The Final Document of the International Seminar "Carpathian Euroregion - International Cooperation of Environmental NGOs"

The participants of the International Seminar recognizing the importance of environmental problems in the Carpathian Euroregion have considered the prospects for the further cooperation of environmental NGOs and decided:

1. In order to coordinate common actions, to establish the Coordinating Council of the representatives of non-governmental environmental organizations, acting in the Carpathian Euroregion (see Annex).
2. To work out and implement joint projects, directed toward the nature protection in the Carpathians.
3. To support the activities of the International Carpathian Bridge association.
4. To determine the activity priorities of the environmental non-governmental organizations in the Carpathian Euroregion, namely:
   
   
   • protection and restoring of the Carpathian forests;
   • assessing the state of rivers and working out proposals for their protection;
   • environmental education;
     
5. To assume the most effective forms of the public environmental activity to be as follows:
   
   
   • cooperation with the governmental environmental protection organizations, such as national parks and natural reserves;
   • holding eco-camps, expeditions and other actions aimed at the preservation and renewing natural objects;
   • training environmental organization leaders;
   • propagation of the best practices in nature protection through the mass-media;
   • preparation, publication and distribution of the popular literature on the environmental issues.
     
6. To support the work of the informational-publishing agency "Dovkillya", especially in distribution of true, objective information about the state of environment and environmental protection in the Carpathian Euroregion.
7. To apply to the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry for Environmental Protection of Ukraine for provision of environmental NGOs with the texts of relevant regulations.
8. To support the appeal of the Bukovinian "Green World" to the Council of the Carpathian Euroregion about the necessity of independent international expertise concerning childallopecia cases in Chernivtsi.
9. To adopt the Appeal of the participants of the International seminar to the Parliaments and Governments of the Carpathian Euroregion countries (attached).

Kosiv, Ukraine , 19 December 1994

APPEAL OF
THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR CARPATHIAN EUROREGION - INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL NGOs

We, the participants of the international seminar of environmental NGOs, held in the frame of the International Carpathian Bridge association turn to the Parliaments and the Governments of our countries, in order to urge them to remove all the obstacles for the communication, better mutual understanding and cooperation among the peoples of our countries by adopting appropriate international agreements.

By means of the meetings we would like to express publicly our will that all the near-boundary areas of the neighboring countries should become the areas of fruitful public and scientific cooperation, sincere communication among peoples, aimed at protection and preservation of natural and historical values, development of intrinsic culture of the Carpathians. Let us unite, being aware of our responsibility for the state of the nature, which we must save for the future generations.

Based on our convinces we call to:

• Activize international cooperation at the governmental level in solving of the environmental problems of the Carpathian Euroregion.
• Revise and amend the regulations on the territories and objects of the common natural reserves and protected areas.
• Not impose obstacles for actions directed towards drawing attention of the European Community to the environmental problems of each of our countries.
• Simplify the procedure of crossing the borders in order to allow the representatives of the environmental organizations of the Carpathian Euroregion to hold joint actions.

We hope that you will understand our concerns about the future of the natural environment in the Carpathians.

Kosiv, Ukraine, 19 December 1994

DECISION

(Annex)

on the establishing and operation of the Coordinating Council of non-governmental organizations, acting in the Carpathian Euroregion

To provide more effective work and coordination of the joint activities of the non-governmental environmental organization, acting in the Carpathian Euroregion, the Participants of the international seminar have agreed about the following:

1. To establish the Coordinating Council of the representatives of non-governmental ecological organizations, working in Carpathian Euroregion (hereinafter - Council).
2. The Council must consist of one representative per each organization participating in the seminar.
3. The meetings of the Council are held at least once a year.
4. At each meeting the Council Coordinator is elected(an NGO, in turn, for each country) by the consensus.
5. For the year 1995 the Council Coordinator will be Bukovina Branch of the National Ecological Centre of Ukraine
6. The Council is open to any environmental organizations interested.

National Ecological Centre of Ukraine (NECU), Kyiv
Bukovina branch of the NECU, Chernivtsi
Informational-publishing agency "Dovkillya", Kyiv
Institute of Ecology (INECO), Kyiv
Institute of ecology of the Carpathians, Lviv
Carpathian eco-geographical school, Lviv
Tovarystvo Leva, Lviv
Foundation Eco-prawo (Eco-law), Lviv
Ecological Association Pcola, Stara Lubovna, Slovakia
Ecosens, Bucharest, Romania