We wish you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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Following several months of concerted campaigning from environmental groups - including the Panda Passport campaign of WWF which was closed early November - and today's recommendations from the Bern Convention Standing Committee in Strasbourg, Polish authorities will be required to complete a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) before deciding on a route for the controversial Via Baltica expressway, also affecting PAN Parks Candidate Biebrza.

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Pre-verification visit to Küre Mountains and Dilek Peninsula National Parks shows strong Turkish commitment to PAN Parks. Conservation Manager Vlado Vancura visited Turkey between 15-21 November with the goal to explore PAN Parks potential and kick off the PAN Parks verification process in the country.

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In its first annual monitoring visit, Bieszczady shows that it is living up to the PAN Park title. Rachel Wieting, monitoring verifier visited the area in November 2003 with the main purpose to check progress on the requests and recommendations made by verifiers in 2002 when Bieszczady was certified as a PAN Park.

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WWF is outraged that the Polish forest authorities have begun to illegally cut down hundred year-old trees in Bialowieza, Europe's best preserved virgin forest. WWF refutes Poland's claim these logging operations are carried out to demarcate the future EU border with Belarus.

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PAN Parks representatives, Vladivoj Vancura and Zoltán Kun visited Europarc Federation in November to initiate discussion of cooperation between PAN Parks and the Federation. Both sides feel it is time to re-shape their common strategy and work together for conservation initiatives throughout Europe.

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The PAN Parks monitoring team reports positive outcomes from its recent visit to Oulanka National Park for the annual monitoring of the park.
The monitoring team, including verifier Gordon Miller and local expert Harri Karjalainen, visited Oulanka in October to monitor the parks progress in fulfilling verification requirements. Monitoring against Principles and Criteria 1-3 is done yearly in every certified PAN Park. The team found that Oulanka has done a lot in the past year to meet PAN Parks verifiers' requirements, and there are many positive outcomes to report.

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by Emily Hobbs*

After the tumultuous 1990s, Bulgaria is working hard to bring tourists back to its once-popular holiday attractions. Central Balkan National Park is one place awaiting rediscovery - and one where visitors can contribute to the protection of natural and cultural splendours.

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European scientists have highlighted the urgent need to preserve the last old growth forests on the continent. The Scientists' Call: for the protection of forests in Europe, by WWF European Forest Programme, illustrates the need for support from the EU to assist Accession countries to protect their natural forests. They also call for a European Protected Area Fund to provide long-term financial support to protected areas.

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Europe's Wilderness Days, held in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, October 4-9, reports many positive outcomes for conservation initiatives in Europe. The conference was attended by 80 people from all over Europe, as well as from Japan, Mongolia, the US and Canada, and was a successful forum for discussion and introduction of new ideas for the PAN Parks Foundation.

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