STA, 26 November 2019 - In the wake of the first heavy rainfall of this autumn, locals living along the river Drava warned the river had started flooding at a relatively low flow because the riverbed had not been maintained properly. They believe that the funds paid to the state by the hydro plants operator should be used to clear the overgrown riverbed.

In the past, the river spilled over when its flow reached 1,500 cubic metres per second, while in the recent years it floods at the 800 cubic metres mark, said the Ptuj Agriculture and Forestry Institute Andrej Rebernišek.

He is a member of a task force appointed after disastrous floods in 2012. The body met on Tuesday to inspect the consequences of the last week's high water, when Drava flooded nearly a thousand hectares of prime agricultural land.

"Damage to agricultural land is massive, this is an existential threat for those who live from the land," Hajdina Mayor Mitja Horvat, the task force president, told the press after the body inspected the damage.

Horvat said that the state needed to become aware that neglecting the maintenance of the riverbed was a significant problem. This was further reinforced by the fact that neither the Environment Ministry nor the Water Agency attended the task force meeting today.

Rebernišek said that the damage caused by last week's floods reached millions. He also said that total flood damage between 2012 and 2018 reached EUR 96.5 million.

Because its river bed is not being maintained, Drava has started flowing outside its usual course, resulting in sediment build-up and erosion, said Rebernišek, adding that some parts that had been flooded most recently have become completely unusable for agriculture.

Rebernišek said that the problems had started after hydro plants were built on the river, which meant that downstream from Maribor a part of the river was diverted in the 1960s into a man-made channel feeding the hydro stations Zlatoličje and Formin.

After the channel was built, the old river course became neglected, its riverbed overgrown. "The situation was critical in 2012, when there was a big flood. Since then we've had big floods nearly every other year," said Rebernišek.

He said that some 2,800 hectares of agricultural land were in jeopardy, adding that farmers just north of the border with Croatia were hit the hardest.

The task force wants a comprehensive approach to address the problems and thinks the funds paid to the state by the hydro plants operator, Dravske Elektrarne, should be used for the riverbed maintenance.

The flamingo is not a bird one expects to see in Slovenia. Although a large flock of these birds regularly spends the winters in neighbouring Italy, and some can therefore occasionally be seen on the Slovenian coast, observations of these exotic birds continue to be extremely rare further inland.

In fact, this was just second time in history flamingos have been seen in Dolenjska, the first being 49 years ago.

This time two birds, an adult in all its colours along with a still greyish youngster, stayed in the swampy field by Temenica long enough for the arrival of the ornithologist-photographer Gregor Bernard.

The photos he managed to capture of these birds and a flock of cranes that flew over Dolenjska some days earlier can be seen on his blog.

STA, 6 November 2019 - Environment Minister Simon Zajc met on Wednesday mayors or representatives of the five municipalities which had so far expressed interest in hosting a waste incineration facility, agreeing that the municipalities will be assisted by the ministry in drafting conceptual design of such facilities.

Zajc met the mayors or representatives of Ljubljana, Maribor, Ptuj, Jesenice and Kočevje, the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning said.

It was agreed that the ministry would help these municipalities make conceptual designs for facilities, which would feature exact locations, security solutions, technological concepts, timelines and plans for the inclusion of local communities.

Within three months, the ministry would review the documents and make a decision which will serve as the basis for further steps related to the location and construction of a waste incineration facility.

STA, 26 October 2019 - Although quite windy, Slovenia has only two wind turbines. This may change if investors and environmentalists find common ground on the eight wind farms for which the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning is drafting national zoning plans.

In March 2018 the government decided that national zoning plans, a key document to find a location for a major new investment, is drafted for two wind farms.

Both of these are now among the eight planned by the ministry, of which three are to be built in western Slovenia and five in the east of the country.

The ministry is working on the national zoning plans in collaboration with investors and the public, but it told the STA the procedures were still in their early stages.

All the planned wind farms for which it is in charge of producing a national zoning plan will have a power rating of at least 10 megawatts, the ministry said.

The wind farms planned for the windy west are Senožeška Brda, Zajčica and Dolenja Vas. Mislinja, Paški Kozjak, Ojstrica, Rogatec and Plešivec are planned in the east.

The government would like to increase the share of energy produced from renewable sources in line with Slovenia's energy policy and climate goals.

But it is hard to say how long it will take before the first wind farm is built, especially since the plans for Ojstrica and Zajčiča have been met by strong opposition by locals.

Locals and environmentalists are usually worried about the wind farms' impact on public health and the damage that they could cause to the environment.

STA, 22 October 2019 - Representatives of several Celje civil initiatives warned on Tuesday about excessive levels of heavy metals found in the soil in the Celje area, describing the city as "Slovenian Chernobyl" due to its various environmental issues.

The initiatives' representative Boris Šuštar said at today's press conference that results of analyses showed that, compared to the Slovenian average, attic dust in Celje contained 100 times more cadmium and 50 times more of other pollutants, including carcinogenic ones.

Heavy cadmium pollution in the area is part of the infamous legacy of chemical company Cinkarna Celje's predecessor, the old zinc factory.

Šuštar pointed out that the area of the former factory, covering 17 hectares and going nine metres deep in the ground, is polluted by a staggering amount of 1.5 million m3 of mostly toxic waste.

He believes that no other urban area in Europe is as polluted as the one in Celje, so he called for a comprehensive approach to the issue.

The initiatives also draw attention to noise pollution and dying trees in the city and its surrounding areas.

Cleaning of degraded areas in and around the city of Celje has been under way for a while, with one of the most burning issues being the polluted soil of school and kindergarten playgrounds.

The plan for this year was to clean five kindergarten playgrounds in the city, a project valued at around a million euro, with another five to be cleaned in 2020.

STA, 29 August 2019 - The London-based oil and gas exploration company Ascent Resources will demand EUR 50 million in damages from Slovenia for delays in obtaining a permit to develop the Petišovci gas field in the north-east of the country, news portal Litigation Finance Journal reports.

As the British company said in a release on Tuesday, it is preparing "legal claims for damages against the persistent delays in permitting relating to the further development of the tight gas reservoirs in the Petišovci gas field".

Ascent also insists on its appeal against the decision of the Slovenian Environment Agency (ARSO) requiring an environmental impact assessment for the re-stimulation of its producing wells.

In March, ARSO decided that an environmental impact assessment will have to be made to establish whether gas extraction with hydraulic fracturing has no damaging effects on the environment.

"This is definitely a procedure which will change the physical reality of the environment," said ARSO's decision, which was also upheld by the Environment Ministry.

Ascent is also exploring possibilities to further develop the Petišovci gas field without hydraulic stimulation.

According to its press release, it is reprocessing the Petišovci 3D seismic survey acquired in 2008-2009.

It is currently interpreting preliminary data volumes in preparation for a full evaluation of the new seismic volumes, with the final data expected by mid-September.

Its CEO John Buggenhagen said the company planned to work with its partners in Slovenia to also increase production through new conventional drilling opportunities.

Ascent and its Slovenian partner Geoenergo are moreover working on documents to secure an extension of the concession for Petišovci, which is valid until 2022.

All our stories on this issue can be found here

STA, 26 August 2019 - Infrastructure Minister Alenka Bratušek highlighted the need for Slovenia to remain at the cutting edge globally when it comes to the transition to clean energy, as she addressed the European Conference of the International Association of Energy Economics on Monday.

Na @EFLjubljana poteka evropska konferenca Mednarodnega združenja za energetsko ekonomiko #IAEE. Ministrica @ABratusek je na otvoritvi poudarila, da ima Slovenija enega najboljših energetskih sistemov na svetu in da se bomo @mzi_rs potrudili, da bo vsaj tako dober tudi v bodoče. pic.twitter.com/dbnzh5hxNn

— Ministrstvo za infrastrukturo (@mzi_rs) August 26, 2019

"Slovenia is among the best and we plan on keeping it this way," she said in reference to the country placing 6th among 125 countries in the World Energy Council's Energy Trilemma Index.

She said users will play a bigger role in energy generation in the future, as will smart grids. Public transportation will have to be strengthened and buildings insulated.

"Some of the measures are free, but in most cases the path to decarbonisation will be expensive. Financing of the transition should be the key issue," she said.

Bratušek also noted that in the transition to carbon-neutral energy sources, Slovenia will have to be mindful to keep energy accessible to all citizens.

The minister delivered the address at the 16th European Conference of the International Association of Energy Economics (IAEE), organised by the IAEE, the Ljubljana School of Economics and Business and the Slovenian Energy Economics Association.

Through Thursday, the conference will feature debates on smart solutions, the future of gas and gas infrastructure, and geopolitical issues, including relations with Russia.

All our stories on energy in Slovenia are here

STA, 25 August 2019 - The Ljubljana wider area covers 211 square kilometres, including 62 square kilometres of forest, with the land around the city being natural habitat for various animals, including numerous bird species as well as endangered species or even those that have been already considered extinct.

Ljubljana has some 300,000 inhabitants and at least so many birds nesting in the area.

The little bittern has been spotted in the Tivoli Nature Park and in the Rožnik and Šiška hills, with the bird frequenting urban areas as well.

It is critically endangered in Slovenia or even thought to be extinct. As its name implies, it is relatively small compared to other herons.

The park's managers have come across the allegedly extinct noble crayfish species, which used to be very common in the Slovenian rivers, but suffered a major population drop due to invasive crayfish carrying the duck plague.

The area is home to almost 500 butterfly species, some 110 beetle species, around 100 bird species, including 68 who nest in the city, some 50 spider species, 36 dragonfly species, 12 various species of reptiles and 8 species of bats.

Among mammals, visitors can spot the common shrew, the southern white-breasted hedgehog, the edible dormouse, squirrels, deer and otters.

According to Marko Jonozovič of the Forest Service, the Ljubljana rural area is also home to the brown hare and pheasants, foxes, badgers and the beech marten, with introduced or invasive muskrat and nutria species living in wetlands or alongside stretches of water.

The brown bear rarely finds itself in the forests within the Ljubljana urban area - occasionally the bear enters it through the Golovec animal-friendly passageway or other highway overpasses and underpasses, but mostly it roams the south-western part of the Ljubljana Marshes where it can find enough food and enjoy some peace.

Wolves and lynx have not been present in the past few decades within the Ljubljana ring road, has said Jonozovič, though the former occasionally visit the marshes.

Meanwhile, the chamois has been spotted in the river Iška canyon, some 20km south of Ljubljana.

West of Ljubljana, near Dobrova, in the Polhov Gradec hills, the mouflon has been detected as well. Moreover, the wild boar, deer, and jackal have been known to be present in the wider forested area of Ljubljana.

Among local birds, house sparrows, blackbirds, pigeons and great tits are the most common. In the past decades, the city has witnessed increasing numbers of crows, with the birds feeling safe in the centre due to the abundance of food.

The Tivoli Nature Park and the Rožnik and Šiška hills are home to protected birds, listed on the Natura 2000 list as threatened species in Europe, such as mallard ducks, the common buzzard, the Eurasian scops owl, the black woodpecker.

Moreover, endangered species, such as the black and white stork and the jackdaw have been spotted in the park as well.

Fortunately for those taking a stroll around the park, there are no lethal snakes in the area, since vipers, which are present in Slovenia, prefer rocky terrain.

STA, 16 August 2019 - Amid escalating tensions over action in response to a growing number of wolf attacks on farm animals in Slovenia, 13,462 people have signed a petition urging against the planned culling of bears and wolves.

The petition, initiated by the animal rights group AniMa, was handed to Environment Minister Simon Zajc on Friday to "have the voice of reason heard when it comes to man's coexistence with bears and wolves".

The initiator of the petition, Andreja Galinec, reported with disappointment after the meeting that "we failed to prevent the culling".

"The answer we received was that the culling will not be halted," Nevenka Lukić Rojšek of AniMa said.

According to the ministry, Minster Zajc stressed at the meeting the the emergency act on culling was "addressing the burning issue of bear and wolf overpopulation and was needed at this moment to get the numbers back to a level that is also favourable for the local human population".

Zajc also announced he would inquire with his ministerial colleagues in the EU if there was a chance of one of the European countries accepting Slovenian bears and wolves.

He added the issue of overpopulation and management of bear and wolf populations needed to be removed from the realm of politics and returned to experts as soon as possible.

Danes mi je društvo AniMa izročilo peticijo proti odstrelu. Povedal sem jim, da je ta zdaj potreben! Po tem pa vztrajam: nujno mora o strokovnih vprašanjih odločati stroka in nikoli več politika. Posebej taka, ki ni za to vprašanje naredila nič, ko je imela priložnost! pic.twitter.com/rNAwnuU5C4

— Simon Zajc (@zajc_si) August 16, 2019

The group had proposed that the government immediately issue a moratorium on the emergency act regulating the culling and form a task force to analyse the state of affairs and find solutions that would not be dictated by political pressure.

Urging long-term measures to preserve wildlife and protect farm animals, the group says that Slovenia needs to preserve its population of wild animals as a key to preserve the balance of nature.

"Hunters have been interfering too much in this balance, and the price is now being paid by farmers, who a while ago demanded the culling of deer because of the damage to their crops," they say.

Arguing that there are also those among "the 22,000 armed people considered hunters" who use hunting as "a profitable business and cruel entertainment at the expense of animals", they believe that hunting for deer should be restricted and much better controlled, while subsidies for farm animal production in wolf and bear habitats should be made conditional on preventive measures.

"We urge the government not to be held hostage by a small interest group that demands violent solutions now, without considering long-term consequences. Slovenia is us too who disagree with the culling of bears and wolves, and there are many of us," the petitioners say.

The number of wolf attacks on farm animals has more than doubled this year over the same period in 2018, after an NGO successfully challenged in court the government's 2018 decree ordering the removal of 175 bears and 11 wolves from the wild.

Data from the Institute for Forests show that nearly 680 animals had been attacked by the end of July, but the number has increased since as new attacks are reported almost on a daily basis.

To tackle the situation, parliament passed a law in June ordering an emergency culling, but while hunters have killed 75 bears, the complex rules have prevented them from culling any wolves yet.

Following a protest by farmers on Saturday, changes have been agreed to facilitate the culling.

There are an estimated 1,000 bears and 80 wolves in the country. Most of the wolves live in 14 packs, while some live alone.

While there have been two attacks by bears on humans so far this year, Miha Krofel of the Ljubljana Biotechnical Faculty has told the STA that there is no confirmed case of a wolf hurting a human in Slovenia on record.

All our stories on bears are here, those on wolves are here

STA, 8 August 2019 - Hazardous waste processing company Kemis will decide within 15 days whether to appeal against a decision by building inspectors to remove the facilities it has built after it was hit by a devastating fire in 2017. Nevertheless, it will stop accepting waste today, the Vrhnika-based company said in a release on Thursday.

The facilities that the chemical waste processing company renovated extensively after the May 2017 fire were found to be illegal construction.

The Environment and Spatial Planning Ministry inspectors said Kemis should have obtained a building permit for a newly-built underground water tank, which is part of an upgraded anti-fire system.

However, no building permit is required for the comprehensive renovation work Kemis undertook after the fire, which caused considerable damage to the environment.

Kemis stopped receiving waste of its business partners in Vrhnika a day after it received the decree to stop using the facilities immediately and remove them by 30 June 2020.

The firm reiterated today the entire renovation, including the construction of the underground water tank, had been carried out under constant supervision of the ministry's inspectors.

The company believes "it is highly unusual that almost two years after the renovation was launched, the same state body took a diametrically opposite decision".

Kemis relaunched full-scale operations after the fire last February, when it said it had met all the conditions from the environmental permit.

This is why it is "extremely worried" about the decree, which it labelled "an unreasonable measure".

The company also said it had processed over 13,000 tonnes of waste generated by Slovenian companies, public sector institutions and households over the last six months, which would have otherwise presented a serious risk to the environment.

Despite Kemis's making the waste processing facilities safer, Vrhnika locals and local authorities have been pushing for the firm to leave town ever since the fire.

Also worried about the latest development is the Chamber of Public Utilities at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS).

It fears toxic waste will start piling up at waste collection companies and at companies generating toxic waste, as was the case after the Kemis fire.

Apart from Saubermacher Slovenija, Kemis is the only major company which can process the majority of dangerous waste in Slovenia.

Chamber director Sebastijan Zupanc told the STA today that Kemis's closure could result in toxic waste accumulation around the country, which would have several smaller hot spots that would be a serious risk to public health and the environment.

He noted this was exactly what had happened two years ago when Kemis was hit by the fire. "Collection of hazardous waste almost fully stopped back then."

While some makeshift solutions were found until Kemis was back in business, "I don't know what will happen now", he added.

At the time, a smaller share of toxic waste was redirected to Saubermacher Slovenija, which told the STA today it was hard to say how much waste it could take.

It depends on the type of waste and on whether some could be exported, said director Robert Čajič, who expects companies generating or collecting waste to start turning to Saubermacher in coming days.

Zupanc stressed Slovenia had no facilities to store toxic waste for longer periods of time.

What is more, waste collection companies are banned by law from storing too much waste, risking to lose their operating licence and environmental permit.

Zupanc said Kemis had upgraded the waste-processing plant in line with the state-of-the art technologies and top-level fire security, whereas temporary storage facilities at waste collection companies are far from being that safe.

The renovation of Kemis facilities and equipment cost around EUR 6.5 million, EUR 5.5 million of which came from insurance, according to early figures from February.

Similarly worried at the inspectors' decision is the GZS, which wondered whether Slovenia is willing to risk new ecological catastrophes.

The GZS fears the decision could lead to keeping waste in inappropriate places, to dumping it illegally and processing it in an unprofessional manner.

Noting that not only industry but also households and individuals generate waste, the chamber stressed it was vital for the corporate sector to be able to ship waste to qualified companies. If that option is not available, companies could reduce output or even close shop.

The GZS thus called on the government to promptly and effectively address waste management, a sensitive issue which goes beyond the purview of the Ministry of the Environment.