Natural environment

The conservation group WWF Hellas on Wednesday leveled heavy criticism against the government, and in particular against Reconstruction, Environment and Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis for ?backtracking? on environmental protection.

Poachers have killed nearly half of Mozambique?s elephants for their ivory in the past five years, the U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) said on May 26.

A Mozambique government-backed survey showed a dramatic 48 percent decline in elephant numbers from just over 20,000 to an estimated 10,300, the WCS said in a statement.

The Finance Ministry has announced plans to change the way that cars are taxed in Greece, creating what it says will be a ?fairer? system.

According to the ministry?s statement, vehicles will be taxed according to their retail price rather than engine size, as is currently the case.

When you ask which feature is Turkey?s most important in terms of comparative advantages, all foreign investors reply ?geographic position.? Turkey?s second advantage is its young population. 

These two features have been engraved in our minds ever since elementary school but somehow we can never make use of them as a country. 

In Bulgaria, 69 out of a total of 94 bathing waters or 73.4 % were deemed as being of excellent quality in 2014.

This is shown by the 2014 report on the bathing water quality in Europe, which was issued by the European Environment Agency (EEA) on Wednesday.

The governor of California declared an emergency as crews scrambled to contain an oil slick and clean up popular beaches after a pipeline rupture dumped thousands of gallons of oil into the ocean.
 

Each year, an estimated 6.4m tons of useless fishing equipment is discarded or lost at sea, and over 100,000 marine mammals die from the harmful effects of plastic, fishing nets, and trash in the oceans. In an effort to combat the damage done to Greek environments Norwegian company Nofir A.S.

EU energy chief Maros Sefcovic will start a tour of member states this week to reiterate calls for a concerted effort by EU member states to address global energy and climate challenges.

He will also present an analysis by the European Commission of each country's energy policy and what needs to be done to fine-tune that policy to the objectives of the Energy Union.

Greek beaches have been awarded 395 Blue Flags for top-quality waters this year, placing Greece in third place out of 50 countries, according to the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature.

Nine Greek marinas were also awarded the Blue Flag distinction awarded by the initiative?s founder, nonprofit organization the Foundation for Environmental Education.

Three hundred and ninety five Greek coasts and nine marinas won the international “Blue Flag” programme classification, placing Greece in third amongst 49 countries.

The Blue Flag is a voluntary eco-label awarded to more than 4000 beaches and marinas in 49 countries across Europe, South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada and the Caribbean.