Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 14-12.
Coal stockpiled for winter heating in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. The coal is burned in building
furnaces without any pollution control. Photo by J.S. Aber.
Figure 14-13.
Dam, reservoir and castle at Dobczyce, southern Poland. Note the iron fence around the reservoir;
no public access is allowed in order to maintain high quality of this water supply for the city of Kraków. Photo by
J.S. Aber.
development at the expense of environmental
concerns was characteristic of the region for
most of the twentieth century.
At present, the Ramsar organization is
attempting to expand protection of important
wetland sites while simultaneously urging the
development of greater country-based institu-
tional and legal protections. Even a cursory look
at environmental and wetland legislation in the
CIS suggests that it is piecemeal at best. Greater
openness, however, and the documentation
of environmental problems across the region
undoubtedly will encourage calls for regulation
14.3.5 Commonwealth of Independent
States
Compared with EU countries, the Common-
wealth of Independent States (CIS), including
Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, and
several other countries of the former Soviet
Union, still requires greater articulation and
enforcement of wetland management efforts
and regulatory mechanisms. Most of this region
inherited a legacy of environmental problems
from policies adopted during the Cold War.
Pursuing industrial growth and economic
