIR on the coordination of national inventories and assessment of the emission burden from economic sectors, including transportation and industry in member states and associated countries of the EU. It also cooperates with the UN on the elaboration of national reports on climate change.

12. Please evaluate briefly the main achievements and the main obstacles and barriers to environmental friendly industry and energy activities in the Carpathian region in your country.

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ENERGY Achievements • There is great potential to improve energy efficiency in the industrial, residential, and

services sectors, by means of appropriate programmes with quantitative targets through new technologies, the insulation of buildings, the development of new products with lower energy consumption etc. Despite the current sufficient capacity in electricity supply, the use of renewable energy resources (e.g. installed hydrocapacity, biomass) should be increased.

• Restructuring and transformation in the energy sector has led to the growth of economic effectiveness.

Obstacles • Despite a partial and temporary decrease in energy consumption, the high consumption of

resources, energy and materials in the economy (in particular in the industrial sector ) is continuing. The energy intensity of Slovakia is still 1.75 times higher than the OECD Europe average, even after the closure of plants using the most obsolete techniques.

• The ineffective use of energy must be addressed: the large proportion of energy-demanding industry with obsolete technologies, large losses of energy in the distribution network, waste of energy due to the non-market pricing policy (regulated prices) etc.

• The continuing geopolitical dependence of the Slovak Republic on the supply of strategic resources (oil, natural gas, coal, uranium) from the Eastern European region is a real obstacle .

Slovakia’s Energy Policy has a Special Chapter on Alternative Energy Resources, although concrete measures for the utilization of alternative sources of energy are still lacking. INDUSTRY Achievements • Slovakia is witnessing the rapid development of automobile production due to foreign

investments, leading to GDP and employment growth. • Increasing environmental performance can be seen in large industrial plants due to

stricter legislation and technology development. • The EIA works as a “prevention” tool in the industry sector, that is, developers cannot

afford to submit projects with clearly adverse environmental impacts without mitigating and compensation measures.

• Industries are starting to accept environmental performance as one aspect of their competitiveness – this relates to the implementation of voluntary approaches (e.g. EMAS, eco-label).

Obstacles • A certain level of resistance from industrial entities to the introduction of responsibility

for environmental damage – corporate environmental responsibility – can be observed. • Environmental awareness in industrial organizations is still lacking.

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8. Cultural Heritage and traditional knowledge (Article 11, Carpathian Convention)

Article 11 Cultural heritage and traditional knowledge The Parties shall pursue policies aiming at preservation and promotion of the cultural heritage and of traditional knowledge of the local people, crafting and marketing of local goods, arts and handicrafts. The Parties shall aim at preserving the traditional architecture, land-use patterns, local breeds of domestic animals and cultivated plant varieties, and sustainable use of wild plants in the Carpathians.

1. Please list the main cultural heritage sites in your country in the Carpathian region (attach a map if available).

These are: Vlkolínec – folk architecture; Spišský hrad – castle; Banská Štiavnica – technical monuments; Bardejov – the town preservation area and historical settlement structures of the cities Banská Bystrica, Banská Štiavnica, Bardejov, Kežmarok, Kremnica, Levoca, Nitra, Podolínec, Spišská Kapitula, Poprad, Štiavnické bane, Trencín, and Žilina. Sites included on the World Heritage List: Under cultural heritage:

• Vlkolínec Folk Architecture Reserve in a natural framework (Cartagena, 1993) • Spišský Castle National Cultural Monument with surrounding historic residential

structures – Spišská Kapitula. Spišské Podhradie, the Church of the Holy Ghost in Žehra (Cartagena, 1993)

• Banská Štiavnica Historical Town Reserve with technical monuments in its vicinity (Banská Štiavnica, Hodruša – Hámre, Štiavnické Bane, Banská Belá, Voznica, Vyhne, Banský Studenec, Pocúvadlo, Kopanica, Kysihýbel, Anton, Ilija, especially 23 water reservoirs – tajchy) (Cartagena, 1993)

• Bardejov – Historical Town Reserve also with a protective zone including the Jewish suburb (Cairns, 2000)

Under natural heritage :

• Caves of the Slovak and Aggtelek karst (Berlin, 1995) to which the Dobšinska ice cave was added in 2000, including Stratenská cave and Psie diery cave as one cave system in Duca hill (Cairns, 2000).

Besides the preservation of historical monuments as solitary objects, the monument fund also preserves monument areas: monument reserves (MR) and monument zones (MZ)

2. Please list the main impacts on cultural heritage sites in the Carpathian region in your country (take into account a wide range of sectors of activity e.g. agriculture, industrial hot spots, forestry, tourism etc.)

The main impacts are listed below: Incentives are given for new building activities that are not always in line with site protection interests. Other major threats to cultural heritage are the abandonment of traditional agricultural practices and the renovation of old buildings in styles that differ from the

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traditional style (failure to restore thatched roofs, traditional building shape, wooden windows, etc.). The depopulation of rural areas, where a large proportion of the cultural heritage and traditional knowledge is concentrated, still continues and has an adverse economic impact on the protection and maintenance of cultural heritage. The Communist period of development led to unnatural urbanization, collectivization and the industrialization of rural areas with adverse impacts on traditional social structures and traditional forms of settlements – for example, uniform housing development. Besides this, there are signs of a possible revival of rural areas , through the return of inhabitants to rural areas. As regards traditional skills, there has been a downward trend: it is still difficult to find qualified craftspeople to maintain and restore cultural monuments, therefore alternative technological solutions are being applied, which are not always the best choice from the point of view of monuments, since they differ from the original procedures.

3. Have any studies on the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage and of traditional knowledge in the Carpathian regional in your country been undertaken? If yes, provide title, scope, place where it is available, and the year of completion. Please list the main conclusions or attach final documents (if in English).

One of preservation tools is the so-called Village Renewal Programme (VRP). It is an open, dynamic tool for the development of poorly developed village regions, in the framework of which, village (micro-region) inhabitants, in cooperation with local businesses and with the help of specialists and of the state, plan, project and realize activities that contribute to the improvement and beautifying of the environment with the aim of the sustainable improvement of living standards in the villages, including the preservation of their specific attributes. The basic aim of the VRP is the encouragement of young farmers in the villages and countryside. Other objectives include : • Renewal of the socio-demographic basis of the village • Renewal and development of local cultural and social traditions • Consolidation of the local and regional communities • Development of the economy and employment • Rational exploitation of natural resources and the productive potential of the soil • Urbanistic-architectonic solution to the material environment. Biodiversity and Toursim The Case for the Sustainable Use of the Natural and Cultural Heritage of Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia is a case study including conclusions and recommendations for the promotion of sustainable tourism development in the region of Banská Štiavnica. It was created in the framework of the project “Promoting sustainable tourism in Central and Eastern E urope: A demonstration model applied to the natural and cultural heritage of Banská Štiavnica” funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

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Conclusions : - Improve the regular collection of the necessary information and data in protected

landscape areas. - Ensure that information, data and know-how known in other departments and/or

abroad will not be collected again. - Improve mutual communication among stakeholders concerning the collecting and

exchange of information. - Analyze existing plans and studies of the area, to extract the most important

statements and include them in regional strategies. - Invite the collaboration of authors of really good projects/plans/cooperation proposals. - Elaborate a new law on tourism based, for example , on the Austrian tourist law. - Increase the effectiveness and level of enforcement of legislation related to the

protection of cultural and natural heritage. - Encourage more effective expert participation in law preparation. - Ensure a higher level of involvement among local/regional stakeholders and decision

makers (e.g. water- and forest managers, tourism developers, civil society, etc.). - Promote more intensive cooperation among the ministries of economy, environment

and agriculture (forestry and water management) and the establishment of an inter-ministerial steering committee.

- Develop a set of principles that should be the basis for new legislation and decisions or/and the adjusting of existing one s.

4. Please list and briefly describe the main policy documents and legislative acts that

provide for the safeguard of cultural heritage and traditional knowledge in your country (provide title, year of adoption, legal status and scope). Please refer to any known inconsistencies among these policies and legislative acts and measures to address them.

a. The preservation of monuments in SR is provided by Act No. 49/2002 on the

protection of monuments and historic sites. The aim of the act is also to create general conditions for financing the preservation and renewal of historical monuments from more sources, including non-state aid.

b. Slovak Constitution – Act 460/1992 c. Act 237/2000 on land-use planning. The adoption of this Act was a n important step

towards the creation of systematic conditions for the protection of real-estate cultural monuments. The Act significantly modified and amended the Act on territorial planning and the building code. Programmes for the protection of cultural heritage have become part of the background documents for spatial planning activities ( the elaboration of spatial plans on various levels). This Act states that one of the objectives of the Spatial Planning Concept of Slovakia is to protect the cultural and historical heritage.

d. The National Plan for Rural Development, adopted by the Slovak Government and by the European Commission in 2000. The adoption of this Plan was a condition for the use of funds from the European Union and led to the development of a Sectoral operational programme on basic infrastructure, through which the renovation and development of villages and the protection and conservation of rural heritage are realized.

e. The National Programme for the Restoration and Renewal of Cultural Monuments, which should have solved the critical situation in funding and the unsatisfactory

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technical state of the monuments and should have been a starting point for decision making on the need to ea rmark financial support from the state budget.

5. Which of the following aspects are addressed by the relevant policies and legislative

acts in your country? Please provide examples for the specific aspects.

Y/N Safeguard and improvement of linguistic specificities (minority languages) Y Safeguard and improvement of cultural heritage Y Involvement of the population in decision making (for instance, by participation of the public in the decision making process)

N

Promote the knowledge, innovations and practices of local communities embodying traditional lifestyles

N

Preservation of traditional architecture Y Sustainable use of wild plants N Preservation of local breeds of domestic animals and cultivated plant varieties Y Specific protection regime for cultural monuments Y others

6. What is the institutional set up on the national, regional and local level in the area of cultural heritage and traditional knowledge? Please shortly describe the role of the main authorities and explain any horizontal and vertical cooperation mechanisms (e.g., intersectoral coordination bodies). Please list areas where overlaps of responsibilities occur and describe measures taken or planned to address these.

Slovakia does not have a cross-sectoral coordinating body ensuring these interconnections, although a number of sectoral bodies deal with activities which directly or indirectly support the protection and use of the cultural heritage, for example: § The Ministry for Culture is the main ministry concerned with cultural heritage. Falling

within its responsibility are the registration and protection of cultural monuments, professional staff (Institute for Monuments), control (Inspectorate of Monuments), and supplementary support for the owners of cultural monuments.

§ The Ministry of the Environment is responsible for environmental science, professional staff (Slovak Agency for the Environment and State Nature Protection of the Slovak Republic), and environmental education.

§ The Ministry of Soil Management deals with agri-entrepreneurs and rural development.

§ The Ministry of the Economy deals with small and medium-sized businesses, and tourism.

§ The Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and the Family is responsible for the monitoring of employment, unemployment support, re-qualification, and public works.

§ The Ministry of Education is responsible for the preparation and approval of education curricula, as well as the promotion of cultural awareness.

§ The Ministry of Construction and Regional Development deals with housing and the support of regional development projects.

§ The Ministry of the Interior provides additional support for the owners of cultural monuments.

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Individual organizations of the state monument fund administration (the Monuments Board of the SR and Regional Monuments Boards) have been established and monuments have been recorded in the central list of cultural monuments that are considered to be “national cultural monuments”. The Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic and the Regional Monuments Boards carry out state administration in the area of monument protection, supervision of compliance with the relevant Acts and general legally binding instruments. They coordinate research activities, work out the methodology for the protection of the monuments, and carry out activities in the area of documentation, education and publication. They manage a Register of the Fund for Monuments. The Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic is a legal entity, financially connected to the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic. It also cooperates with partners abroad and creates conditions for the implementation of international agreements and conventions. A positive role in the protection and maintenance of monuments can be played by the Slovak Chamber of Architecture and by the Slovak Chamber of Construction Engineers.

7. Please describe briefly any activities undertaken within the Carpathian region in your country by civil society organisations relevant for the purposes of art. 11 of the Carpathian Convention.

There have been many Phare CBC activities in the field of cultural and traditional knowledge issues, mostly joint projects with Austria. This is illustrated by a Trilateral Declaration for establishing of a Euroregion Weinviertel (Austria )–South Moravia (Czech Republic) and Záhorie Lowland (Slovakia) , which was signed on 1 December 1997 in Austria. It involves, on the Slovak side, the Regional Association of Záhorie together with the Association of Towns and Communes of Záhorie Region (on behalf of three districts –Malacky, Senica and Skalica). The three territories are connected with a long-term historical and cultural tradition and cooperate in the field of cultural understanding as well as environmental and tourism activities. Many NGOs have carried out projects focusing on the organization of cultural events such as a festival including presentations of traditional customs, music, dance , etc. Some specialized organizations have been created by stakeholders directly involved in the safeguarding of cultural heritage, such as historical monuments, as well as traditional crafts and trades, local customs and architecture , etc.

8. What are the main sources of funding (domestic and external) for implementation of activities related to the safeguard of cultural heritage and traditional knowledge in the Carpathian region in your country? Are there any specific financing or economic instruments provided for in the legislation to support such activities. Please describe briefly such mechanisms.

Financial sources for cultural heritage management can be divided according to their origin into three main groups:

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§ Basic resources – these are the primary and main resources of funding by owners, through the state budget, municipal budgets, private savings, operational profits and the of letting buildings , or from the creation of reserve funds for repairs.

§ Supplementary (support) resources – direct support resources (subsidies, grants, contributions and loans) and indirect support resources (tax exemptions, providing state guarantees on loans or the reimbursement of loan interest by the state).

§ Supplementary (other) resources – income from lotteries, collections, foundations, civic associations, material support in kind provided by the state, voluntary aid, etc.).

The supplementary funding of cultural monuments and historic structures of the landscape is ensured mainly through two public resources – the State Cultural Fund Pro-Slovakia , in the framework of the commission for monument management; and the District Authorities, from the budget of the Regional Districts. Larger subsidies, mainly for the sustainable development of settlements and the protection of historic structures of the landscape, were provided from the State Environmental Fund.

9. Please provide details on the participation of your country in international (global, regional or sub-regional) initiatives relevant to the safeguard of cultural heritage and traditional knowledge.

Slovakia has four sites included on the Cultural Heritage List: Spišský Hrad castle with the surrounding cultural monuments; the town of Banská Štiavnica; the town of Bardejov (urban reserve); and the settlement of Vlkolínec (traditional folk architecture). To fulfil its obligations under the World Heritage Convention, the state takes part in co-ordinating w ith the international community, site managers and other stakeholders (NGOs, local population, etc ). For example, in 1999 Slovakia hosted the Expert Meeting on “Management Guidelines for Cultural Landscapes” and participated in workshops, making recommendations on the management of protected sites. Slovakia has participated in programmes and projects in the area of the sustainable development of settlements and their historic structures, funded by EU resources, especially through the CBC, SAPARD, and PHARE programmes. The Slovak Republic, along with Bulgaria and Ireland, has recently completed a series of archaeological surveys with funding from the EU. The project “Cultural Heritage – Archaeological Surveying Models” aimed at sharing experience and experimenting with appropriate techniques to conduct archaeological surveys on sites of cultural and archaeological importance in each of the partner countries. In addition, the surveys also encouraged wider public involvement to encourage a sense of shared heritage and to promote the continuation of surveying and recording work in the future. Slovakia participates in the “Culture 2000 pr ogramme”, an instrument for the programming and financing of European Community measures in the field of culture, aiming notably at the promotion of European cultural heritage and historical knowledge. “Culture 2000” supports transnational cooperation projects, which involve cooperation between cultural operators and the cultural institutions of the countries participating in the programme. In this framework, Slovakia pays an annual contribution to the general budget of the European U nion.


to promoting and preserving the cultural heritage and traditional knowledge in the Carpathian region in your country.

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Achievements • There is a greater involvement of non-governmental organizations and an increase of

interest on the part of municipalities in the protection of monuments and traditional knowledge, and their use for the sustainable development of tourism.

• A developed system has been established for monument protection. • One of the main achievements is the inclusion of Slovakian sites on the UNESCO World

Heritage L ist (e.g. Banska Štiavnica). Obstacles • Inadequate historical and national awareness on the part of the majority of inhabitants. • The suppression of traditional cultural values, and the preference for imported, mass and

violent culture.

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9. Environmental assessment/information system, monitoring and early warning (Article 12, Carpathian Convention)

Article 12 Environmental assessment/information system, monitoring and early warning 1. The Parties shall apply, where necessary, risk assessments, environmental impact assessments, and strategic environmental assessments, taking into account the specificities of the Carpathian mountain ecosystems, and shall consult on projects of transboundary character in the Carpathians, and assess their environmental impact, in order to avoid transboundary harmful effects. 2. The Parties shall pursue policies, using existing methods of monitoring and assessment, aiming at promoting: (a) cooperation in the carrying out of research activities and scientific assessments in the Carpathians, (b) joint or complementary monitoring programmes, including the systematic monitoring of the state of the environment, (c) comparability, complementarity and standardization of research methods and related data -acquisition activities, (d) harmonization of existing and development of new environmental, social and economic indicators, (e) a system of early warning, monitoring and assessment of natural and manmade environmental risks and hazards, and (f) an information system, accessible to all Parties. Environmental assessment

1. Please list and describe briefly the main policy and legislative acts in the area of environmental impact assessment, and strategic environmental assessment (provide title, year of adoption, legal status and scope). Please refer to any known inconsistencies among these policies and legislative acts and measures to address them.

The Act of the National Council of the Slovak Republic No. 127/1994 on the Environmental Impact Assessment (the EIA Act), which came into force on 1 September 1994, as amended by Act No. 391/2000, is the main legislative act regulating the EIA proc edure. The demand to apply the process of environmental assessment to higher “strategic-level” activities (Strategic Environmenta l Assessment – SEA) is reflected in the Act of the National Council of the Slovak Republic No. 127/1994 on the Environmental Impact Assessment (the EIA Act), which came into force on 1 September 1994, as amended by Act No. 391/2000. SEA is obligatory according to § 35 of the EIA Act for: § substantial development policies, especially in the areas of energy supply, mining,

industry, transport, agriculture, forestry and water management, waste management and tourism;

§ land-use planning documentation for the regional and residential settlements of selected areas, especially the centre of a region, urban conservation areas, spas, and particularly polluted localities; and

§ any proposal for generally legally binding regulations that may have an adverse impact on the environment.

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A proposal for a development policy and land-use planning documentation must contain an assessment regarding its impact on the environment and, if necessary, a pr oposal for measures to eliminate or reduce the adverse impacts. Five years after the execution of NR SR Act No. 127/1994 Coll. on the Environmental Impact Assessment, it was necessary to make a partial amendment. The need for this amendment arose from the outcomes of bilateral screening – chapter 22 Environment – on the basis of which the European Commission proposed to ascertain the full harmonization of the existing SR legislation with EU legislation in the area of environmental impact assessment by reflecting the provisions of Board Directive 97/11/EC, which recently amended Board Directive No. 85/337/EEC into NR SR Act No. 127/1994 Coll. The analysis and mutual comparison of the above-mentioned measures show that the degree of harmonization of the Slovak legal code with that of the EU in the area of environmental impact assessment is very high, and that its philosophy and policies show almost full compliance with the amendment represented by Board Directive No. 97/11/EC. However, several differences related to annexes have been detected, which needed to be corrected. Full harmonization of Slovak law with that of the EU was also necessary due to the fact that environmental impact assessment, following legislation identical to EU laws, is also required for those projects funded from the pre-accession structural funds ISPA and SAPARD. By approving Act No. 391/2000 Coll., which amends NR SR Act No. 127/1994 Coll. on environmental impact assessment, full compliance was reached within the legal provisions for the area of environmental impact assessment in the Slovak Republic in relation to the legal provisions of the European Union. Act No. 391/2000 Coll. came into force on 1 December 2000. Unfortunately, this Act is not in compliance with SEA Directive 2001/42/EC. A new Act has been prepared for approval by Parliament. ü Act on the Right to Access to Information (Law No. 211/2000 Z.z.) ü Act No. 52/1995 on the list of authorized experts in the field of EIA ü Act on State Administration in the Environment (No. 525/2003) – defines precisely the competences of the state administration bodies in the area of the environment a t central, regional and local levels in the carrying out of state administration tasks. ü The National Strategy for Sustainable Development in the Slovak Republic – part of this document is also concerned with environmental assessment issues.

2. Has your country established policies on the siting of hazardous activities and on significant modifications to existing activities?

This is addressed in the Slovak Spatial Development Perspective and in regional spatial plans. The Spatial Plan Perspective in general, and spatial plans more concretely, define the locations of individual activities and facilities that are expected in the future. This means that the siting of hazardous activities is specified in these plans together with corresponding conditions. When decision-making bodies decide on the siting of a specific activity, such decisions have to be in conformity with the spatial plan in force.

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3. Does the legislation in your country include specific provisions on environmental impact assessment in a trans - boundary context? If yes, please describe briefly the procedure and provide 1 to 2 concrete examples when this procedure was applied in the Carpathian region in your country.

Environmental impact assessments in a trans boundary context are included under the third part of NR SR Act No. 127/1994 Coll. on environmental impact assessment. The role of the coordinating body (contact point) for impact assessment across national boundaries for Slovakia has been assumed by MŽP SR, Department of Environmental Impact Assessment. One example of EIA was at the ship port in Hainburg on the Slovak – Austrian border on the Morava river. Slovakia is a party to the Espoo Convention.

4. Does the legislation in your country include sp ecific provisions on strategic environmental assessment, in a transboundary context? If yes, please describe briefly the procedure and provide 1 to 2 concrete examples when this procedure was applied in the Carpathian region in your country.

There are no such provisions in the existing legislation, although they are included in the new Act proposal.

5. What is the institutional set up on the national, regional and local level in the area of environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment? Please shortly describe the role of the main authorities and explain the horizontal and vertical cooperation mechanisms (e.g., intersectoral coordination bodies). Please list areas where overlaps of responsibilities occur and measures taken or planned to address these.

The tasks of the participants in the environmental impact assessment process are given in the table below:

Assessment Authority (Ministry for the Environment)

a) decides - in the screening, if the proposed activity will be or will not be the subject of assessment according to annex 1, part B of the Act - based on its own initiative or the initiative of the proponent or the competent or permission authority, if , in a special case , an activity not listed under annex 1 should also be the subject of assessment - in case of doubts, if it is a change of activity that is subject to assessment, or if it concerns the affected municipality or if some costs are borne by the proponent

b) determines - joint assessment of several preliminary environmental studies (PESs), if they are operationally or spatially connected - the scope of assessment and accordingly the timetable - whether it is necessary according to the particular character of a case to work out the EIS - in which municipality the PES, EIS or final summary will be delivered, in the event that there are too many municipalities - professionals to carry out the expert review

c) finds out if documentation submitted by the proponent

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contains the required elements and, if necessary, asks for its completion

d) delivers the PES, the legally valid decision of the screening, EIS or final summary and Final Record to other subjects of the assessment process

e) takes into account - the delivered written standpoints to the PES from the subjects of the assessment process - the delivered records of the public hearing to the EIS

f) takes part according to the needs and opportunities in the public hearing to the EIS

g) works out the Final Record h) fulfils the role of the “point of contact” in the case of

transboundary impacts i) keeps an inventory and documentation linked to the

assessment process and, when asked, provides the information

j) draws up the list of professionals for the EIA process and updates it according to changes

Proponent a) works out the documentation needed for the EIA process, mainly the PES, EIS or other documentation

b) provides the required information to the Ministry or EIA professionals

c) informs the public, in cooperation with the affected municipality, on the scope of the assessment and its timetable

d) cooperates with the affected municipality on the preparation of the public hearing and its recording

e) takes part in consultations of the Ministry with the affected party

f) provides post-project analysis of the assessed activity g) keeps documentation of the EIA process h) bears the majority of the costs linked to the EIA process i) asks the Ministry for the withdrawing of the requirement

of the PES in alternatives j) takes part in the process of scoping and its timetable k) takes on the right of ownership of information given in

the EIA documentation l) requires from the legal and physical entities information

on the state of the environment free of charge Competent Authority Permission Authority (local self-governments)

a) co-operates with the Ministry in - determining the scoping - elaborating the final record

b) takes part in consultations of the Ministry with the affected party

c) cannot issue the decision on permitting the activity without the final record

d) delivers the valid decision on permission of the activity to the Ministry and the competent authority

e) takes into consideration the results of the EIA- process

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Affected Authority a) cooperates with the Ministry in - determining the scoping - elaborating the final record

b) takes part in consultations of the Ministry with the affected party

Affecte d municipality a) represents in the EIA process - the body of the local government justifying the rights of this unit - the coordinator ensuring the linkage between the public and the proponent or the Ministry - the affected body, if the municipality fulfils the role of the state body - the proponent, if it carries out business as a legal entity

Public a) participates in the process based on available information through the affected municipality

b) associates in the civil association or civil initiative c) delivers the standpoints and comments to the PES and

EIS Experts a) elaborate the documentation submitted by the proponent

b) elaborate the expert review for the assessment authority There is a broad scope of subjects within the EIA process:

• The Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic (hereinafter referred to as “the Ministry“) fulfils the role of an assessment body that manages the whole process of assessment and elaborates and issues the final record.

• The Proponent is the legal or physical entity that is interested in performing the activity that needs to be assessed according to this Act.

• The Competent Authority is the competent public administration body under which the operation of the assessed activity belongs according to Annex No.1 of this Act.

• The Permitting Authority is the public administration body w ith the right to issue the decision regarding permission for the activity according to specialized legislation.

• The Affected Body is the public administration body, whose approval, standpoint or binding declaration, issued according to the specialized legislation, determines the permission of the activity.

• The Affected Municipality is the municipality on the territory of which the activity is to be implemented and the land of which will be affected.

• The Public in general can be characterized as one or more physical or legal entities. • Experts are professionals from various fields of science, technology and practice.

Apart from the subjects of the assessment, some other subjects also participate in the process according to the Act: The SAŽP (Slovak Environmental Agency) elaborates the professional standpoints on the individual activities as the basis for the final record.

6. Please describe briefly any activities undertaken within the Carpathian region in your country by civil society organisations relevant for the purposes of the provisions related to environmental assessment of art. 12 of the Carpathian Convention.

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There have been many activities carried out by civil society organizations in the area of environmental impact assessment. Non-governmental organizations have been active in the assessment of proposals to build water dams and highways, and in draft projects with a potential to affect nature protected areas. They try to increase the quality of EIA processes by mobilizing public participation, commenting on EIA documentation, etc.

7. Are the specific features of the Carpathian mountain ecosystems taken into

account with respect to the following assessment procedures, provided by art. 12 of the C.C.? Please specify at which level (local/regional/national) and provide details.

Assessment Procedures Y/N Local/regional/national Level Risk assessments Y Project level Environmental impact assessments Y Project level Strategic environmental assessments Y Local, regional and national level

8. Are the rights of the public under the EIA procedure in your country in line with

the standards set by the Aarhus Convention? Please provide details. Access to information is highly important for public participation in the process of the environmental impact assessment, which has been enabled by the new National Act No. 211/2000 Z.z.. From the point of view of the requirements for the availability of information in the EIA process, it is important that the Law on Free Access to Information, § No. 2, declares quite a broad group of subjects with the obligatory duty to provide information on request. The Act on Environmental Impact Assessment was accepted before the Aarhus Convention, but in fact meets its standards. The right to participate in the process of EIA has been exercised several times by NGOs and local civic groups. There have been some successful cases of public participation in water issues (mostly with respect to huge dam constructions) in Slovakia.

9. Please describe any activities for harmonisation of existing and development of new environmental, economic and social indicators used for relevant assessments in the Carpathian region in your country?

There has been one common activity carried out by CEE experts from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, under the project SEA of the VIth Multi-Modal Transport Corridor Warsaw – Budapest : Scoping of Environmental Issues.

The original assignment was to assess the environmental impacts of transport policies for the entire CEE region. However, this proved to be too ambitious given the complexity of the national and international transport planning in CEE and the limited time and resources available. One solution that would allow the stated objectives to be achieved effectively was to narrow the scope of the work and to focus instead on a selected multi-modal transport corridor. It was felt that a well-chosen corridor would provide, if not representative then at least indicative , evidence of the potential environmental problems faced by the rest of the region as a consequence of the conflicts between transport and environmental policies. In addition, even

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such limited scope would allow for an effective study of current transport planning approaches, their environmental implications and the available tools for the integration of environmental and transport planning. Using preliminary selection criteria and based on a review of available options, it was decided that the study would focus on the planned transport infrastructure between Warsaw and Budapest along the VIth Multi-Modal Transport Corridor. The study was implemented through preliminary SEA scoping which focused on the existing CEE-regional and in-country plans for the development of transport infrastructure along the corridor. In-country scoping focused on possible methodological approaches that can be used in the assessment of the corridor in respect to meeting environmental goals for the transport sector.

10. Please provide details on the participation of your country in relevant international (global, regional or sub-regional) initiatives.

Slovak experts have participated in many international research projects in the field of EIA and SEA led by REC, EBRD, Phare Twinning, etc.

11. Please evaluate briefly the main achievements and the main obstacles and barriers to sound environmental impact assessment system for relevant activities in the Carpathian region in your country.

There are no specific achievements for the Carpathian region, but there are general achievements in the EIA system in Slovakia , which is quite comprehensive and strict from the legal point of view. In practice, only a few EIAs at project level concluded in a negative statement by the DoE. Generally speaking, EIA also works as a preventive tool. It is a good instrument for analyzing the comprehensive impacts on the environment of individual projects, programmes and plans. This means that developers cannot afford to submit a draft project with a strong potential for adverse impacts on the environment. Developers try to incorporate mitigating measures directly into the project documentation. The EIA Act provides a good opportunity for the public and civil associations to take part in decision making on important projects and plans. As regards transboundary coopera tion in the area of environmental impact assessment, several bilateral cooperation agreements have been worked out or are under preparation. A documentation centre for EIA operates at the Slovak Environment Agency. Its roles include the archiving of EIA documentation and making it available to the public. An EIA information system is being built which will provide information on the EIA process. As regards obstacles, it should be mentioned that many potential developers and investors still perceive the EIA process as an element that constitutes problems for their plans. Before the adoption of the new EIA Act, the assessment of programmes and plans (strategic environmental assessment) was often formal and did not fully meet its objectives and purpose.

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Monitoring and early warning

12. Does your country have in place systems “of early warning, monitoring and assessment of natural and man made environmental risks”? If yes please describe briefly and give examples when they were used and their effectiveness.

The Concept of the Comprehensive Monitoring and Information System for the Environment was adopted by Government Resolution 7/2000. It consists of a number of partial monitoring systems dealing with individual components of the environment (e.g. water, air, biota, forests, soil, wastes, etc.). The system, indicators, methodology and network of updated projects for particular PMS, as worked out in 2001, are comparable with similar monitoring systems abroad in the EU and OECD countries. An overview of data related to the environment is made possible by the meta-information system “Catalogue of environmental data sources”, operated by the Slovak Environment Agency. The meta-information system is compatible with the systems implemented in EU countries. The catalogue of data resources is interconnected with Thesaurus, a multilingual environmental dictionary published by the European Environment Agency. The Information System of Monitoring (ISM) is defined as a subsystem of the Information System of the Environment, the task of which is to maintain integrated whole-area monitoring. The ISM is an interdepartmental information system, operated by the Ministry of the Environment. The system of water monitoring, which is part of the above -mentioned comprehensive monitoring system, is now in a period of transformation. The system is defined by Regulation 556/2002. The programme for water monitoring in sensitive areas is defined by the Water Act. Each Regional Office of the Environment has a duty to publish, once every two years, a report on waste treatment in its region. In connection with Directive 91/271/EEC on wastewater treatment, Government Decree No. 491/2002, supported by Methodical Instruction of the Ministry of the Environment No. 817/2002-6.2, has been accepted. It contains details on wastewater treatment methods, expected efficiency for different conditions, etc.

13. Please describe the institutional set up on the national, regional and local level for water, air and soil monitoring. Please shortly describe the role of the main authorities and explain any horizontal and vertical cooperation mechanism. Please list areas where overlaps of responsibilities occur describe measures taken or planned to address these.

ü Air, meteorology and climatology, water, radioactivity – SHMU Bratislava. The

Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute is a specialized (expert) organization of the state administration, established by the Ministry of the Environment and dealing with the monitoring and evaluation of the state and quality of water resources. This is a contributory organization, thus its budget is partly covered from the national budget and partly from its own activities.

ü The flood protection service is provided by the Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute and its Division of Forecasts and Alarms, part of which is the Hydrological Information and Forecast Service (www.shmu.sk/hips). This service is very important

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during flood accidents. It c oordinates the national flood prevention programme POVAPSYS and runs the Hydrological Information and Forecast Service in four regional offices.

- Geology – ŠGÚDŠ Bratislava - Soil – VÚPOP Bratislava - Fauna and flora – ŠOP SR Banská Bystrica - Forests – LVÚ Zvolen - Waste – SAŽP Bratislava - Toxic elements in food – VÚP Bratislava

There is a lack of skilled experts to operate within these new parameters (especially in the field of bio-monitoring). There is also a lack of the necessary equipment, so monitoring will be realized in cooperation with the Geological Institute of Dionyz Stur in Bratislava, which has well-equipped laboratories. Surface water emission limits and quality standards are currently defined by Government Decision No. 491/2002. In this document all EU limits are not fully implemented.

14. Please describe briefly any activities undertaken within the Carpathian region in your country by civil society organisations relevant for the purposes of the provisions related to monitoring and early warning of art. 12 of the Carpathian Convention

We have no specific information on activities of civil society organizations focusing explicitly on monitoring and early warning systems. These organizations address the particular problems often resulting from inadequate monitoring and early warning systems.

15. Are the systems for “early warning and monitoring and assessment of natural and man made environmental risks and hazards” provided with sufficient resources? If not, please briefly list the main needs.

The Slovak Environmental Agency is active in the field of environmental risks assessment and monitoring, including the development of a Data Centre as the depository of data methods and models related to environmental risk assessment, but it still suffers from a lack of financial and human resources. The most urgent area in this respect is the flood protection warning system. The flood protection system is based on the Flood Protection Programme adopted by the Slovak Government in 2000. This Programme was amended in 2003. The total budget (planned) for the measures according to the Programme is approximately SKK 20 billion. However, there is still a shortage of SKK 6 billion. This results in serious problems in the implementation of anti-flood measures in regions threate ned by floods.

16. Is Your Country participating in joint or complementary monitoring programmes on the state of the Carpathian environment? If yes, please give details on its participation.

The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) In 1998, the Danube River Protection Convention (DRPC) came into force after ratification by eight Danube states and the European Commission (EC).

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The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) was created to coordinate the implementation of the Convention. Since its creation, the ICPDR has been effective in finding consensus among basin countries on priorities and strategies for improving the Danube and implementing the DRPC. The objectives of the ICPDR’s 2001–2005 Joint Action Programme for the Danube River Basin are directed towards the improvement of the ecological and chemical status of the water; the prevention of accidental pollution events and the minimization of flood impacts. Water monitoring is realized in accordance with international and bilateral agreements and coordinated by the Commissions for transboundary streams:

- The Slovak–Ukrainian Commission for transboundary waters - The Slovak–Hungarian Commission for transboundary waters. This Commission

includes several working groups, among them the “Working group for the Tisza and its tributaries”.

Information exchange, harmonization and the planning of common activities, the preparation of treaties and conventions are realized through the Commission for Transboundary Flows, and the responsible body for these tasks is the Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute (as a member of the Commission).

17. Has your country established any regional and / or local industrial accident notification system in cooperation with neighbouring countries? If so, please specify with which countries and at what levels (regional / local) and specify whether this system is resulting from a specific multilateral agreement or initiative.

There are a number of legal instruments in force in Slovakia dealing with the issue of industrial accidents: 1. Slovakia has ratified the UN ECE Convention on the transboundary effects of industrial accidents. 2. The Seveso Directive is applied on the territory of Slovakia. 3. Slovakia has adopted the Act on Industrial A ccidents, laying down obligations for industrial enterprises to provide information on industrial accidents.

18. Please provide details on the participation of your country in relevant international (global, regional or sub-regional) initiatives.

There are several examples of transboundary cooperation, both on the official (governmental) level, as well as on the non-governmental level. § The monitoring of the boundary parts of rivers, and the control of pollution

transmission from Slovakia to Hungary (Slovak Water Management Enterprise) § Slovak – Ukrainian Project on flood prevention on the Tisza River (Self-Governing

Regional Government, Košice) § The pilot project Latorica and Uh between Ukraine and the Slovak Republic, the

monitoring of transboundary water quality (Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute) Below is a list of important projects at governmental and institutional level:

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§ Implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive in the Slovak Republic: towards integrated water management in the Hornád river basin (Research Institute of Water Management, Slovak Water Management Enterprise, Ministry of the Environment of SR, Ministry of Soil Management of SR) § Twinning project SK/98/IB/EN/01: Expertise in the harmonizing of sectoral policy and institutional enforcement in water management (2000 – 2001, Ministry of Water Management of the Netherlands and Ministry of the Environment of SK) The a im of this project was the transposition, implementation and application of EU legislation for water issues in Slovakia, the assessment and implementation of selected parts of the Water Framework Directive from the point of view of legislation, and the organizational competencies and duties of water management bodies in Slovakia. § Twinning project SR99/IB/EN/01. This was focused on the development of a methodology for the assessment of eco-toxicological tests of wastewaters. It included a programme of bio-monitoring-based warning systems and the bio-monitoring of wastewater treatment in SK. § Real-life -scale integrated catchment modelling for supporting water-related environmental management decisions (2002 – 2004 Water Resources Research Centre, Hungary). The partners for this project are from Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Germany, Belgium, Austria, and the UK. The aim is the development of an integrated computer watershed model, the application of a hydro-ecological approach in big watersheds and the revitalization of wetlands. § The Slovak Water Management Enterprise, Hornád and Bodrog River Basin branch, is participating in a joint project with Ukraine : “Flood prevention in the Tisza River Basin”, supported by NATO. The goal of the project is to improve the existing warning system, to enhance its capacity and to provide early flood warning for citizens in the Tisza River Basin parts of Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Serbia and Montenegro. Real-time data will be obtained from the hydro-meteorological network using a satellite system. In close cooperation with Belgium as lead country for the first phase, regional cooperation centres will be set up, and measures will be proposed for the future development of water management activities such as the construction of polders and dikes , and for the collection of available data. § An international consortium consisting of water management organization from Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania is currently implementing the EU TACIS project “Cross-border flood management in the Tisza River Basin” , which is implemented on the territory of the above-mentioned countries. The goal of this initiative is to analyse the current situation, to set up a pilot early warning centre in Uzhgorod, Ukraine , and to elaborate a proposal for the construction of two monitoring stations in Ukraine. Two workshops were organized in 2001 and the situation in the Tisza River Basin was compared to that on the Moselle River, Germany. § Another international project of the Slovak Water Management Enterprise was “Flood management in Slovakia and Ukraine”, realized according to an agreement between the Slovak Ministry of Soil Management and DANCEE in the Bodrog basin in cooperation with the Danish Hydraulic Institute (DHI). The goal of the project is to propose a rainfall-drainage model for the upper parts of the basin, as well as a hydrodynamic model for the

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lower parts of the basin. Part of the project is the development of a cross-boundary system of flood forecasting and the development of retention basins and polders for flood prevention. § In the framework of Slovak – Dutch cooperation between 1994 and 2001, the project “Improvement of water management in the agriculture sector” was realized at the agricultural farm Malcice, Slovakia. The project contributed to improved agricultural production by better management of surface and ground water drainage canals on the Malcice farm. With the use of Dutch technology, the Slovak Water Management Enterprise has been regularly maintaining the drainage canals after the completion of the project. § Tisza River Project - River Basin Integrated Modelling (2002 – 2004). The main goal of the project is to develop tools for integrated river basin management with stakeholders’ involvement. The implementing bodies are the Slovak Research Institute of Water Management, Bratislava , and the Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute, Bratislava. These projects are realized with the cooperation of institutes and NGOs. § The Danube Regional Project (DRP), with the official title “Strengthening the Implementation Capacities for Nutrient Reduction and Transboundary Cooperation in the Danube River Basin” was launched on 1 December 2001. As the next phase of GEF/UNDP’s long-term commitment to achieving environmental health in the Danube River basin. The main goal of the DRP is to strengthen many of the structures and activities already in place in the basin, building on what is there and on the lessons learned, and facilitating a regional approach. A key focus is strengthening the capacity of the ICPDR and Danube countries to fulfil their legally binding commitment to implement the Danube Convention. This now includes the development of a River Basin Mana gement Plan in line with the EU’s Water Framework Directive. 19. Please evaluate briefly the main achievements and the main obstacles and

barriers to effective monitoring and early warning mechanisms for relevant activities in the Carpathian region in your country.

Obstacles § The absence of functioning contacts among various organizations, companies and other bodies in the field of environmental risk. § Lack of financial and information sources at all levels: governmental, regional and local. At the local level in particular it is difficult to find sources for cooperation. § Low environmental awareness.

Achievements § The numerous examples of transboundary cooperation on monitoring and early warning mechanisms has led to a fall in the risk of environmental disasters in cross-border areas.

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§ Models for cross-border flood forecasting systems to provide early warning to the population and authorities have been developed. Most of them integrate the advanced communication techniques allowing efficient crisis management. § This is comple mented by the establishment of institutional bodies dedicated to civil protection, flood warning and forecasting systems.

Environmental information system

20. Is Your Country participating in any transboundary cooperation activity carrying out research activities and scientific assessments in the Carpathians? If yes, please give some examples of cooperation activities wherein Your Country has been involved.

No information available.

21. Has any set of standards been adopted in scientific research or data acquisition and storage activities in Your Country which aim at ensuring “comparability, complementarity and standardisation of research methods and related data -acquisition activ ities”? If yes, please describe briefly the measures taken.

Within the framework of the activities of the Technical Standardization Committees , and through the implementation of a technical standardization plan, the issue of environmental management is dealt with by the Technical Committee of the International Standardization Organization ISO/TC 207. By the end of 2000, the Slovak Technical Standardization Institute had published the following STN:

1, STN EN ISO 1400(83 9001)

Environmental Management Sys tems. Specification with user guide (EN ISO 14001:1996)

2, STN ISO 14004(83 9004)

Environmental Management Systems General guidelines including policies, systems and supporting techniques (ISO 14004:1996)

3, STN EN ISO 14010(83 9010)

Guidelines for environmental audit (EN ISO14010: 1996)

4, STN EN ISO 14011(83 9011)

Guidelines for environmental audit. Audit approaches. Audit of environmental management systems (EN ISO 14011:1996)

5, STN EN ISO 14012(83 9012)

Guidelines for environmental audit. Qualification criteria for environmental auditors (EN ISO 14012:1996)

6, STN ISO 14020(83 9020)

Environmental labels and declarations. General policies (ISO 14020:1998)

7, STN ISO 14021(83 9021)

Environmental labels and declarations. Own declaration of claims on environmental properties (ISO 14021:1999)

8, STN EN ISO 14040(83 9040

Environmental management system. Life -cycle assessment. Principles and structure (EN ISO 14040:1997)

9, STN EN ISO 14041(83 9041)

Environmental management system. Life -cycle assessment. Goal and subject definition, and record-keeping analysis (EN ISO 14041:1998)

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10, STN ISO 14050(83 9050)

Environmental management system. Glossary (ISO 14050:1998)

11, STN 83 9060 Guidelines to include environmental aspects into standards for products (ISO Guide 64: 1997)

1. STN ISO 14024 (83 9024)

Environmental labels and declarations Environmental labelling type I. Guidance policies (ISO 14024:1999)

2. STN ISO TR 14025(83 9025)

Environmental labels and declarations. Environmental declarations type III. Principles and Policies (ISO/DTR 14025:1999)

3. STN ISO 14031(83 9031)

Environmental management system Assessment of environmental behaviour. Instructions (EN ISO 14031:1998)

4. STN EN ISO 14042(83 9042)

Environmental management system. Life -cycle assessment. Life-cycle impacts assessment (pr EN ISO 14042:1999)

5. STN EN ISO 14043(83 9043)

Environmental management system. Life-cycle assessment. Interpretation of life-cycle (pr EN ISO 14043:1999)

In principle, there is a Comprehensive Monitoring System for the Environment at the national level, which consists of a number of partial monitoring systems. These partial monitoring systems address various environmental media: water, air, soil, forests, meteorology and climatology, wastes, biota, geological factors, and radioactivity. The data collection systems , indicators and methodology correspond to other monitoring systems abroad (EU, OECD) in order to achieve a certain comparability.

22. Please list the main data information system that include information on environment in the Carpathian region in your country and explain how these systems interrelate. (Please explain by which authority they are managed. Refer also to your answer to question 7 under Chapter 8 of this Section).

The State Information System includes several information systems:

• ZP net – is the computer network of the MoE, not accessible to the public, but only for MoE SR and its organizations

• Metainfo – metainformation systems refer to a catalogue of data sources of the MoE SR

• ISM – the monitoring information system is a system of interactive WEB maps, a sub-system of the State Information System

• ISU – territorial information system • ISOŽP – information system of individual environmental fields • ISŽP – environmental information system

There exists an information system of species and habitats, which is managed by the State Nature Protection A gency, as well as the State List of Protected Areas.

23. Please provide details on the participation of your country in relevant

international (global, regional or sub-regional) initiatives

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As regards environmental assessment, Slovakia is a party to the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention) and has signed the Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment. In the context of meeting the obligations accepted by Slovakia under the Espoo Convention, bilateral agreements with the five neighbouring countries were negotiated. They define procedural steps in the assessment of the environmental impacts of activities that have impacts that appear on the territory of a neighbouring state. Representatives of MoE SR also actively participated in international discussions about EIA working groups and working groups to establish the application of the Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment.

24. Please evaluate briefly the main achievements and the main obstacles and barriers in the area of environmental information systems in the Carpathian region in your country.

Achievements § There is better access to environmental information in general terms, thanks to Internet

facilities and the multiplication of databases. § A comprehensive system of environmental information exists in Slovakia , comprising

partial information systems dealing with environmental media (water. air, soil, etc.) Obstacles § Because of insufficient institutional coordination and cooperation, many bodies tend to

develop information systems independently of one another, based on territorial needs and financial means.

§ The quality of the information for decision making at various levels is sometimes inadequate.

§ There is a lack of integration within environmental legislation and policies of information technology applications.

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10. Awareness raising, education and public participation (Article 13, Carpathian Convention)

Article 13 Awareness raising, education and public participation 1. The Parties shall pursue policies aiming at increasing environmental awareness and improving access of the public to information on the protection and sustainable development of the Carpathians, and promoting related education curricula and programmes. 2. The Parties shall pursue policies guaranteeing public participation in decision-making relating to the protection and sustainable development of the Carpathians, and the implementation of this Convention. Public participation and access to information

1. Please list and describe briefly the relevant policy and legal documents that provide for the rights to environmental information and public participation in decision making on environmental matters (provide title, year of adoption, legal status and the scope). Please also indicate the extent to which the current system is in line with the standards set by the Aarhus Convention.

After 1989, the conditions for public participation in decision making, as well as in the implementation of programmes and plans, changed substantially. § The Slovak Constitution – The constitutional right (article 30 of the Slovak Constitution)

is being exercised and citizens have the right to take part in the management of public issues directly or by the free election of their representatives. Citizens vote for their representatives in the municipal governments directly. A majority electoral system in one or two mandate voting districts places a powerful instrument in the hands of the citizens in order to let them make decisions as to who will represent them in governance, in the management of the city and in the provision of services. To resolve important issues committees can be formed, the members of which are not only councillors but also citizens, also elected by the council.

Article 45 declares that “every citizen has the right to timely and complete information on the state of the environment and about the origin and impacts of this state”.

An important milestone for the Slovak Republic on the way to the Aarhus Convention was, in the SR, the adoption of: § Act of NC SR No. 24/2006 Coll. on Environmental Impact Assessment in the wording

of Act No. 391/2000 Coll., where public participation in the EIA/SEA process is defined. § Act of NC SR No. 171/1998 Coll. on Access to Information about the Environment,

cancelled by Act of NC SR No. 211/2000 Coll. on Free Access to Information (the Act on Freedom of Information)

The Act on the Right to Access to Information is a well-prepared, modern legal norm, which allows people to access a wide range of information, and people do make use of this possibility. People quite often obtain environmental data and information based on this law, without there being any important problems. In some cases, information has been not provided for reasons of “business secrets” – for example in the case of water prices. The

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Ministry of the Environment did not provide information on some planned big waterworks, etc. (for example: information on the Tichý Potok and Slatinka waterworks, requested by Slatinka NGO). According to the law, subjects (e.g. big industrial plants) that have a duty to carry out the monitoring of emissions are obliged to publish data, once a month in a public ly accessible place, on the results of their monitoring. This report must make clear the kind of pollution that has been created by the subject and its proportion compared to official limits. This duty to actively publish information is very often ignored in practice by many of the subjects (polluters) concerned. In 2000, there were 1,139 requests for information by citizens that were cleared at the Public Relation Office pursuant to the interpretation of the NC SR Act No. 171/1998 Coll. Of Laws on Access to Environmental Information, valid until 31.12.2000. The Office database was continuously updated with new publications, periodicals and other information materials of the MŽP SR and MVO. From the point of view of information standard enhancement, the preparation for approximation to the international Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (the Aarhus Convention) is of significance for SR. Most of the strategic documents are available on the Internet (http://www.enviro.gov.sk/minis/, http://tur.sk, http://www.sazp.sk/, http://www.svp.sk, etc.) Other information is available on the basis of the Act on Access to Information. Public participation is allowed during the process of public commentary of strategic documents prepared for approval. This was applied in the preparation of some of the documents and was based on cooperation with some NGOs (e.g. the Proposed List of National Natura 2000 Sites in Slovakia). In the process of SEA, the public has the right to make comments on strategic documents two months before their approval. Participation processes are also legally required for other acts, for example the Integrated Prevention and Pollution Control Act. Sectoral acts also include provisions for access to information – for example , in compliance with §29 of the Act on the Air, the duty of the MoE SR is to provide information about air quality and the amount of individual pollutant resources within the responsible organization. However the process of access to information is not institutionalized (for example, biodiversity, climate change, etc). Usually data collection is carried out by several specialized agencies and other institutions depending upon the sector. The Aarhus Convention on access to information, public participation in decision making and access to justice in environmental issues has not yet been ratified.

2. Are public participation in decision-making and the right to information specifically guaranteed in the national policies and laws related to the Carpathian Convention? Please provide details.

There are no specific policies. The legislative documents mentioned above refer also to the Carpathian Convention area.

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3. Which among the following measures has been taken to improve and ease access to environmental information by the public? Please specify at which government level (local/regional/national) these measures have been adopted and give details on the adopted measures.

Measures Y/N Local/regional/national Level Establishment of special structures for public access to environmental information

Y National, at the Ministry for the Environment there is a department in charge of coordinating and responding to public requests and questions

Improvement of electronic and information technologies

Y All levels – many strategic documents as well as different announcements are published on websites. However, there is still no complete database available to the public

Establishment of information centers Y National Regular publications on the state of environment

Y National and regional – the MoE regularly publish a State of the Environment report. The report is published on the web and a limited number of copies are available free of charge (www.sazp.sk)

Others

4. Has any government body of Your Country, at the relevant level, established procedures, programmes, projects and services that facilitate and encourage the active participation in the decision -making process of stakeholders, especially women, young people and local communities? If yes, please provide details.

An important long-term tool for public participation is the amount of and access to current information that contribute s to the enhancement of environmental sensitivity and the creation of active and positive relationships of citizens to their environment. Together with the Public Relation Department, the operation of the Public Relation Office (telephone: 02 5956 2222; e-mail: [email protected] ), situated in the MŽP SR premises, has continued. This provides information on decision making in environmental affairs, on the state of the environment and other environmental activities. Access to information in electronic form and the possibility of public comments on displayed bills of law was continuously provided via the extension of an offer on the MŽP SR website ( http://www.enviro.gov.sk ).

Natura 2000 information centres exist in each of the individual protected area administrations.

In relation to the accession of the Slovak Republic to the Aarhus Convention, the Government of the SR has approved the following timetable: § To submit a report about the state of fulfilment of the tasks that must be completed for

the Slovak Republic to accede to the Aarhus Convention

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§ To prepare and submit to the Government the Draft Act that amends Act No.17/1992 on the Environment

§ To prepare and submit the Draft Act on the obtaining, processing, saving, updating, transfer and provision of information about the environment

5. What are the main internal and external financial sources allocated to the

promotion of public participation and access to information rights?

The main financial sources are the state budget, the Slovak Environmental Fund and Phare Twinning projects, although there are no specific funds established for the promotion of public participation and access to information rights.

6. Please provide details on the participation of your country in relevant internationa l (global, regional or sub-regional) initiatives.

Slovakia participates only in relevant global international initiatives such as the “Convention on Environmental Impact Assessments in a Transboundary Context”, the “Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters”

7. Please evaluate briefly the main achievements and the main obstacles and barriers in promoting access to environmental information and public participation in the Carpathian region in your country.

Thanks to the Act on Free Access to Information, valid since 2000 (enforced by NGOs), the situation is much better than before. Public participation in decision making has been applied several times in EIA processes, for example in cases of the construction of new dams. At the level of self-governments, public participation is possible directly through the self-government (in the process of the public commentary of plans and investments and legislation). The main obstacle is the bureaucratic approach of civil servants: while the quantity of staff is sufficient the quality is questionable in some cases. There is also a problem with equipment and technical support in local institutions (some of them lack such basic tools as Internet connection, etc.).

One advantage is that, due to the decentralization process in Slovakia, an important part of decision making has been transferred to local level so that the municipalities can manage their own development and finances independently of the central government. Thanks to the transfer of competencies, problems can be solved where they are raised. A disadvantage is that, at the beginning of the decentralization process, there were strong differences in terms of the development of munic ipalities in Slovakia. This unequal development may become even worse in the future. Small villages in particular lack qualified staff (lawyers, financial managers). As a result, it can be expected that, in the near future, small villages will be forced to create some united (joint) offices with common equipment and qualified staff.

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The quality of the work is affected by the quality (and in the case of villages also by the number) of staff. For example, many small self-governments lack legislation experts (lawyers). Self-governments are also often overburdened by formal bureaucratic duties . The Act on Free Access to Information makes state services accessible to the public quickly, effectively and conveniently, 24 hours a day: § On the websites of the Government O ffice and individual ministries, all approved

materials are presented in full wording, as well as the materials prepared for discussion and comments

§ On the websites of the Government Office there is also information about government activity in the field of the fight against corruption, Roma community supportive programmes and much more

§ Annual reports, public statements, and the contracts of public administration organizations can be found on the Internet

§ The “Infoservis” automatically sends information from government meetings according to topics chosen by the clients registered for this service

§ The Business Register has been made accessible on the Internet § There are preparations for displaying the Register of Land (“Cadaster Register”) on

the Internet, and information about grants allocation and licences is also available on the Internet.

We did not come across any formal obstacles to the promotion of public participation, although citizens neither utilize their rights and powers sufficiently nor feel sufficient responsibility for the development of their towns and cities. Citizens mostly pursue their own objectives and do not take much interest in public issues. They want to take part in public management only in those cases in which things should be done in a way other than has been planned, or they only get involved when they want to stop something or to overcomer narrow group interests. The flow of information is in general divided into horizontal (among institutions or other participants at the same level of the hierarchy) and vertical (between institutions/subjects on different levels). In both cases it is clear that, in spite of technical progress, the flow, exchange and provision of information needs to be improved. However, in certain areas the movement is in the other direction. For example, the reduction of some reported parameters, limited access to information due to business or other reasons, lack of clarity in responsibilities and the introduction of information fees, actually reduce the amount of information available. The lack of cooperation between sources as well as within the reporting units is a major barrier to the flow of information in relation to the future implementation of the Carpathian Convention. The situation is further complicated by the lack of cooperation and information flow between central government organizations and those at the regional and municipal levels, as well as other stakeholders. Cooperation between universities, scientific and research institutions, spec ialized institutions in individual sectors and the private sector could also be improved. There is also a problem with the sharing of information within particular institutions. National and international NGOs play a significant role in the broader dissem ination and analysis of information.

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Information from individual institutions is not coordinated. While much of the information is available on the Internet (www.enviro.gov.sk, www.shmu.sk, www.sazp.sk, www.sea.gov.sk, www.sopsr.sk, www.vupu.sk, www.fris.sk), the capacities for increased public information are still inadequate. There is a lack of Internet portals, for example those explaining the impacts of different human activities and environmental issues (soil degradation, climate change, reduction of biological diversity, etc ). The ability to obtain information from official sources has improved following the Act on Free Access to Information (No.211/2000 coll.). However, a more proactive approach is still needed. Awareness raising and education

8. Is public education and awareness need covered in the national environmental and mountain policy documents? If yes, please describe briefly the relevant provisions.

Yes, in the National Strategy for the Sustainable Development of SR there are several provisions as strategic aims in this field: § The enforcement of juridical awareness, the change of value orientations of the public,

education and further education § Support of NGOs, interest groups and the public in participation in socia l development

9. Has your country taken concrete measures for raising public awareness on the

importance of the protection and sustainable development of the Carpathians? If yes, please specify the initiator of such action, the level (national, regional, local) and provide details on the relevant activities.

There have been some initiatives by NGOs through the distribution of leaflets and brochures, and the organization of meetings and mass media coverage.

10. Which among the following measures has been taken by Your Country at the different government levels in order to promote a widespread knowledge of issues concerning the Carpathian region? Please give examples of relevant measures or actions.

Measures Dissemination of books and publications referring to environmental issues in the Carpathians

N

Communication through the media N Conferences and public meetings Y Education and training N Other (please specify) N

11. Please describe briefly the role of ecological education within the overall curricula

of the education system in your country. The Concept on Environmental Education was approved in 1997. The concept is based on life-long education in the environment. It is focused on education for different levels of the school system, public education and education for environmental specialists. As the

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participants of the 4th National Conference on Slovak Environmental Education (Nitra, 15 – 17.12.2004) decla red, this concept needs updating. There are many supporting educational documents including environmental curricula for primary and secondary schools. The National Programme for Education – Millennium, notes in a general way the principles of sustainable development, providing a basis for inclusion in the life-long education process. The Concept of Environmental Education, approved in 1997, and the results of the Second National Conference “Environmental Education and Awareness in Schools”, held in 1998, have become the basis for education in the area of sustainable development. It is necessary to include the area of cultural heritage, which is not currently in the system of primary and secondary schools, in the Concept of Environmental Education. The balanced provision of information on basic objectives and means for the protection of the cultural heritage needs to be achieved in order to attract the interest of children concerning the heritage of former generations. The National Education Centre supports educational and cultural processes oriented towards environmental education and the protection of cultural heritage through: § activities of a methodical and advisory character in the area of local and regional

culture, the expansion of cooperation with stakeholders in the area of education; § the implementation of specific advisory activities (methodical, consulting,

informational, etc.) in the area of education, artistic activities and traditional culture for stakeholders of local and regional culture; and

§ support for programmes and activities in the framework of Agenda 21. In the future, the National Education Centre will orient its activities to the area of the development of culture and cultural and historical national awareness. Possibilities for all concerned groups of citizens to exert an appropriate influence on education in schools have been created. There is cooperation among the pedagogical public, the state administration, heads of schools, teachers, parents and those being educated in the framework of management processes and professional, methodological activities in schools and outside schools. The State Nature Protection agency also contributes to this system. The project “Technology Foresight”, coordinated by the Prognostic Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (2002 – 2004), developed a proposal for key research projects in the environmental field (Annex 1). According to the authors of this report, the main significant deficiency is that some of the issues were not included in the field of the environment but rather in different sectors. The results of the project ha ve not subsequently been reflected in any strategy or programme of the government.

12. Please list the main education institutions and research centres in your country where the specific aspects of protection and sustainable development of the Carpathian Mountains are addressed, and explain briefly for each of them the focus of their activities (Try to group them per topics, e.g. biodiversity, water management, land use planning etc.)

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The Council of Environmental Education at the Ministry of the Environment functions as an advisory and coordination body for the Minister. However, the functioning of the Council should be enhanced. The Ministry of Education cooperates with the Ministry of the Environment in the development of environmental education. There are also NGOs active in environmental education, and an NGO umbrella environmental education organization “Špirála”. An overview of selected institutions other than schools is shown in table below. Subject Institution Slovak Environmental Agency (SAŽP) - centres for environmental education (Teplý

vrch, Žilina, Košice, Banská Štiavnica, Dropie, Regetovka, Modra) - centres for environmental education and training

Slovak Energy Agency (SEA) - “Stodola” centre (consultations, public education and information in the area of energy saving, science and technology and a permanent exhibition concerning the environment), EKOENERGIA, civil union in Rajec; - Slovak cent re for energy management and an educational network based in regional SEA branches

State nature protection (SOP SR) - within the organization there are 13 units functioning as information centres for nature protection and also a School on Nature Protection in Varín

SHMÚ - seminars on World Meteorology Day and the World Day of Water

Energy consultation and information centres - consultation and information services in the area of energy saving

The association of environmental educations - ŠPirála

- association of 12 NGOs (CEEV Živica, CEA trencín, CMOP SZOPK, Daphne, Kon-Tiki club, OZ Ekoenergy, OZ Tatry, Animal Freedom, Sosna, SEV Dub, The Life Tree, The Green Line), - Slovak Museum of Nature Preservation and Caving in Liptovský Mikuláš.

Non governmental organisations - NGO People and Water, LZ VLK, A-project, CEPA, Ecosofia, Greenpeace, RIO 21 Centrum, BROZ, Daphe, SOVS, Energy 2000, Vydra, ZO SZOPK Miniopterus, STUŽ/SR, ECB, ZMZ, Predator Protection in Slovakia, REC Slovakia, Centre of Environmental Activities Barancek in Trencín; Centre of Interest Activity with Environmental Focus near ZŠ Bieloruská

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in Bratislava, Centre of Young Nature Defenders SZOPK in Kolárovo; ZO SZOPK Martin – Ginger Molitor in Vrútky; Centre of Ecological Education DUB in Dubnica nad Váhom; Defenders Union of North-South Slovakia PCOLA in Stará Lubovna and Centre of Environmental Education BAMBI in Moldava nad Bodvou. and others



• SAŽP, in cooperation with SEVO Špirála and the Department of Ecology and

Environmental FPV UMB in Banská Bystrica, prepared the proposal of the government document: Strategy for the Development of Environmental Education Centres.

• Besides traditionally organized projects, the international art competition “Green World”, and the contest of environmental projects Enviroprojekt, were among the most successful activities of the Slovak Environmental Agency SAŽP. The most interesting work was presented at the Envirofilm festival. A special Green World contest committee assessed 1,786 works that were divided into seven contest categories. Some 202 contestants and collectives applied to the national show of environmental projects “Enviprojekt”. Most projects were dealing with the pollution of components of the environment (47), 34 projects dealt with the topic of environmental education and proposals for activities and promotion, 32 dealt with school area accomplishment. Ten projects were awarded and funds for implementation were granted to four of them. The winning projects dealt with waste in the Cinobana case, tree species protection in Brodziansky park, and two projects dealing with the topic of educational trails.

• In 2001, the first stage of the Living Nature project that was announced by SAŽP in coopera tion with the Field Studies Council (FSC) of Great Britain, with the financial aid of the Darwin Initiative and the Slovak Gas Industry, s.c. was implemented. The project was officially opened on 24 April 2001 in Bratislava. There were 799 groups from 744 organizations participating in the project, and 7,741 pupils between 10 and 15 years of age from 344 Slovak towns and villages are solving the tasks. In 2001, ZŠ pupils were mapping the flora and fauna in their surrounding. For the second stage, in the following year, they will propose small regional projects on the basis of their monitoring.

• SAŽP, in cooperation with various organizations in the field of the environment, education, culture, and state administration, traditionally organizes the Hypericum contest, aimed at the recognition of natural and cultural values of the mother region. Some 377 ZŠ pupils were competing in the area of Polana, Cerova vrchovina, Nízke Tatry, and also in the districts of Nitra, Komárno and Topolcany. The winners of the Hypericum contest

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participated in the Slovak – Hungary exchange camp. In cooperation with the Methodological Centre, a presentation of methodological materials for environmental educators , “Creative Teacher”, was held for the third year. The fourth annual creative ideas show of governmental and non-governmental organizations, Šiška , also took place.

• In 2000, MŽP SR promoted itself by participating at Enviro Nitra, Incheba, interstone shows with the implementation of complementary programmes, by the organization of a film festival – Envirofilm 2000 – and its accompanying events, by participation in seminars, trainings, open-door days for the public in professional organizations of the Ministry – SBM in Banská Štiavnica, SMOPaJ in Liptovský Mikuláš, SAŽP in Banská Bystrica and its branches in SR, and especially by special SAŽP events in Banská Bystrica.

14. Which of the following measures has been taken in the field of education and

training in the mountain region?

Measures Basic supply of schooling and education Y Availability of decentralized training opportunities Y Introduction of specific matters related to the Carpathians in school and education N Education and training programmes for the mountain professions N Other (please specify)

15. Does your country cooperate with other States and international organizations in

developing relevant educational and public awareness programmes? If yes, please provide information on such cooperation

The Danish – Slovak Project “Nature Protection School in Varín, MoE and DEPA DANCEE, Carl Bro.

16. What are the main internal and external financing sources for education related to the protection and sustainable development of the Carpathian Mountains.

The school system is ensured comprehensively from the state budget, except for private schools that receive state subsidies of 70% compared to state schools. Religious schools are financed in a similar way to state schools. The salaries of teachers are determined by the act and covered by the state budget. The cultural sector, in the interests of enhancing environmental awareness through methodical centres, museums and promotion centres, initiates and supports various cultural and educational activities in the form of seminars, discussions, exhibitions and publications. The Environment Ministry also serves as a financing source by way of the SAŽP centres for environmental education, ŠOP SR environmental centres.

Concerning external sources, these are mainly EU ones- Phare, Life, Leonardo, etc. Since 1996, the Minister for the Environment has divided funds for the environment into support for the environmental projects of NGOs (so-called “Green Projects”), dealt with by

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the department for public relations. In 2000, of the 189 projects applied for, 41 projects were approved; 6 of these were projects approved in the section on environmental education. Meetings are organized between NGOs and representatives of the Ministry of the Environment as part of the general agreement on cooperation between the Ministry and NGOs.

17. Please list and describe briefly the participation of your country in any initiatives relevant for the promotion of education systems focused on ecological education (global, regional and sub-regional).

Since 1996, the Minister of the Environment has allocated funds for the support of non-governmental organizations’ environmental projects for tenders for small projects called Green Project, organized under the supervision of the Public Relations Department. In 2000, out of 189 registered projects divided into 7 topic areas, 41 project proposals were granted financial support, and 6 projects were selected within the main topic of environmental education and awareness raising. A visit by Slovak children – winners of the contests focused on environmental problems – to the national park Fertó Hanság in Hungary, was organized under the patronage of the Special Consultation Forum, the Education and Creation of Ecological Awareness by the Slovak – Hungarian Commission for environmental and nature protection issues (represented by MŽP SR). Meetings of environmental MVO deputies (grouped in an informal union called Ekoforum) and MŽP SR, which contributed to the creation of a vivid consultation forum between the state and the non-government sector, were organized under the adopted General Agreement on Cooperation between MŽP SR and non-government organizations. Cooperation in the field of special levels of environmental training and education enhancement: The interests of environmental education standardization are part of the MŽP SR cooperation with the following subjects:

• Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology STU • Faculty of Mechanical Engineering STU • Faculty of Architecture STU • Faculty of Natural Sciences UK Bratislava • Faculty of Mining Ecology and Geotechnology TU Košice • Slovak Academy of Sciences • Industrial Ecology Association in SR

This cooperation takes place in the system of bilaterally approved Cooperation Agreements and the annual evaluation of respective general strategic plans. In 2000, cooperation was defined according to the following topics whose realization exceeds the annual limit:

• cooperation during the education of university students of different faculties to meet the needs of the state administration in the environmental sphere, by the active

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participation of MŽP SR employees in particular subject lectures, consultations for students

• distance education, special and re-qualification courses, doctorate studies in cooperation with MŽP SR

• creation of graduate educational programmes, and the creation of future specialist programmes

• common special seminars • the publication of manuals, surveys and methodological tools, • special lectures and educational programmes for state administration and local

government employees. 18. Please evaluate briefly the main achievements and the main obstacles and barriers

in the area of ecological education in the Carpathian region in your country. Achievements:

There is good potential for professional environmental education provided by universities. At the institutional level, education focused on environmental issues is provided by faculties in the following universities:

• The Comenius University in Bratislava • Slovak Technical University in Bratisla va • Slovak Agriculture University in Nitra • The Technical University in Zvolen • The Technical University in Košice and other faculties in Prešov, Banská Bystrica and

Košice There is an increase in mandatory subjects and available textbooks focusing on the protection and rational use of biological diversity, agro-biodiversity and soil protection at the faculties of natural science and agriculture(for example , Biological Diversity Protection on SPU in Nitra has already issued 90 textbooks and is printing more than 27 thousand issues in cooperation with other faculties, workplaces and specialists in Slovakia). The Slovak Environmental Agency actively participates in environmental education and implements its own programmes, particularly in the area of life-long education for state administration. However , these are not focused on the Carpathian Convention. There is a solid base of researchers in spite of the reduction, by more than 20,000, of the number of people working in science and research, including at universities, within the last few years. There is a network of universities and institutions of the Slovak Academy of Science (SAV) and sector -based research and development institutions. Private research and development is also expanding. The Concept of State Scientific and Technical Policy until 2005 provides the direction for scientific and technical development. Specific scientific and research issues in relation to the Carpathian Convention are well developed. The current structure and staffing of the specialized institutions provides a solid base for the active participation of Slovakia in international projects dealing with the implementation of the Carpathian Convention. However, activities are not well coordinated or funded and there is a lack of available information.

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Main obstacles/barriers - Longer-term improvement requires financial resources and the updating of the

technical equipment of these institutions. - Education and public awareness related to Carpathian Convention issues is

limited by the specialized legislation and lack of institutional support - Lack of professional abilities and skills - There is also a lack of trained and experienced managers. For the younger

generation, work in the scientific and research sphere is less attractive than the business sector, in large part due to the difference in salaries and opportunities for advancement. Scientific specialists are increasingly going abroad for better opportunities. The state research and development sector has already experienced a deficit in certain professions , for example informatics. In the past, the language barrier was a problem. However, the situation has rapidly improved among the younger generation.

- There are several kinds of scientific preparation and different forms of education. Access to the information of scientists and researchers is generally good. However, current activities are affected by the typical problem of lack of own financial resources. Internationally financed projects tend to be better funded.

- The lack of public awareness concerning the issues of sustainability is directly related to the lack of information and analysis.

- The universities and the Slovak Academy of Science institutes run their own research projects, which are narrowly focused and run independently. The re are no projects or programmes that deal specifically with Carpathian Convention issues. One of the reasons for this situation is that current research interests and support funding focuses on relatively narrow single discipline projects rather than more broadly based cross-cutting scientific and technical projects.

- Existing funded researchers fear the loss of their specialized research activities by the development of integrated research concepts.

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SECTION III. ASPECTS POSSIBLY NOT ANALYSED IN THIS QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Please state what were the main difficulties in filling out the questionnaire and explain your methods for overcoming them.

One of the main difficulties in filling out the questionnaire was that we were not given a precise map of the Carpathian region in Slovakia , since such a map has not yet been finalized, nor is our MoE willing to share it. The majority of questions in the questionnaire are related specifically to the Carpathian region (e.g. policies, studies, acts, activities, etc.) However, all these documents elaborated by official Slovak authorities concern the entire territory of Slovakia, including non-Carpathian Convention areas in our country, without specific reference to those subject to this questionnaire.

2. Please provide information on any particular circumstances in your country that are

relevant to understanding the answers to the questions in this report. If you do not understand any of the answers provided in this questionnaire , feel free to ask us. To our best belief the answers in this report are self-explanatory.

3. Please, state the aspects you think were not considered in this questionnaire. It takes into account absolutely every aspect that we can think of.

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SECTION IV. OVERALL ASSESSMENT Under this section please make an assessment, based on the information provided in the previous sections, by answering the following questions:

1. Please evaluate the main achievements of your country contributing to the implementation of the Carpathian Convention.

The Carpathian Convent ion has not yet been implemented in Slovakia, therefore it is too early to speak about the implementation itself, or the achievements. The biggest step has been made in preparing the Carpathian network of protected areas, in which the Slovak Republic played a certain coordination role. The existing situation for meeting the requirements of the Carpathian Convention comprises a generally favourable framework including the following prerequisites:

- The orientation of Slovakia towards a social and ecological market economy is explicitly mentioned in the Constitution

- Legal documents allowing access to information, including information on the environment

- The existence of legal decrees supporting the integrated approach (Act on the Environment, Act on Landscape Protection, Act on Physical Planning, IPKZ, as well as additional laws on the food industry, on ecological agriculture and the production of bio-food, on forests, on the protection of the ozone layer, human health protection, etc.)

- The application and use of geographical information systems as well as the nationwide environmental monitoring system

- The creation of an integrated environmental information system or a meta-information environmental system

- USES on multiple hierarchical levels (national, regional, local), - Tools and procedures for environmental assessment (EIA for projects, SEA for

fundamental strategic documents) - Tradition of physical and landscape planning - Tradition of integrated approach in some spheres (e.g. in forestry, partially in

agriculture, water management) - Tradition of environmentally oriented study programmes at Slovak universities - Existence of comprehensive development documents, e.g. State Environmental Policy,

Integrated Plan for Regional and Social Development, National Strategy for Sustainable Development

- The existence (although not always the functionality) of roof authorities, e.g. Governmental Committee for Sustainable Development

- Integrated approach from several non-governmental organizations, local and regional governments a nd sometimes also commercial entities

- Introduction of ISO 14000 standards in enterprises and in public administration - Several significant activities a t local and regional levels

Slovakia has a mature legislative, policy, programme and institutional framework on which to base the implementation of the Carpathian Convention. The current legislation is the same legislative framework in place for all European countries, that is , the environmental acquis.

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The core Carpathian Convention principles are reflected in key government documents, including the National Strategy for Sustainable Development. The implementation of the Carpathian Convention is fully supported by specific strategies and plans (for example, the National Biodiversity Strategy, National Reports on Climate Change, the implementation strategy for the Kyoto Protocol.). There are capacity gaps in the use of the potential of the academic and research community as well as the private and non-governmental sectors. Although there are many opportunities for international cooperation and there is substantial Slovak experience in the field, these opportunities could be better utilized. The low level of public awareness of the importance of the implementation of the Carpathian Convention is of particular concern. Another positive example of progress towards meeting the requirements of the CC is the draft Act on Landscape Planning. The draft was prepared by the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Construction and Regional Development. The objective of the Act on Landscape Planning includes the integrated management of natural heritage and the landscape and the preservation of environmental quality. It also provides for integrated surveys, for the regulation of territorial planning, landscape management plans, forestry management plans and other sectoral plans. The goal is to support landscape diversity and the implementation of priority ecological uses of the landscape.

2. Please evaluate the main difficulties resulting from the current policy, legislative and institutional framework to the implementation of the Carpathian Convention,

As the implementation of the Convention has not yet begun, the difficulties have yet to appear. However, in the areas regulated by the Carpathian Convention, the main obstacles can be summarized as follows:

• Insufficient institutional support of activities under the Carpathian Convention. • Deficient cross-sectoral and inter-ministerial cooperation, which results in the lack

of a real integrative approach. This is illustrated by potential conflicts between the interests of environmental concerns and economic activities.

• Marginalization of funds.

3. Please identify major gaps in the effectiveness of implementation and enforcement of the relevant policies and legislation, referring where possible to specific sectors.

As obvious from the previous answer, implementation has not started and difficulties are yet to appear. However, it can be seen that a favourable political framework for the development of strategies and programmes for environmenta l protection and development exists in Slovakia. However, one weakness is the inability to transfer the multinational framework to the national and lower levels, complicated by insufficient coordination of activities related to meeting the requirements of the CC at both the horizontal and vertical levels. A crucial issue is the strong sectoral approach to the preparation of conceptual instruments and the “inflation” of strategic documents which do not always have the expected impact on subsequent decisions and programmes. One example involves the adoption of the National Environmental Action Plans (NEAP I in 1996 and NEAP II in 1999), which identify the list of investments and non-investment actions. These lists were developed based on proposals

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from the district and regional levels and grouped according to “sectors” or environmental components. The analysis of the implementation of these documents was limited to the “percentage of fulfilled actions” without a more complete evaluation of impacts on the quality of the environment. NEAP III has not yet been approved by the Government. The National Biodiversity Strategy (July 1997) requires the Government to reflect this Strategy in sectoral policies, strategies, concepts and programmes and relevant legislation. After eight years, the Resolution of the National Council of SR has not been fully met, nor does the National B iodiversity Strategy contain indicators to measure progress. The country profile of Slovakia has been prepared within a broader international initiative coordinated by the UN. It provides another opportunity to review how Slovakia is fulfilling the requirements of the Rio Conference in general. It is clear that the implementation capacity in the relevant sectors continuously falls behind the formulation of the strategies. The situation is further complicated by the fact that Slovak policy making, similar to other countries, involves a wide range of considerations and not only international commitments. In recent years, Slovak policy and the legislative agenda has focused almost exclusively on meeting EU requirements, some of which are still in the process of being implemented. There are , however , several important policies in the SR which are entirely consistent with the philosophy of the CC. The most important recent document is the National Sustainable Development Strategy of SR (2001). More than 200 members participated in its preparation in 1998 – 2000 in coordination with the REC and with the financial support of the UNDP. The state of implementation of the measures in the National Sustainable Development Strategy of SR is evaluated annually on a sectoral basis and the results are submitted to the National Council of Slovakia. There was a detailed evaluation of the tasks performed and the impacts in 2003 (www.government.gov.sk). The evaluation resulted in the requirement to prepare an Action Plan. The background for the Sustainable Development Action Plan for 2005 – 2010 was approved by the Government on 16 March 2005. At the same time, the Government called for the revitalization and reform of the Council of Sustainable Development. This establishes an independent expert platform for sustainable development reporting to the Deputy Chairman of the Government for European Integration, Human Rights and Minorities. Representatives of the scientific and academic communities, NGOs and other experts were involved in the preparation of the background for the Action Plan for Sustainable Development. This Action Plan was completed in June 2005: The strengthening of local and regional community involvement in sustainable development is also a priority of the Sustainable Development Action Plan.

4. Please specify what are the main technical and financial assistance needs for the implementation of the Carpathian Convention, referring to the difficulties identified under Question no 2.

The analysis suggests that, while Slovakia has an excellent existing base for the implementation of the Carpathian Convention there is a need for more coordinated and focused actions to ensure the effective use of research, to improve the knowledge of managers and decision makers, and to provide more information and opportunities for the public to participate in the implementation process.

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Improving upon the existing framework could include the following: Ø more effective monitoring mechanisms for implementation Ø broader participation of the expert and scientific community in the implementation and

development of the laws related to the requirements of the Carpathian Convention Ø immediate implementation of the revitalized Governmental Council for Sustainable

Development Ø application of sustainable development principles in the decision-making process at all

levels Ø application of key strategic instruments in the decision making process (such as

strategic environmental assessment) Ø increase in public awareness and involvement in the decision-making process with

respects to the requirements of the Carpathian Convention Implementation should then lead to the development of a proposal for the Strategic Action Plan, identifying the responsible implementation bodies, the necessary tasks, financial resources and success indicators for each recommendation. The following are recommendations for the Action Plan: Establishment of a CC Coordination Committee An integrative approach would greatly strengthen the overall implementation of the Carpathian Convention. It would also provide the implementation of CC with greater visibility and make it a priority in the Slovak Government system. It is therefore recommended to establish a CC Coordination Committee in order to clarify and strengthen the priority given to the implementation of the CC within the Government of Slovakia. Integrated management training There is a need for qualified managers to manage the complexity of the requirements of the CC. The current managers and supervisors are often appointed to their position on the basis of their technical and scientific knowledge with no prior preparation for their management function. The training focus, content and form need to be tailored to the workloads of the participants. The training should address practical problems of participating managers, with an emphasis on the integrative approach. The target groups will include managers in:

- state environmental administration - local governments - specialized institutions participating in CC implementation

The Coordination Committee will take the initial role in facilitating the preparation of training including human and financial resources recommendations. Public Awareness Programme Public participation is a key aspect of CC implementation. The analysis referred to the existence of limited access to information as well as the need to increase public awareness. However, while many government organizations and NGOs are active in promoting public awareness, there is still a lack of integrative programming. The solution would be the development of a targeted programme to increase public awareness about the CC. The programme could be implemented through the existing governmental and non-governmental organizations. The programme should consist of information campaigns for civic associations, communities, schools and other members of the general public. It

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should be focused on the explanation of CC issues and the reciprocal interactions among the conventions. The Internet should be used as a tool in a creative way to improve programme success. The Coordination Committee will initiate the public awareness programme. Regional and local governments will be included. The programme will be structured so that key components can be implemented into the formal education system. The Coordination Committee will coordinate work on programme development, including calculation and the identification of financial needs. Integrated Interdisciplinary Scientific Research The implementation of the CC requires the support of interdisciplinary research, involving both the social and natural sciences. Implementation will have positive impact not only on meeting the requirements of the CC but on strengthening interdisciplinary research generally in the Slovak Republic. At the same time it will open up new opportunities for the participation of researchers in international projects, including EU-sponsored projects requiring interdisciplinary approaches. The need for integrated research must be reflected in the update of the State Programme for Science and Research. Handbooks and manuals are needed, as well as special studies from the technical point of view. It is also necessary to generate institutional coordination mechanisms, for example for the coordination of the Carpathian Network of Protected Areas and the Carpathian Wetland Initiative.

5. Please give an overall assessment of your country’s involvement in transboundary and cross border cooperation activities related to the Carpathian Convention, distinguishing between the national and local level, and between authorities and stakeholders.

Transboundary and cross-border cooperation takes place mainly at the national level and with EU members due to financial facilities. Cooperation with Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic is being continuously developed since their EU accession, especially on nature and water issues. As the Carpathians cover a large part of Slovak territory, cross-border cooperation mainly addresses the protected areas situated on the borders with neighbouring countries. For example, the Slovakian government has signed an agreement with Poland and Ukraine on the establishment and management of the joint Biosphere Reserve “Eastern Carpathians”.

6. Please identify the main forces that are driving or could be used to drive the implementation of the Carpathian Convention.

The main forces that could be used to drive implementation are networking activities, political pressure and international pressure:

- implementation needs to be carried out in connection with global sustainable development principles

- implementation will require effective coordination targeted at minimizing additional requirements for capacities at the national, regional and local levels, with the aim of reducing the total costs and improving efficiency

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- the integration of the relevant environmental aspects into the national cross-cutting and sectoral policies, strategies, concepts and programmes and into relevant legislation is the preferred approach – it can be achieved by a more strategic approach to the implementation of the Carpathian Convention

- an improvement of the effectiveness of the implementation of the existing environmental legislation can be accomplished by strengthening cooperation among the sectors involved, strengthening preventive measures and applying the integrated approach at all leve ls of the planning and decision-making process.

7. Please list your recommendations for implementation of the Carpathian Convention

in your country, identifying the article(s) to which they relate:

Recommendations Recommendations are focused on: coordination, training, increased public awareness, integrated research, and official development aid. Specific recommendations are as follows:

a) establishment of a Coordination Committee b) integrated management training c) public awareness programme d) integrated interdisciplinary scientific research

Ad a) There is a strong need for synergy among all aspects of the Carpathian Convention. Some of the existing structures are not used to their full potential. This suggests that an integrative approach would strengthen the overall implementation of the Carpathian Convention. It would also provide the implementation of the Convention with greater visibility and make it a priority in the Slovak Government system. Therefore, it is recommended to establish the Coordination Committee to clarify and strengthen the priority given to the implementation of the Convention within the Government of Slovakia. It would also serve as a platform for the implementation of the proposed Strategic Action Plan and for the ongoing monitoring of the Carpathian Convention implementation activities. The Coordination Committee should be establishe d within the revitalized Government Council for Sustainable Development. This will allow the Committee to make recommendations and coordinate activities at the inter-sectoral level across government ministries , to take advantage of the opportunities for synergies among the aspects of the Carpathian Convention. The proposal for the Strategic Action P lan would also be helpful as the initial agenda for the Committee. Furthermore, we advise the establishment of a national working team for the processing of national reports and to provide institutional support for the national focal point. Rules for sharing information from information and monitoring systems and linkages of information systems should be determined. Ad b) The analysis identified the need for qualified managers to manage the complexity of the requirements of the Convention. The outflow of specialists, researchers and public administration officials to other professions, both domestically and abroad, is due in large part to the lack of financial rewards. Support for

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personal career growth can overcome a temporary unfavourable economic situation. The improvement of qualification levels and the flexibility of individuals will have a positive influence on following systematic and institutional measures by ensuring the continuing supply of educated and experienced personnel. The current managers and supervisors are often appointed to their position on the base of their technical and scientific knowledge with no prior preparation for the management function. The training focus, content and form need to be tailored to the work loads of the participants. The training should address practical problems of participating managers with the emphasis on the integrative approach. The target groups will include the following groups of managers:

- state environmental administration - local governments - specialized institutions participating in Carpathian Convention implementation

The Coordinating Committee should take the initial role in facilitating the preparation of training, including human and financial resources recommendations. Ad c) Several analyses refer to the limited access to information as well as the need to increase public awareness. One solution could be the development of a targeted programme to increase public awareness about the Carpathian Convention. This could be implemented through existing governmental and non-governmental organizations. The programme should consist of information campaigns for civic associations, communities, schools and other members of the general public. It should be focused on an explana tion of Carpathian Convention issues and the reciprocal interactions among Carpathian Convention issues. The Internet should be used as a tool in a creative way to improve programme success. The Coordination Committee would initiate the public awareness programme. Regional and local governments would be included and the programme would be structured so that key components could be implemented into the formal education system. The Coordination Committee would coordinate the work on programme development, including the calculation and identification of financial needs. Ad d) The implementation of the Carpathian Convention requires the support of interdisciplinary research involving both social and natural sciences. Implementation will have a positive impact not only on meeting the requirements of the Carpathian Convention, but also on strengthening interdisciplinary research in general in the Slovak Republic. At the same time , it will open up new opportunities for the participation of researchers on inte rnational projects including EU-sponsored projects requiring interdisciplinary approaches. The need for integrated research has to be reflected in the updating of the State Programme for Science and Research. The Coordination Committee would act as the initial recipient for projects addressing cross-cutting research issues of the Carpathian Convention. The Committee would subsequently submit these as an initiative to the particular committees for science and technology or to international donors as appropriate. However, this requires additional financial and human resources.

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ANNEX 1 List of documents related to CC questionnaire: Cross cutting:

- The Strategy, Principles and Priorities of the State Environmental Policy (1993)

- National Environmental Action Programme I (1996), II (1999), III (2003) - National Strategy of Sustainable Development (2001) - Territorial Development Policy for Slovakia (1994, 1997, 2001) - National Development Programme for the period 2004 – 2006 (2003) - Rural Development Programme for the period 2004 – 2006 (2003) - Policy (Concept) for an Environmental Monitoring System for Slovakia (1992) - Mid-Term Concept for Official Development Assistance for the period 2003 –

2008 (2003) - Concept of State Science and Technical Policy until the year 2005 (2001) - Concept of Environmental Education and Training (1997) - Lisbon Strategy for Slovakia, Strategy of Economic and Social development of

the Slovak Republic by the year 2010 (2005) - Strategy of Competitive Slovakia by the year 2010 – Action Plans (MoF,

2005) - National Action Plan for the Strategy of Sustainable Development of Slovakia

for 2005 – 2010 (Government Office of the SR) - National Strategic Reference Framework for Programming for the period 2007

– 2013 (MoC and RD) - Action Plan for Environmental Technologies in the Slovak Republic

(Government Office of the SR) - Macroeconomic Strategy System Structure of the SR for 2005 – 2013 (MoEc,

2005)

Climate change: - National Climate Programme of the Czechoslovak Federal Republic (1991),

has continued as the National Climate Programme of Slovakia from 1993 - National Report on Climate Change I, II, III (1995, 1997, 2001)

Biodiversity:

- National Biodiversity Strategy (1997)

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- Action Plan for the Imple mentation of the National Biodiversity Strategy in Slovakia for 1998 – 2010 (1998)

- Update of the Action Plan for the Implementation of the National Biodiversity Strategy in Slovakia for 2001 – 2010 (2001)

- Update of the Action Plan for the Implementation of the National Biodiversity Strategy in Slovakia for 2003 – 2010 (2003)

- National Programme for Plant Genetic Resources Protection for Food and Agriculture for 2005 – 2010 (2005)

Soil desertification/degradation:

- Concept for the Protection and Use of Agricultural Land in Slovakia (2000), MoA

- Proposal for Adaptation Measures in Agriculture for Climate Change (2000) - Principles of the State Soil Policy (2001), MoA - Mid-Term Concept of Soil Management Policy for 2004 – 2006 (2004), MoA

Other sectors:

- Concept of Water Management Policy of Slovakia until the year 2005 (2001), MoA

- Energy Policy of Slovakia (2000), MoEc - Concept of the Use of Renewable Energy Resources (2003) MoEc - Concept of Forestry Policy until the year 2005 (2001), MoA

Others: National Strategy for Sustainable Development (approved by the Government in 2001 and by the National Council in 2002) Action Plan for Sustainable Development for the period 2005–2010 (approved by the Government in 2005) State of the Environment Report (2004) OECD Environmental Performance Review of the Slovak Republic (2002) The Slovak Spatial Development Perspective (2001) Green Report 2005 (Reports on agriculture and forestry in Slovakia for 2005) National Development Plan for the period 2004 – 2006 Draft National Strategic Reference Framework for the period 2007 – 2013 Action Plan for the Implementation of the National Strategy of Biodiversity Protection in the Slovak Republic for the years 1998 – 2010 The Concept of Forestry Policy until 2005 Programme for the Development of Railway Routes until 2010

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Policy for the Development of Combined Transportation until 2010 Policy for the Development of Water Transportation, 2000 Transport Policy until 2015 Concept of Motorway Infrastructure Development, 1999 Concept of Road Infrastructure Development, 1999 Strategy of Tourism Development in Slovakia until 2013 Policy of Tourism Development in Slovakia (2005) Programme of Tourism Development, SR, 2002 National Plan for Rural Development, 2000 www.enviro.gov.sk www.mpsr.sk www.culture.gov.sk www.changenet.sk ANNEX 2: List of stakeholders See attached file ANNEX 3 Key research priorities Protection of the atmosphere and climate change

• research on climate change and preparation of scenarios • research on vulnerability and climate change including socio-economic impacts • the development of new technologies in the areas of monitoring, processing and

modelling, as well as in the area of gas and aerosol emission reduction and adaptation measures

Water for the 21st century

• research on the influence of climate change on the hydrology cycle including regional aspects

• the development of integrative and adaptive flood and desertification forecasts • research into erosion and transport processes in river basins

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• hydrological and soil analysis of the processes under the soil management with the minimal transfer of nutrients, heavy metals and micro-pollutants to surface and ground water

• research on the relation between water management systems and marshes – quantity and quality monitoring of all water resources

• quantification of surface outflow in slope areas; quantification of water balance in system atmosphere; vegetation cover; soil aeration zone; underground water in spatial demonstration

Landscape biodiversity

• multidisciplinary research on nature, biological diversity, the research of processes and phenomena with negative impacts on biodiversity

• preservation and reproduction of forestry genofond, including genetic and ecosystem variability

• research and definition of non-productive functions of ecosystems including economic valuation

• research into the vulnerability and ecological capacity of land use • research into genetic diversity of biological resources

Preservation, management and planning of sustainable landscape development • planning and valuation of sustainable landscape development • sustainable forest development in Slovakia • integrated landscape management and balanced development of problem areas,

underdeveloped and marginal regions • methods and indicators for environmental monitoring • research focused on strengthening and support of environmental and legal awareness

and value orientation change

Economic aspects of the environment • research focused on relationships among economic, social, technical and

environmental changes • research on systems and system changes related to economic globalization and global

environmental changes • research on economic valuation of the environment

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