Western Balkans Environment Programe

Regional Programme Manager and Chief Technical Advisor of the Western Balkans Environmental Programme had a meeting with the Project Managers of the NEWEN Project on 9th February, in UNDP Montenegro. Purpose of the meeting was to exchange information about the on-going activities and explore the possibilities for future cooperation between the two programmes. In addition, Regional PMU received an invitation from the NEWEN project to propose the representative for the NEWEN Advisory Board.

The last of the three study tours for 2008 developed by the Regional Programme Management Unit (RPMU) in the frame of the Western Balkans Environmental Programme was organized from 20th- 24th October in Prague area, Czech Republic. The topic of the study tour was visiting mining sites, subjects to remediation activities. The remediation activities are conducted in order to mitigate/eliminate existing negative impacts of the mining sites to the environment, and preparing the remediated sites for future public usage as recreational areas.

Participants on the study tour were representatives of relevant institutions from Albania, Macedonia FYR and UNMIK Kosovo. The purpose of the study tour was to familiarize the participants with good show cases, learn and see how heavily impacted sites due to mining can be remediated and reclaimed, and get relevant information on how similar/same activities can be organized and conducted in their respective countries. The host organization in Prague was the Environmental Damage Department, Ministry of Environment of Czech Republic, with Mr Jaromir Manhart acting as focal point from their side.

The study tour "Potentials for Tourism Development on Rehabilitated Mine Sites" was organized in Slovenia, from 6th to 10th October 2008. Participants at the study tour were:  representative of Mojkovac Municipality, Director of the Tourist Organization of Mojkovac, geologist from the Geological Institute of Montenegro and the UNDP Montenegro representatives.

Purpose of the visit was to explore the options for further viable use of the existing abandoned mining site as tourist destinations and consequently possibilities for providing economic benefits for local populations.

Two rehabilitated mining sites in Slovenia were visited, Podzemlje Pece and Idrija. Participants had a chance to meet:

• representatives of management authorities of the mines and museums,
• mayors of the municipalities where the mines were operating, as well as
• representatives of tourism sector in visited municipalities.

In the last week of September 2008, the Western Balkan Environmental Programme UNDP Montenegro has organized a study tour to Vienna for the two countries participating in the Programme, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The study tour theme was "Cleaner production in industry" and in that context, participants from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina visited companies in the food industry, and waste water treatment plants and solid waste incinerators in Vienna area. The host organization in Vienna was Umweltbundesamt, Vienna with Mr Fritz Kroiss acting as focal point from their side.