234 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
234 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
For Love and Freedom on Clean Mother-Earth!
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_______________________________________________________________
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!!!!! !!!!! !!!!! !!! !!!!! !!!!! !!!!! ! ! !!!!! !!!!! !
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! !
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!!! ! ! ! ! ! !!! !!! !!! ! ! ! !!!!! !!! !
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! !
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!!!!! !!!!! !!!!! !!!!! !!!!! ! !!!!! ! ! !!!!! !!!!! !
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_______________________________________________________________
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"ECODEFENSE!inform" environmental inform-bulletin * number 31 *
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_______________________________________________________________
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...............................................* OCTOBER 1994 *
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_______________________________________________________________
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"ECODEFENSE!"
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Moskovsky prospekt 120-34
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236006 Kaliningrad/Koenigsberg
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Russia
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telephone +7 0112 437286
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E-mail: ecodefense@glas.apc.org
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_______________________________________________________________
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BALTIC SEA REGION ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS BULLETIN
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_______________________________________________________________
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CONTENT
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Attention
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THE REMNANS OF NATURAL FORESTS IN FINLAND ARE IN DANGER!
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SAVE ALL REMAINING OLD-GROWTH FORESTS
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Book
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BIESZCZADY MOUNTAIN GUIDE BOOK
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Politic
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POLAND COUNTS ON GERMAN SUPPORT FOR HER ENTRY TO EU AND
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NATO
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Agriculture
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POLAND'S CONSERVATIVE AGRICULTURE
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_______________________________________________________________
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ACTION ALERT! URGENT! URGENT! URGENT! A REQUEST FOR HELP!
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_______________________________________________________________
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THE REMNANTS OF NATURAL FORESTS IN FINLAND ARE IN DANGER!
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A programme for the conservation of the last old-growth
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forests is under construction in Finland. This programme needs
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international support from organizations and activists all
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over the world. Especially in those countries which import the
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bulk of our forestry products: Germany, England, France,
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Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, Italy, Sweden, Belgium and United
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States among others. The following days are critical. Without
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this programme these forests will vanish totally during the
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next 5-10 years. National board of forestry tries to minimize
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all protection zones.
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Please, send a fax to our Goverment as soon as possible!
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Now!!! Spread the word to other activists, mailing lists,
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newsgroups and NGOs! Act in 24 hours from the moment you read
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this.
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The fax number for the Finnish Government is +358-0-160 2099.
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(That is int. code+three-five-eight-zero-one-six-zero-two-zero
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-nine-nine.) You can use the following text or make your own.
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Add your personal / national point of view regarding this
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issue!
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===============================================================
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To the Government of Finland
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SAVE ALL REMAINING OLD-GROWTH FORESTS!
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The overall forest protection situation in Finland is far from
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sufficient. Only 2.1% of forest land is under any kind of
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legal protection. In the southern part of Finland the
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percentage is even smaller. The proposed Conservation
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Programme for Old-Growth Forests on state-owned lands in
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southern part of Finland will at its best raise this figure
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from 0.38 to only 0.53% in the Programme area
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Even this minimal proposal faces a danger of rejection. The
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Programme must be immediately implemented at least in its
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proposed coverage
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Many natural forests were left out purely for political
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reasons. They have to become included in the Programme.There
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are also large areas which haven't been sufficiently surveyed.
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The ecological importance of forests in these areas must be
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throughoutly examined before any forestry activities are put
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into practice. The Programme area must be extended much
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further up north as well.
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The Government of Finland has to ensure that sufficient
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finance is allocated to the protection of private-owned old-
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growth forests. A programme covering these lands must be
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formulated immediately. Short sighted cuttings in money used
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for buying nature protection areas can not be explained by
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depression. Finland has as one of the signatories of the
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Rio-treaty on biodiversity an obligation to conserve the
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biodiversity within its borders as well as elsewhere.
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Signature and organisation
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---------------------------------------------------------------
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P.S. Please, let us know when and how you have done your part
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for this request, e-mail to us or send a fax. We'll provide
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further information.
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Jarmo Pyykko and Matti Ikonen Finnish Forest Action
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Let the Forests Live!
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Fax: +358-0-131 14 216 Tel: +358-0-131 14 220
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E-mail: Matti.Ikonen@hut.fi
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_______________________________________________________________
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BIESZCZADY MOUNTAIN QUIDE BOOK
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KROSNO, oct. 17: a guide book to the Bieszczady mountains
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for americans written by two u.s. citizens, Kirk Henwood and
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Joe Boglino, will come out still this year.
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The Bieszczady mountains, the most remote region of this
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country, are situated in south-eastern poland. The fauna of
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the region includes bison bonasus (aurochs), brown bear,
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wildcat, lynx, wild boar and deer. The national park was
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established there in 1973 to preserve the wildlife of the
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Bieszczady mountains. Shepherding, forestry and tourism are of
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importance in the region.
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Henwood and Boglino, volunteers of the peace corpse, have
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been staying in poland for a few years. Numerous visits paid
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to the Bieszczdy mountains made them write the guide book to
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present the region to foreign tourists.
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PAP
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_______________________________________________________________
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POLAND COUNTS ON GERMAN SUPPORT FOR HER ENTRY TO EU AND NATO
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Warsaw, oct. 17: following the victory of the coalition
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of chancellor Helmut Kohl in the german elections, Poland is
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eager to continue polish-german cooperation and to receive
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further german support for membership of the European Union
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and NATO, reads a communique forwarded by the polish foreign
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ministry to PAP on monday.
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The victory of the coalition of Helmut Kohl means that at
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a moment of great significance for both europe and the world,
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german will continue to be lead by the same team. "We trust
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that this team will continue and further develop the
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partnership and the mutually beneficial cooperation between
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our countries. We are counting on the further active support
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of germany for our efforts to enter into the structures of the
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European Union and NATO," reads the communique.
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The foreign ministry also expressed the conviction that
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"in matters so important for both countries and also for
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european unification there will be a consensus among the
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ruling coalition and the opposition groupings which have
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arisen in result of the elections."
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PAP
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_______________________________________________________________
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POLAND'S CONSERVATIVE AGRICULTURE
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by Piotr Andrzejewski
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" Poland must not stand still while the world moves ahead. If
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it does, it will be pushed to the margin of civilisation.
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The prosperity of Polish farmers will be determined by their
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competitions, French, Danish or German, not by bureaucrats. It
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is the competitors our farmers will have to stand up to",
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warned president Lech Walesa during the harvest celebration
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ceremony in Czestochowa. The president's statement cannot be
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accepted without reservations. The competitors are not missing
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their chance, no doubt, but whether our agriculture can
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withstand their onslaught depends largely on "bureaucratic
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decisions" otherwise known as the agricultural policy.
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It would be naive to expect that the pace of structural
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changes in our agriculture will be comparable to the pace at
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which the EC countries restructured their agricultural
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sectors. The pattern of the Polish agriculture is
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fundamentally different from those of highly industrialised
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West European economies [...]. Farms with less that 10 hectare
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holdings account for 57% of the farmland held by private
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owners, against Denmark's 18%, France's 30% and Germany's 47%.
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Agriculture accounts for more than 25% of the national
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employment in Poland, several times more than in Denmark
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(5.3%), France (6.7%) or Germany (3.3%). Our agriculture is
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overpopulated, with pronounced regional differences in
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by-farm-size patterns. In 15 western and northern voivodships,
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over 50% of farmland is held by large farms created from the
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former PGR state-owned farming enterprises. Overpopulation and
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hidden unemployment, far from being the disease of peasant
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farms alone, are also troubling state-owned farms. Now that
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former PGR enterprises are reducing employment under reform
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schemes, farming is incapable of absorbing in full the supply
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of rural labour which is several times higher than in the
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European Union countries. In fact, over-employment was an
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important cause of large state-owned farms' dismal profit
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performance and of their collapse in the wake of the
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de-regulation of the agricultural sector and the withdrawal of
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budget subsidies.
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Poland's grain yield per hectare is between 28 and 30 quintals
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[100 kg], against France's 60 quintals and Germany's 50
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quintals. Low labour productivity on most Polish farms means
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low incomes. It is estimated that about 1.5 million farms (70%
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of the entire farm population) generate
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unemployment-benefit-level incomes.
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The state-owned and cooperative farms are not better off. In
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1992, only 30% of the PGR enterprises could afford to proceed
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with their usual business without major jolts. Last year,
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nearly all public-sector farms reported losses. Cooperative
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farms are also in severely strained circumstances,
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particularly those which have not branched out into non-farm
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business.
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"Report on Agriculture", a document released early this year,
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estimates than only 30% of the Polish farms have adequate
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production potentials to adjust to market economy requirements
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and that simple replacement of assets is the best the majority
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can attempt to achieve. Only one-third of the farms, the
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strongest ones, have expanded their production potentials. The
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overall condition of the national economy doesn't offer
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farmers opportunities for moving into non-farm jobs, or
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migrating to towns.
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The farming sector's 1993 indebtedness stood at Zl 21
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trillion, of which private farmers' debts added up to Zl 9.5
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trillion. Interests arrears totalled Zl 400 billion.
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This year agriculture will receive Zl 60 trillion of budget
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money, nearly 10% of the total budget expenditure. Subsidies
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to low-interest farming loans and loan-servicing institutions
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(including the Agricultural Market Agency whose performance
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has aroused much contro versy and the Agency for Restructuring
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and Modernisation of Agriculture) exceed Zl 5 trillion.
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(to be concluded in next issue)
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_______________________________________________________________
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***************************************************************
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ECODEFENSE!inform bulletins get more than 150 env.NGOs of EARTH
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***************************************************************
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Editorial Board thanks for financial help from "Sowing the
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Seeds of Democracy: A project for Environmental Grant-Making
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in tha NIS" program, which realize by ISAR.
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***************************************************************
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The reprint are welcome (with the reference, if possible).
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***************************************************************
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Editorial Board: Alexandra Koroleva, Vladimir Sliviak
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***************************************************************
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