Environmental and Natural Resource Management Programs in Moldova

Environmental and Natural Resource Management Programs in Moldova is sponsored by USAID Moldova. Funds projects that promote environmental sustainability and natural resource management in Moldova.

Prepared for the Fifth Ministerial Conference "Environment for Europe" Improved Water ManagementIncreased Energy EfficiencyImproved Management of Natural Resources Strengthening Environmental Institutions As the transition from centrally planned economies to market-driven economies began in the Central and Eastern European region, the United States Government (USG) accepted the opportunity to provide assistance in the areas of environmental and natural resource management activities in cooperation with the countries of the region.

Agencies of the USG have shared their expertise with counterpart organizations and individuals in the region.

The United States Department of State (USDOS) provides overall direction, coordination and leadership for all U.S. agencies working in the region which include the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the United States Forest Service (FS), the United States National Park Service (NPS), and the Department of Energy (DOE).

Environmental problems in the region had endangered human health, undermined long-term economic growth, and threatened ecological systems essential to sustainable development. A focus on sustainable development fully integrating environmental concerns became a priority. Careful management of natural resources was essential for investments in development to yield sustainable benefits.

Unpolluted and un-degraded natural resources were required for long-term economic growth and food security. Clean air and water were, and continue to be, prerequisites to human health. Addressing environmental issues has built public/private sector partnerships; increased public awareness through education and training; crossed gender, cultural and class lines; stretched across the political spectrum; and strengthened civil societies.

Experience in the region has shown that the transition from a centrally planned to a market-based economy has brought with it many benefits for the environment. Reforms that have been initiated and based on market principles have brought autonomous environmental benefits throughout the region.

The introduction and gradual increase of market prices for services and resources such as water, energy, and waste management has had the effect of raising the necessary investment revenues for these sectors and provided the first signals to use natural resources wisely.

Moreover, economic reforms continue to reduce the share of pollution-intensive industry in total economic activity, help with the introduction of cleaner technologies, and provide incentives to reduce wasteful and inefficient production and consumption patterns.

The U.S. approach to environmental assistance continues to respond to the needs as articulated by the various host country entities, including the non-governmental organizations (NGOs), in the area of environmental and natural resource management by providing technical assistance and training in areas that the Government believes the U.S. has the highest levels of expertise.

The technical assistance and training are coordinated with other donors active in the area. As a result, strong, substantive, and sustainable environmental programs have been developed throughout the region. National borders generally do not confine environmental issues.

Consequently, many of the U.S. environmental and natural resource management activities are regional in nature. Further, not all countries have the same capacity to address their environmental and natural resource management issues. Therefore, U.S. activities in some countries have been able to benefit by the approaches used earlier to address issues in other countries.

The sustainable progress as a result of U.S. interventions in environment and natural resource management has been felt throughout the region. Environmental policy and natural resource legislative advances have been felt in other sectors in the assisted countries. Pollution levels have decreased while environmental investment and protection have dramatically increased.

Members of businesses, local governments, communities, and industries have been trained with necessary environmental and natural resource management skills and are successfully continuing their efforts even in those countries where U.S. assistance has concluded. The U.S. assistance to Central and Eastern European countries began upon the passage of the Support for East European Democracy (SEED) Act in 1990.

U.S. assistance to the nations of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) began upon the passage of the Freedom Support Act in 1992. This report focuses on the U.S. environmental and natural resource management activities in the region that have been implemented since the 4th Ministerial Conference “Environment for Europe,” in Aarhus, Denmark on June 23-25, 1998.

For information purposes, references have been made of illustrative activities that have been sustainable even once U.S. funding had terminated. Space does not allow in-depth discussion of every environmental and natural resource management activity; however, representative activities have been included to show the diversity and breadth of the U.S. assistance in the sector.

The U.S. focus in environmental and natural resource management has been in the following areas: Water, Energy, Natural Resource Management, and Institutional Development. America has provided assistance in these areas because of extensive experience with work in similar situations and because we were requested by our partners in development to provide this assistance.

Improved Water Management Water bodies are rarely contained within national borders. An issue upstream or on one shore of a lake in one country soon becomes an issue of another country downstream or on the lakeshore of another country. As a result, many water issues are transboundary in nature.

The number of demands for finite water resources to be used for human consumption, agricultural consumption, industrial and commercial processes, and transportation highlights the importance of this valuable natural resource. Early water activities in the region initiated by the United States involved substantial investments of equipment and supplies in addition to technical assistance and training.

The first effort in the in this area was the provision by USEPA of water treatment and laboratory equipment in Krakow, **Poland**. Other examples of such investments include improvements in the water and wastewater system in the city of L’viv and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) Danube project to reduce the contribution of pollution from tributaries to the Danube as it flowed through **Slovakia**, **Hungary**, and **Romania**.

Since the 4th Ministerial “Environment for Europe,” the United States has collaborated with country leaders, planners, policy makers, scientists, and citizens to implement a number of water activities.

In addition to the trans-boundary water issues, the U.S. has also successfully addressed activities across the region to focus on water-related needs in wastewater management, pollution prevention, monitoring, and watershed management issues. The United States has provided technical assistance and training with targeted purchases of equipment and materials.

The activities have resulted in increased public investment, improved public participation, and greater compliance with national and international water management standards. Further, successful experiences in one country of the region have proved to be applicable to other countries of the region.

**Transboundary Water Issues in the Aral Sea** USAID is actively engaged in promoting improved transboundary cooperation in the Aral Sea Basin in Central Asia. The Aral Sea Basin is shared by Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Turkmenistan, Tajikstan and Uzbekistan. The core transboundary issues in the region relate to the need to balance both energy and water resources among the five states.

The upstream states have negligible amounts of commercially exploitable fossil fuels but abundant hydropower potential, while the downstream states have considerable amounts of fossil fuels. The downstream states are totally dependent on the upstream states for water releases to meet their significant irrigation requirements. The energy/water sharing balance has been difficult to maintain since Soviet times.

USAID efforts have focused on improving the operation of the Toktogul Reservoir where a the winter energy needs of the Kyrgyz Republic, the irrigation needs of the downstream riparian countries, and the timing of environmental flows to the Aral Sea.

USAID has undertaken a combination of consensus building activities, short-duration studies, and several on-the-ground actions to encourage management of the reservoir in a manner that better meets the needs of all the participants. Transboundary water management issues are found throughout the region. The United States has acted to help address several serious situations.

To improve resource efficiency and mitigate transboundary water demands in the **Central Asian Republics**, USAID is assisting water managers and policy makers with a wide array of technical assistance, equipment upgrades, demonstration projects, training and public awareness activities.

As a result, Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Tajik water policy makers are full participants in a transboundary water and energy program, the goal of which is to achieve regional cooperation through the establishment of agreements based on international standards.

USAID and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are working with the National Hydromet Services in **Kazakhstan**, **Kyrgyzstan**, **Tajikistan**, and **Uzbekistan** to improve their capacity to collect, communicate and process water data.

Policy reform, legislation development, information management, and decision making strengthen the capacity of the countries to more accurately estimate water needs based on soil condition data, meteorological data, and crop condition. The U.S. National Weather Service has partnered with a water management institute in Tashkent to monitor the snow pack of the Himalayan Mountains and forecast river runoff to the Aral Sea.

In Uzbekistan, NOAA is assisting the meteorological service to build a demonstration model to better plan for water allocation using new technologies and procedures for snowmelt forecasting and regional data sharing.

In **Uzbekistan**, USAID supports natural resources management in the Syr Darya River, one of the two major tributaries to the Aral Sea, where managers are using a planning tool that USAID developed to make decisions on the allocation and distribution of water and energy in the region.

One of the Syr Darya’s major tributaries, the Chirchik River, has an automated management facility built with USAID assistance that has increased downstream river flow to the Aral Sea by 100-150 million cubic meters per year (three percent) and has helped reduce water wastage.

In **Kyrgyzstan**, USAID supported a water management activity to reduce the water wastage of the Pakhtaabad Canal that serves more than 20,000 hectares of irrigated land and about 100,000 farmers in **Uzbekistan** and **Kyrgyzstan**.

The Pakhtaabad Canal is anticipated to show water savings up to five percent, which will allow increases in crop production through better timing of irrigation deliveries, as well as more efficient use of water resources for agriculture, with a resulting economic value estimated at over $2 million annually.

Because of the effectiveness of the program, Uzbekistan’s Minister of Agriculture is planning to replicate the project jointly with other donors at 20 sites in 10 additional provinces. The Ministry will contribute by providing civil works similar to the Pakhtaabad Canal. USEPA is working in **Kazakhstan** through the International Center for Environmental Finance to assist local villages to better manage their water systems.

This involves work on several fronts. ICEF staff work with the village people to help them to understand that they in fact own these systems and must take responsibility for them. Once the villages have taken this step, they are provided technical assistance to repair and better manage their water systems and are eligible for micro-credit through the establishment of a financial cooperative.

The program is based on a successful model used by a Canadian NGO (International Secretariat for Water) in the Ferghana Valley in **Kyrgyzstan** and **Uzbekistan**. In **Armenia**, assistance was designed to address severe consequences of environmental degradation resulting from deteriorating water quality and quantity.

At the conclusion of the assistance, USAID will have established and strengthened key water-sector institutions, improved water quantity and quality indicators, and promoted legal and policy reforms. While in **Georgia**, USAID provided technical assistance and training to apply modern methods to watershed and resource management which facilitates watershed and river basin management concerns with **Armenia** and **Azerbaijan**.

Managing water resources within countries also is an important part of U.S. activities in the region. The United States has worked in several thematic and geographical areas. In **Macedonia**, USAID worked with a municipal water utility to help educate its customers.

Financial viability of these companies is dependent on their customers’ understanding and acceptance of scheduled tariffs and any increases. When utilities were privatized and no longer had access to central government funding, the tariffs were raised to meet their financial requirements. Payment compliance was typically very low.

USAID worked with the utility to develop a comprehensive public outreach campaign in six target cities. The campaign focused on increasing public awareness of the benefits of water tariffs in improving service quality and increasing water conservation. Although the program evaluation is not complete, the utilities did recognize a need to establish a communication office within the water utility association to address public outreach.

In **Bosnia**, USAID has addressed the high percentage of unaccounted-for-water production (approaching 60 to 70 percent of the total) in parts of the country. By assessing the causes and applying corrective measures, the activity will reduce unaccounted-for-water to 25 percent. Such an efficient and economical plan may be transferred to other areas.

Similar losses have been addressed in **Romania**, **Bulgaria** and **Kazakhstan**. Also, a recycling system was introduced into a coating and galvanization plant which reduced the demand on the neighboring city’s drinking water source while decreasing the volume of wastewater discharge from the company and reducing the potential for toxic metal ion discharges.

In **Croatia**, a public-private partnership was developed with the Rijeka Water Utility to explore with municipal managers the prospects of attracting private investment in order to finance required capital improvements. In **Romania**, USAID addressed the lack of the water utility’s capacity to control time, cost, and quality, which inhibited the development of the water and transportation infrastructure in Romania.

As a result, project preparation and project management skills in project appraisal, cost estimating, scheduling, procurement, and construction supervision in the public and private sectors for water and transport projects will be improved. Water must not only be available but also clean enough to drink. The United States has participated in a number of projects intended to help make water cleaner.

In **Bulgaria**, USAID provided technical assistance to develop a reliable, cost-effective, and low-maintenance system to address the problem of a municipality’s discharging untreated wastewater directly into a creek. One of the options to address the problem was the use of constructed wetlands for the treatment of the municipal wastewater.

In **Macedonia**, USAID has addressed wastewater treatment problems throughout the country, especially in areas that have difficulties connecting to larger wastewater treatment plants.

In a related activity, USAID expanded the use of international-standard project management concepts and techniques in the water and transport sector and developed the capacity of local institutions to provide international-standard project management training on a financially sustainable basis.

**Sava River Basin Initiative: Transboundary Cooperation** The Sava River Basin includes parts of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Slovenia and encompasses approximately 60 to 70 percent of these countries while providing more than 80 percent of their water supply. The Sava is a major sub-basin of the Danube River Basin which in turn is the largest river flowing into the Black Sea.

In the former Yugoslavia, the Sava was managed as a national river for its importance for commercial navigation, water supply, and irrigation. Since the early 1990s and the dissolution to separate countries, the environmental infrastructure has become seriously lacking, flood control systems are in disrepair, and commercial navigation is nonexistent due to poor conditions of the waterway and ports.

The Sava Basin Initiative was launched in 2001 by the Sava countries in recognition of the critical need for an international process for cooperation. With the coordination of the Stability Pact for South East Europe, the countries committed to enter into negotiations to address this need.

The United States supported negotiations by providing a Secretariat for the initiative to coordinate the process and provide legal and technical expertise, as required.

Late in 2002, the countries signed a framework agreement to create the Sava River Basin Commission to develop and execute programs to establish an international regime of navigation, to assure sustainable water management, and to implement measures to prevent or limit hazards of flood, drought, ice and accidental spills of hazardous substances.

In **Russia**, USAID provided technical assistance to address the goal of reducing or eliminating water quality and wastewater problems at food processing facilities, thereby reducing production costs and improving operating efficiency. In another activity, USAID produced a technical and economic assessment with recommendations to improve water management of a mining operation.

The activity resulted in an improvement of the groundwater and surface water controls of the mine. The efforts of the United States have resulted in more efficient and effective use of water between countries, cleaner and more abundant water for drinking, and a better understanding of its value.

Our continued approach to working in this area is to identify those partners who are willing to take the steps necessary to meet their challenges. We consistently attempt to identify market-based solutions that will lead to equitable distribution of this crucial resource. **Leveraging Environmental Projects** ** **U.S. projects strive to maximize impact by identifying opportunities to leverage their investments.

Examples include: **Poland Rural Environmental Protection Project**—USEPA worked with the Government of Poland on this project. This project assisted more than 1,000 farmers to make environmental investments and allowed the development of nutrient management plans for 20,000 hectares. They were able to leverage a $2.

5 million World Bank loan by combining additional funds from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Nordic Environmental Finance Corporation, the Polish EkoFund, and local government contributions to a total of $16 million. The World Bank has adapted the model for similar activities in eight other countries, mostly in the Black Sea Region.

**Romanian Ministry of Waters and Environmental Protection (MoWEP) DESWAT Project**—USAID’s EcoLinks Program also closely focuses on leverage. Early in 2003, the Romanian government approved a sovereign guarantee for a U.S. Export/Import Bank loan of $45,000,000 to implement the Integrated Decisional Informational System for Waters Emergencies (DESWAT) project, part of a national strategy for water disaster mitigation and management.

EcoLinks’ staff in Bucharest identified partners and funding for the project. The initial feasibility study was funded through a USAID grant, a contribution from the Romanian government and other USG resources. With the announcement of the sovereign guarantee for the loan, MoWEP is set to begin project implementation.

**Financing Rural Tourism**—The USAID Bulgaria Biodiversity Conservation and Economic Growth Project does not provide loans or grants to the national parks and communities with which it works. Instead, it focuses on assisting parks to prepare business ideas for commercial support and/or grant proposals from other sources in order to leverage investment and build local capacity.

Assisted by other USAID partners, business plans are developed and reviewed with an eye towards commercial lending institutions. Commercial loans and grants have been secured as a result. Increased Energy Efficiency E arly U.S. energy activities in the region focused on improving air quality near power plants, within municipalities and near major processing plants.

USEPA worked in cooperation with their counterparts in Krakow, **Poland** to establish an air quality network in Krakow which allowed local authorities to track air quality. The typical assistance was in the form of equipment purchases and technical assistance. Another example of such energy activities to improve air quality includes the re-fitting of family ceramic stoves to natural gas in the Old City of Krakow, **Poland**.

Since the 4th Ministerial “Environment for Europe,” U.S. assistance activities in the energy sector primarily have promoted grants or commercial lending by International Financial Institutions (IFIs) for bankable energy efficiency projects in Southeast Europe, with emphasis on the municipal/public sector. Additional activities beyond Southeast Europe also have been implemented.

Municipal energy efficiency investments are important elements in stimulating the region’s economic growth and in winning public acceptance for market reforms. Energy efficiency investments are one of the few infrastructure projects that can pay for themselves via the resulting savings on energy costs in facilities.

These investments allow municipalities to devote more financial resources to improve the quality of essential public services. Lowering energy costs also reduces the pressure to provide subsidies. Significant social transition and environmental benefits can be achieved.

The United States has worked in several energy programmatic areas. USAID has focused on energy efficiency and the energy regulatory environment; USEPA has focused on air pollution control, greenhouse gas minimization, and energy efficiency; and DOE has focused on nuclear issues, primarily at Chernobyl and in the removal and disposal of spent fuel rods from the region.

The USAID energy program in Southeastern Europe is composed of three elements, which are briefly discussed below. **The Balkan Energy Efficiency Initiative**: USAID provides technical assistance to prepare business plans for municipal energy efficiency investment projects in Southeast Europe to leverage commercial or IFI lending. The activity is focusing initially on **Romania**, **Bulgaria**, **Macedonia**, and **Croatia**.

In addition, in USAID has funded demonstration projects and a public information program in five cities in Serbia and is supporting the preparation of a World Bank energy efficiency loan. **The Regional Development Credit Authority (DCA):** USAID is developing a regional Development Credit Authority (DCA) facility for Southeast Europe. The DCA facility will provide partial guarantees to private lenders from a $15 million portfolio.

The borrowers would be municipalities and/or private energy service companies. Initial countries targeted are **Romania**, **Bulgaria**, and **Croatia**. This program grows out of a very successful program in Bulgaria.

**The Municipal Network for Energy Efficiency (MUNEE):** MUNEE is a regional network to strengthen the environment for implementing energy efficiency activities at the local level and to overcome the barriers to expanded private and commercial investment. MUNEE partners with NGOs in the region.

In Southeast Europe, a related sub-regional network known as the Regional Network for Efficient Use of Energy and Water Resources (RENEUER) is being developed to link municipalities and other organizations in **Romania**, **Bulgaria**, **Macedonia**, **Albania**, **Croatia**, **Bosnia**, **Serbia**, and **Moldova**.

The goal of MUNEE and RENEUR is to design and implement innovative energy efficiency policies and identify barriers to their successful adoption. The networks also strengthen the capacity of regional and municipal stakeholders to develop and attract financing for energy efficiency projects throughout the region. In addition to the Southeastern Europe energy efficiency program, USAID also supports a number of country-specific activities.

These are chosen on the basis of country need as well as potential of transferring the results to other countries in the region.

In **Albania**, USAID addresses the physical and financial deterioration of the electricity sector and need to achieve a balance between supply and demand by assisting the GOA to transform the electrical sector into an efficient system and enable Albania to participate effectively in the regional electricity grid.

In **Moldova**, USAID provided technical assistance to work with municipalities and institutions to enhance energy efficiency policy formation for district heating, assist in the development of effective and sustainable energy efficiency programs and projects at the municipal level, and advise district heating companies on means of accessing and attracting international funds.

In **Romania**, USAID assisted the national gas regulatory agency in establishing the rules of a liberalized, competitive natural gas market, which led to the quality of service, safety and environmental protection desired. Also, a grant addressed the environmental problems caused by the wood processing operations of the region, mainly their waste production.

The findings of the grant identified that one possibility of addressing the waste generated at these facilities was to install a biomass energy system.

In **Ukraine**, a number of activities address energy and energy efficiency including the use of wood wastes for fuel for boiler stations, biogas production from processing sewage at a sewage treatment plan to meet the plant’s energy needs, development of a program at natural gas facilities to reduce methane leakages at compressor stations and pipelines, and the use of wood residues created at a woodworking plant to generate heat.

USEPA has been working in the region in energy issues since the early 1990s. Recent efforts include activities aimed at assisting countries to reduce the air pollution resulting from energy generation. The major focus of these efforts has included technical assistance, training, and selected purchases of equipment.

USEPA projects in EECCA continue to reduce and avoid emissions of the six greenhouse gases (GHGs), especially carbon dioxide (CO 2) and methane, and to increase carbon sequestration (forest sinks, etc.) through improved resource management.

Since 1992, USEPA project partners in the Former Soviet Union have reduced or avoided at least 3 million metric tons of CO 2 emissions, and are now reducing or avoiding more than 1 million tons annually, primarily in the heat-and-power and construction sectors.

USEPA has established coal mine methane (CMM) centers in **Russia** and **Ukraine**, with the objective of providing the information and analysis needed to stimulate investment in CMM utilization. **Kazakhstan** also has established a methane center, with its own funding.

In 2002, the Global Environment Facility, UNDP, Russian government, and USEPA contributed to an $11 million financing package for the first CMM utilization projects in the Kuzbass. The two to three CMM utilization projects expected in this region will improve mine safety, increase mine profitability, and significantly decrease methane emissions into the atmosphere.

In 2002, USEPA began a multi-year initiative to reduce particulate emissions in EECCA through the transfer of modern tools and techniques for optimizing the performance of electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) at EECCA power plants and industrial facilities.

ESPs are the predominant form of air pollution control in the region, and low-cost upgrades using advanced ESP diagnostics hold the potential for large reductions in smokestack emissions. Early activities focused on the All-Russian Thermal Power Institute in Moscow. The program is being expanded to **Ukraine**, **Caucasus**, and **Central Asia** in 2003.

By the end of 2002, 33 **Russian** regions had adopted and were implementing energy-efficient building codes. Annual avoidance of greenhouse gas emissions under this project is now about 1 million tons. A cumulative total of more than 50 million tons avoided is expected over the next ten years.

The cost savings to the Russian economy was $28-30 million, and is expected to be $1. 5 billion over the next ten years. This project will very likely extend to new regions and increase the percentage of all construction covered by the new codes from 70 percent to 75 percent.

USEPA activities in **Russia** have helped to reduce pollutant emissions by several hundred thousand tons per year. These reductions are expected to increase in 2003 and beyond. The principal air pollutants addressed, primarily through the introduction of low-cost technologies, are particulates, carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and sulfur dioxide and other acid gases.

The United States also has played a significant role in the nuclear industry in the region. The Department of Energy has assisted with cleanup activities consequent to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and also with the removal of spent fuel rods from several countries in the region.

In **Ukraine**, DOE has completed its efforts related to cooperative activities to develop designs to correct structural problems and to improve worker safety in the Chernobyl plant’s concrete shelter. Also, as part of this latter effort, DOE purchased a variety of equipment such as dosimetry equipment, dose-tracking software, portable survey instruments, radiation protection clothing, and respirators.

Radiation protection technicians also received expert mentoring and standards-based training. Nuclear criticality monitoring was improved by installing modern neutron detection equipment inside the shelter. The Government of **Ukraine** requested the United States to provide technical assistance in the area of nuclear fuel diversification—specifically to help establish a competitive, open nuclear fuel market for the country.

DOE responded to this request by supporting the efforts of a U.S. nuclear fuel vendor to design, build, and install its fuel in a Ukrainian nuclear reactor. The installation of this nuclear fuel will demonstrate that the U.S. fuel design can be used alongside the Russian fuel assemblies currently installed.

Also, the transfer of this nuclear fuel technology to a Ukrainian technical center will establish within **Ukraine** the technical capability to perform nuclear fuel analysis and licensing expertise to permit them to independently assess nuclear fuel designs to be used at Ukrainian nuclear plants.

**Ukraine** will receive technology in the areas of nuclear fuel design, reactor core design, fuel and core licensing, and fuel and component fabrication. The result of this project will provide **Ukraine** a qualified alternate U.S. fuel vendor, thus allowing the country’s nuclear industry to diversify and better secure its energy supply.

Also, **Ukraine** will have an in-country expertise on nuclear fuel design reactor core design, fuel and core licensing, and fuel and component fabrication for all of its current and future nuclear reactors. The use of the U.S. technology will result in safer fuel less likely to cause the types of problems seen at Chernobyl. DOE also has played a role in the removal of spent nuclear fuel from several countries including **Kazakhstan**.

The removal of this spent fuel has reduced two serious problems. First, removing these fuel rods from the countries has effectively removed the rods from potential misuse. Second, removal of the rods also helps to minimize the potential for environmental damage caused by their storage.

The United States efforts in these areas have resulted in a more effective regulatory regime for energy production and sale, more efficient energy generation, and less air pollution resulting from smoke stack emissions. Activities in the nuclear area have reduced threats to the region from spent uranium fuel and the Chernobyl disaster. U.S. efforts will continue in these areas into the future.

Improved Management of Natural Resources T he transition from a centrally planned economic system to a market-driven economic system has resulted in new natural resource management requirements with renewed emphasis on nature conservation and the importance of biodiversity. Early assistance to the region proved the importance of region-specific answers to regional issues.

Since the 4th Ministerial “Environment for Europe,” the United States has focused on the management of forest resources, eco-tourism activities as a part of sustainable management of forests, and national park management. The major focus has been in technical assistance and training, resulting in increased public investment, improved public participation, and sustained maintenance of the natural resource base.

Natural resource management, nature conservation, and biodiversity issues are primarily addressed through national programs. However, transboundary activities have also been implemented, where possible. In **Albania**, USAID has helped to transfer state-owned forests to local government units as a part of a program to strengthen community decision making and alleviate