STA, 20 January 2022 - The Slovenian lynx population appears to have come back from the brink of extinction and is now thriving thanks to animals that had been relocated from Romania and Slovakia to expand the heavily inbred population's gene pool.

There were at least 24 adult lynxes in the Dinaric part of Slovenia in 2020/2021, and an additional five in the Alps, where the animals were reintroduced last year, shows the latest report by Life Lynx, an EU-backed project.

Together with the animals in neighbouring Croatia, the border-spanning population now numbers 100 adults.

As part of the Life Lynx project, 13 animals have been relocated, four to Croatia and nine to Slovenia. Four more animals will be introduced this year.

All the relocated lynxes are GPS-collared so that researchers can monitor their movement.

Rok Černe, the head of the Life Lynx project, said four of the relocated lynxes had become an established part of the population, while three have not been sighted for a long time.

Researchers confirmed five litters of lynx kittens in Slovenia in 2020/2021.

Inbreeding is the biggest threat to the population and researchers are keeping a close eye on the genetics.

Analyses conducted so far indicate that the relocation of the wild cats has stopped the deterioration of the gene pool.

If the relocated animals continue to reproduce, the degree of inbreeding could soon drop to levels not seen since 1980, according to Biotechnical Faculty researcher Tomaž Skrbinšek.

The lynx population on the territory of present-day Slovenia was brought to extinction at the beginning of the 20th century, with hunters starting to think about repopulating the area with the species at the beginning of the 1970s.

In 1973, six lynxes were released in the woods near Kočevje in the south. The population rebounded in the subsequent years but became heavily inbred, hence the need for relocations from the Carpathian Mountains.

STA, 4 October 2021 - The first monitoring of wild bees in 2021 did not yield encouraging results, with the bumblebees count dropping five-fold compared to last year. "This is bad news for both agriculture and nature, as bumblebees are among the most important pollinators," the National Institute of Biology (NIB) said on Monday.

The most likely explanation for the decline was the exceptionally bad spring weather, said NIB, pointing out that research on pollinators in orchards showed that bumblebee numbers in spring, when fruit trees were flowering, were similar to previous years.

This means that the queen bumblebees overwintered successfully, but probably due to bad weather, frost and prolonged rain, they did not get enough food to nest successfully.

An additional problem in the decline of bumblebees is that their role as pollinators is particularly important in bad weather, as they are "known to pollinate even in the rain, cold and wind".

NIB said that bees have also faced similar problems, but they could survive adverse conditions more easily, thanks to the help of beekeepers.

"While fluctuations in animal populations, including bumblebees, are normal in nature, such a large decline in one year is worrying".

"Climate change, or weather extremes such as early springs followed by frosts and prolonged summer droughts, are destroying pollinators' food resources," the researchers warned.

In addition to the Carniolan honeybee, Slovenia is also home to over 500 species of wild bees, while other wild pollinators include flies, butterflies, some beetles and wasps.

According to NIB, the role of wild pollinators is very important in nature, while they also contribute significantly to pollination in agriculture, the value of which is estimated at EUR 120 million a year.

The monitoring of wild bees is a three-year pilot project that started last year and is being carried out at a total of 50 sampling sites across Slovenia.

The project is led by NIB, organised in cooperation with Slovenia's Natural History Museum and the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. The funding is provided by the Slovenian Research Agency, the Environment Ministry and the Ministry of Agriculture.

STA, 17 September 2021 - Cerknica Lake (Cerkniško jezero) is Slovenia's largest natural lake when full, but this September the intermittent lake is completely dry for the first time in 18 years. It will take a lot of rain to fill it up again.

"Official measurements show we have had about 30% of the normal amount of rain for this time of year by today," Dejvid Tratnik of the Notranjsko Regional Park said on Thursday before rain clouds made their way into the country.

While there should be at least some of the lake visible at this time of year, the water level has dropped to as low as 22 metres below the ground level, one of the lowest watermarks ever since cavers have been doing official measurements.

"You can imagine how much rain it will take for the water level to rise at least to the bottom of the lake," said Tratnik.

The drought threatens the animal species living in and near the lake, so every time when the lake is dry fishermen are rescuing fish, crabs, amphibians and the offspring of grebes who are not yet capable of flying away.

Due to attempts in the past to dry it out, the lake eventually started going out several times a year. As a result of human activity, the flora and fauna species typical for the area started disappearing.

The populations of native fish species such as pikes are shrinking by the year. To restore their living environment, efforts are under way to re-establish the dynamics of seasonal variations in the lake as it was 200 years ago.

One such was renaturating the Stržen stream, a process that was successfully completed at the end of August.

"We filled up a canal that was dug up 90 years ago and restored natural pathways of water so as to keep water in the lake for at least some time and provide extra water for fish and other aquatic life," said Tratnik.

STA, 15 September 2021 - UNESCO, the United Nations educational scientific and cultural organisation, has formally declared a biosphere reserve spanning the Mura, Drava and Danube rivers, the first five-country biosphere in the world.

The area, spanning 900,000 hectares along the three rivers, has thus become the largest protected riparian reserve in Europe.

The nomination was jointly submitted by Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia and Slovenia in late-2019 and UNESCO formally endorsed it at Wednesday's meeting in Abuja, Nigeria.

The lower sections of the three rivers and their flood plains form one of the most bio-diverse natural environments in Europe.

The river flow constantly creates new habitats for numerous endangered animal and plant species, including more than 300 bird species. Many fish species, such as sterlet and huchen or Danube salmon, use the 700km-long river network to migrate.

Due to its size and potential, the biosphere reserve is "the first example of the protection of our unique natural areas in conjunction with the development of sustainable business practices," said WWF Adria, an environmental NGO.

Learn more about the biosphere here

STA, 7 September 2021 - The latest in a series of blood lead tests in three-year-olds living near the shuttered lead and zinc mine in Mežica has shown that blood lead values in children have increased on average compared to last year, however the situation has nevertheless improved in the past three years. The level of concern has been exceeded in 6% of the children.

The National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) continues to conduct these annual screenings as part of a programme aimed at rehabilitating the environment in the heavily polluted Upper Mežica Valley.

In the spring, the local unit of the institute called on 129 candidates from the Mežica and Črna na Koroškem municipalities to participate in the study. A total of 81 blood samples were collected and 66 passed muster for testing.

The elevated risk threshold, set at 100 microgrammes per litre of blood, was exceeded in four children or 6.1% of the total.

This is somewhat higher than in the past two years and is slightly above the target of the 15-year environmental remediation programme, which is defined as less than 5% of the children exceeding the elevated risk threshold by 2022.

All the participants with blood values above the level of concern this year come from the Črna na Koroškem municipality. The highest value recorded was 163 microgrammes per litre of blood.

On the other hand, 61% of the children had levels below 50 microgrammes. On average, higher levels were found in boys than girls and in children from the Črna na Koroškem municipality, which is on par with the average values of previous years, the NIJZ said on Tuesday.

High lead levels were also found in some children who were included in this year's screening due to their parents' wishes even though they are not aged three. These high values are linked to living in the most afflicted area or to occupational exposure of the children's parents.

"In the past three years, the results have been much better than in the 2016-2018 period," said the NIJZ, noting that the programme's target of less than 5% was near.

STA, 20 August 2021 - The government has confirmed a plan for a major new water source for the water-starved Istria region on the coast, a decision that has been welcomed by municipalities in the region but decried by local environmentalists as damaging for the environment.

The EUR 134 million project, confirmed by the government earlier this week, involves building a reservoir on Suhorca stream, and a smaller reservoir on the Padež, a larger stream of which Suhorca is a tributary.

The reservoir would supply water to three existing water supply systems in the region, which is typically very dry because of the karst terrain and, more recently, climate change.

The decision came after almost two years of public debates on the need for a new water source prompted by a train accident in mid-2019 during which a kerosene leak threatened to pollute water supplies for much of the region.

The plan was chosen over an alternative proposal to link up the three existing but separate water supply systems in the region, which would have reduced supply disruptions but would not have increased the overall volume of available water.

The coastal municipalities Ankaran, Izola, Koper and Piran have welcomed the government decision as a major step towards improving the reliability of supply.

In a joint statement issued on Friday, they said the decision was "not only a step towards sorting out water supply in Istria but also the start of resolution of one of the key national security issues."

Locals living in villages in Brkini, a hilly part of Istria where the streams will be dammed, have long opposed the project on environmental grounds and insist the project is hugely damaging.

They say untouched nature will be irreversibly damaged and the altered water regime will pose a risk to the Škocjan Caves, a UNESCO-listed natural wonder.

The government and the Environment Ministry "have clearly shown they don't care if unspoilt nature is irreversibly degraded, habitats and ecosystems destroyed, and the UNESCO status of global natural and cultural heritage lost," Mario Benkoč of the civil initiative Let's Preserve Brkini told the STA.

Brkini locals advocate the link-up of the existing water supply systems and urge the government to abandon the project immediately. A protest is planned in Suhorca Valley on Saturday.

Sale of Most Single-Use Plastics Now Banned in Slovenia, Large Fines for Offenders

STA, 19 August 2021 - The government has banned the sale of single-use plastic products bar a few exceptions. The relevant regulation, endorsed at Wednesday's correspondence session, also prescribes the labelling of certain single-use plastic items and their packaging to raise awareness about recycling.

Products to be banned under the regulation include plastic cutlery, plates and straws as well as ear swabs, except for those used as medical equipment. Also banned are plastic stir sticks and balloon sticks with the exception of those intended for industrial use and not for customers.

The regulation, transposing an EU regulation, also bans expanded polystyrene food and drink packaging and items made of oxo-degradable plastics.

Moreover, it sets out new rules for labelling of some single-use plastic products and their packaging to inform consumers on how to handle waste from such products.

The items that should be labelled include pads, tampons and applicators, wet wipes, tobacco products with filters, filters marketed in combination with tobacco products, and cups.

The ban will take effect fifteen days after the regulation is published in the Official Gazette.

Fines for non-compliance will range up to EUR 15,000 for legal entities, up to EUR 5,000 for sole proprietors and up to EUR 3,000 for the executive or proprietor in charge.

STA, 13 August 2021 - As many as 130 brown bears were culled in Slovenia this year until 11 August, of which 121 were hunted on the basis of the Environment Agency's permits and nine were found dead, the Environment Ministry told the STA on Friday, four days after a brown bear attacked a local while he was jogging near the town of Pivka, SW.

Monday's attack was examined by Slovenia Forest Service experts, who established that the 30-year-old must have surprised the she-bear, which had no other way to escape than in his direction.

The bear attacked him, he fought back, which made the bear retreat but she returned and attacked again. The man sustained injuries on his head, neck and arms, and broke his wrist while fighting the bear. He was then taken to hospital, but his injuries were not life-threatening, the victim's father told the press this week.

After inspecting the site of the attack, the Forest Service did not issue an opinion on culling, so the Environment Agency has not issued a culling permit.

The Environment Ministry said that the country's brown bear population "is favourable with an improving trend".

The 2020-2023 brown bear management guidelines say that the country's 2020 bear population in spring, which is the highest within a year, is 990, while its actual number is probably between 860 and 1,120.

Brown bear can present a physical threat to people, but attacks are relatively rare. Forest Service data shows there are an average two attacks annually.

However, there are several "make believe" attacks when a bear chases a person only to scare them, but then stops, it does not attack, Peter Krma from Forest Service has told the newspaper Primorske Novice.

This week's was the first reported bear attack on a human in Slovenia after May 2020, when a 56-year-old man stumbled upon a bear in the woods near Škofljica, just south of Ljubljana.

STA, 27 July 2021 - While the number of white stork pairs has been constant or increasing throughout Slovenia in recent years, it has been steadily decreasing in the north-eastern region of Prekmurje, which is the typical stork habitat in Slovenia.

Around 200 pairs nested in Slovenia in 1999, while last year there were 259, said Damijan Denac, the director of the Bird Watching and Bird Study Society of Slovenia.

The society, which has been monitoring the number of white stork pairs in the country since 1999, notes that this species has started to colonise areas where it had not traditionally nested before.

Denac explained that the stork population has increased in the area between Grosuplje and Novo Mesto, where no storks nested in 1999, while there are about 20 pairs today, as well as in Bela Krajina, the Ljubljana Marshes and the plains around Krško.

Storks also nest in other locations. "It is important to note, however, that the white stork is slowly but steadily disappearing from its traditional breeding area, Prekmurje," Denac said.

He believes that the reasons lie in environmental changes, especially food sources. Stork feed on insects, small mammals and amphibians, which are most often found in meadows. However, as intensive farming in Prekmurje has left very few meadows, there is not enough food left for storks.

"It is worrying that the consequences are being felt in a species that is not even a great ecological specialist, as the stork has a fairly wide range of prey. This means that the general state of biodiversity in the area is very poor."

The white stork is a long-lived species; it lives for up to 20 or 25 years and returns to the same nest every year. Unlike their parents, the young do not return to the nest where they were hatched, but settle elsewhere, including in other countries.

In the last few years, the society has been conducting research in which 10 young white storks have been fitted with tracking devices. They have found that the storks migrate quite actively until sexual maturity. For example, one of them migrated from Sudan to Turkey and back to Egypt.

STA, 11 July 2021 - The rejection of the new waters act is a vote of no confidence in the government by the people, who have succeeded in doing what the opposition had failed to do in parliament, according to political analyst Andraž Zorko, who sees the high turnout as an indicator of topics that may feature prominently in future elections.

Voters Strongly Reject Water Development Act in Referendum

Zorko, an analyst for the pollster Valicon and host of a political podcast, noted that over 635,000 people voted against, which is half the number of all voters who cast their votes in the 2018 general election.

"This is yet another very tangible sign what would happen today if this were an election day," he told the STA. "This means that this government de facto no longer has legitimacy".

He said another milestone judging from testimony from polling stations is turnout by youths, which indicates that politics in general, not just this government, will have to change its approach to legislation.

In general, environmental issues are what activates youths. "It is more than obvious that interest among youths is significantly higher because they realise this is about the world that they, not the current decision-makers, will live in."

Slovenians overall are very green and environmentally conscious and these issues will in future affect the activation and turnout of younger voters in particular, he said.