MUENCHHAUSEN, July 26, 2012; REPOST OF Sept. 2, 2003

Muenchhausen

Newsletter on environmental chemistry, infectious diseases, energy, renewable resources, and related matters, by Bootstrap Press (Bethesda, MD)

Tuesday, September 02, 2003,

Reposted July 26, 2015

MUENCHHAUSEN

AN ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER ABOUT ENVIRONMENT,
RENEWABLE RESOURCE TECHNOLOGY,
AND RELATED TOPICS

By BOOTSTRAP PRESS, INC.
BETHESDA, MD
GREENBARON@CSI.COM

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SEPTEMBER 2, 2003
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WELCOME!

The Green Baron welcomes one and all who take the time to read Muenchhausen. He aims to “tell it like it is” as much as possible, and avoid advocacy and ideological positions. There are enough of those to go around in other publications.

DEDICATION

This issue of Muenchhausen was dedicated to the welcome of then-new Ambassador from Slovakia, His Excellency Rastislav Kácer, to the United States.

In the August 29th issue of Muenchhausen, Ambassador Kácer’s name was misspelled. The Green Baron regrets the error.

Currently, the Ambassador from Slovakia to the United States is His Excellency Peter Kmec.

The Green Baron hopes the Greenways discussed below remain extant. For more information, please visit http://www.greenways.by/index.php?content&id=13&lang=en. They now include more countries than they did back in 2003.

GREENWAYS FOR VACATION AND EDUCATION

Imagine a vacation that combines environmentally sustainable tourism with seeing virgin forests and their wildlife, farms and villages, cultural sites, and even wineries and breweries. In the Vishegrad countries (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary), a very nice way to take a vacation and become educated about those nations and their various cultures and traditions is to hike, camp, or otherwise travel among their Greenways. These Greenways also extend into Austria and, since 2000—2002, Romania and a portion of western Ukraine.

A bit of background: Some of these Greenways are successors to such pathways that existed before World War I, when the Vishegrad countries were parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the current international borders did not exist. After the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, the Vishegrad nations became independent (Czechoslovakia was the predecessor of the the Czech and Slovak Republics), and those pathways fell into disuse and neglect. They remained in disuse until shortly after the fall of their Communist governments, which occurred between 1989 and 1991.

In early 1990, there began the organization of the Environmental Partnership for Central Europe (EPCE), which soon came to comprise the Vishegrad countries. By 2000, Romania started to work with the Greenways program, and by 2002, a Greenway extended into the western part of Ukraine. At a presentation about the Greenways, held at the Slovak Embassy (Washington, DC) in May 2002—the Green Baron was there--Juraj Flamik, Czech Greenways national coordinator, estimated that there are about 36,000 kilometers (km) of Greenways for hiking, plus 11,000 km for cultural features. As His Excellency Martin Bútora, then Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to the United States expressed it, “Imagine several large nature trails, interconnected and crossing national boundaries. They are like U.S. greenways, but larger in scope.” His Excellency Géza Jeszenszky, then Ambassador of Hungary to the United States put it this way: “I admire the idea even without knowing all of the details.” He noted that the countries involved “have much in common ethnically, economically, and culturally; I hope the European Union [EU] will see the value of these beautiful green fields and rivers.”

Putting the Greenways in shape for tourism was a difficult task. Much of the land had suffered the ravages of war, neglect, and helter-skelter industrialization that resulted in much contamination of the land. In addition, people who did use the trails often were not conscientious about cleaning up after themselves. “In my own experience, I saw so much waste. There were plastic bags and other pollution, some involving leaks,” Hungarian Ambassador Jeszenszky told the meeting at the Slovak Embassy. Jan Rohac, the national coordinator of Slovak Greenways and the Amber Trail from the UNESCO World Heritage (Banska Stiavnica, Slovakia), explained that “thousands of cleanup projects were and are under way.” Dominika Zareba, the Amber Trail Greenway national coordinator from Poland, said, “We must also work with cities and industrial districts.”

One example of an industrial district needing cleanup work is Nowa Huta, in southern Poland, which is notorious for pollution that issues from its foundries and steel works. By way of some history, while Poland was under Soviet domination, then-Soviet dictator Josef Stalin ordered the Nova Huta complex built upwind of the ancient Polish city of Kraków, with the deliberate idea of blowing polluted air into the city as a move against its famed intellectual class (Kraków also is the seat of the Jagellonian University, founded during the early 16th century).

The Greenways must show economic viability, according to Daniel Mourek, International Affairs and Greenways Coordinator at the Czech Environmental Partnership Foundation. He foresees some funds coming in from tourists who would spend money to use the Greenways and in their villages and cultural centers. “We hope that eventually we will have Greenways on the European level,” said Mr. Mourek. Ms. Zareba spoke of a meeting planned to take place in Sibiu, Romania, to explore ideas of expanding the Greenways into Croatia, Serbia, and even as far as Bulgaria.

THE AMBER TRAIL GREENWAY

The Amber Trail Greenway (ATG) links many valuable natural, cultural, and local treasures from Budapest, Hungary’s glittering capital, with Kraków, Poland, via Banska Stiavnica, Slovakia, a town famous for its mineral water source. Among its goals is the support and promotion of local production and small-scale traditional activities such as organic farming, food processing, handicrafts, and a network of fairs.

The ATG comprises natural and cultural resources such as the pristine, protected landscapes of the valleys of the Danube, Ipel, and Vistula Rivers, old wooden villages in the Carpathian Mountains, and rural regions of Slovakia and Hungary known for their colorful brick houses and excellent wines, some of which comes from grapes taken from vines that cover the houses. One can travel on the ATG by walking, cycling, canoeing, or using narrow-gauge railways. For more information about the ATG, visit the Web site www.ambertrail.org.

PRAGUE TO VIENNA

The Prague-to-Vienna Greenway (PVG; Prague, Czech Republic to Vienna, Austria) is about 440 km long, plus side trails to Cesky Krumlov and to Telc. This Greenway is intended to create a model of sustainable regional development connected with conservation of the cultural and national heritage and promotion of local and regional identity. One unique feature is that it links visitors directly with nonprofit initiatives along the route. Visitors have opportunities to meet the local people and learn of their efforts to preserve the countryside and local culture. A portion of the prices visitors pay for tours goes directly to support these nonprofit initiatives, and the tourists may designate which of these projects they wish to support. The EPCE and its cognizant components remain in contact with interested visitors after they return home, giving them a longer-term connection to the area.

Tours can be taken by walking, cycling, mountain bike, canoe, or horseback. There are tours for ecology, bird watching, and many cultural events, including music and folklore, archaeology, and Jewish heritage. For those interested in food and drink, a visitor can meet a winemaker in southern Moravia, famous for its wines, and may visit the breweries of Pilsner Urquell in Pilsen. Also very famous is the city of Ceske Budejovice, formerly known as Budweis, where the original “Budweiser” (locally known as Budvar), is still brewed. Visits to smaller local breweries also are available and encouraged.

For more information about the PVG, visit www.ecn.cz/greenways or e-mail to greenways@ecn.cz. Information about the Partnership may be obtained at www.ecn.cz/epce or by e-mailing to pship@ecn.cz.

EAST CARPATHIANS

The East Carpathian Greenway (ECG) has been designated as an official UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, the only trilateral example in the world. The three countries of the ECG are Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine. The reserve encompasses an area of 2,132 square kilometers and contains the largest natural beech forest in Europe, as well as scenic mountain meadows known as “poloniny”. There are several species of plants unique to the East Carpathians, as well as other species threatened in the rest of Europe. One can find brown bear, wolf, lynx, and red deer in the forests; there also is the golden eagle and the reintroduced European bison, Hutzul horse, and beaver.

In 2000, there began projects to increase local community involvement in the region. Local people were invited to present ideas for projects that would meet their needs. Communities and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) met to discuss various projects (often hearing each other’s ideas for the first time) and to search for ways to increase cross-border activities through initiatives such as new cycle trails, eco-tourism networks, and renewal of local sheep-based economies.

In addition to the mountain meadows and deep forests, a visitor can see handicraft workshops and galleries, agro-environmental and school projects, and fascinating cultural features. For example, in Zatwarnica (Poland), there is an old Bojko (pronounced “Boyko) wooden house, now being transformed into an environmental education center and modern organic farm that promoted regional cuisine and local handicrafts. A visitor can participate in agro-tourism fairs that feature spectacular horse riding performances and music and atmosphere of the Bieszczady borderlands of Poland and Ukraine. Hardy persons properly equipped could even visit the ECG in winter.

For more information concerning the ECG, please visit:

http://www.walkingcentraleurope.com/greenways-vienna-prague-itinerary/

 

A Central European Greenway.

WHAT IS BOOTSTRAP PRESS?

Bootstrap Press is a nonprofit organization founded in Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A., to promote the development and management of technology and businesses based on renewable resources. We also encourage the preservation of our Earth's natural habitats and its plant and animal species. So do a lot of other organizations, and more power to them for doing so!

Bootstrap Press is different because its members believe that the development of renewable resources and the preservation of habitats and species are receiving far more lip service than the financial and technical support needed to achieve these goals. We also think they will continue to be subjects of more talk than action until someone can show how renewable resources and the diversity of biological species can be the basis for potentially profitable businesses as well as a matter of ethics. Bootstrap Press intends to provide a forum for the discussion of how to build up such business, and of related topics.

There's one more thing we should mention about Muenchhausen and Bootstrap Press. We try to present only the scientific and technical facts that are correct to the best of our knowledge, belief, and good faith. It is up to Muenchhausen's readers to draw their own conclusions and make their own judgments.

NOTE: The mention of a product or service in MUENCHHAUSEN is in no way to be regarded as an endorsement of that product or service by MUENCHHAUSEN, Bootstrap Press, The Green Baron, or any other contributor to MUENCHHAUSEN.