Summary from Annual report 2007

Program for the support of sustainable energy sources

Together with the DUHA Movement we undertook the enforcement of changes in the Czech support for "renewable" heating in absence of any long-term system. We equally collaborated on the search for unnecessary administrative impediments handicapping authorizations for renewable energy sources. We were also active in the consultancy on clean energy sources for schools and general public. We organized the second year of the South-Bohemian Day for Renewable Energy Sources in collaboration with regional organizations dedicated to energy issues.

We started the new mapping of facilities in our region using renewable energy sources with the objective of their update in the Atlas on www.zdrojeenergie.cz, and in the end to publish them on a CD. We focused more on farmers with respect to the presently unutilized potential of energy biomass and prepared for them an excursion to Austria and Germany oriented to the use of biomass. We summarized the motivation of farmers in our Analysis of the support of food and energy production in agriculture.

However, we didn't omit our traditional issue - assistance provided to the general public threatened by plans of final burn-out nuclear fuel disposal site. Early in the last year we organized in all six selected localities workshops for the general public and continued our cooperation with the DUHA Movement on the publication of the information bulletin NUCLEAR WASTE? NO, THANK YOU! On the ministerial level we were trying to push forward such a modification of the Nuclear Act that would respect the rights of communes and the general public and would abolish the present limited responsibility of nuclear plant operators for caused damages.

We paid more attention to the beginning of combustible cycle - to uranium mining, which threat re-emerged in our country together with the considerations of construction of new nuclear reactors.

We supported the availability of information on the global climate change through the creation of a new website www.zmenaklimatu.cz seeking to change attitudes to this issue among Czech general public and our political representation. On the realization of energy projects were working Edvard Sequens and Hana Gabrielova.

Program for the protection of environment and landscape

Also in the course of the last year Calla was active in the protection of unique natural sites in the military area of Boletice threatened by the construction of a ski resort in Spicak locality. We continued the presentation of our mobile exhibition "The Nature of Boletice" and for local governments and other interested subject we organized a trip to Boletice accompanied with specialized lectures.

During the whole year Calla participated to the work of the coalition of NGOs for Natura 2000 principally focused on the issues of the bird area of the locality Boletice, which is important on European level.

Regarding the sandpits protection we focused on teachers and other professionals working with children and youth, for which we organized a field workshop "Sandpit at a stone's throw" and a few lectures. In cooperation with CEGV Cassiopeia we published a hundred page book used as a methodological guide for teaching. We were completing the data from field mapping of selected sandpits on http://www.calla.cz/piskovny and started to focus on our efforts for legislative change that would provide for a higher share of close to the nature forms of after mining site rehabilitation.

We participated to tens of administrative procedures, EIA processes and other decision-making processes and in many cases we had succeeded to influence them in a positive direction e.g. in anti-flood measures on the river Malse in Ceske Budejovice (Budweiss), in the case of the waste storage site Lisov or in the project of the shopping center Cerny pelikan in Ceske Budejovice.

Since December 2007 we are providing law assistance in the enforcement of rights set by the Aarhus Convention. We published a very popular brochure "Trees in the landscape and in the city" focusing on the protection of non-forest green from different points of view.

There were several changes of the program staff in the course of the year. At the end of the last year Vladimir Molek left the Calla offices and was replaced by Pavla Matejkova. Klara Rehounkova (on maternal leave) was replaced by Jiri Rehounek in the same period. Luckily, these changes did not seriously compromise the activities of Calla. Therefore, most of our activities in the area of nature protection can go on unchanged also in the next period.

Regarding the issue of the practical protection of the nature.

The members of Calla maintained several natural pools accommodating rare and protected species of plants in the protected area of Brouskuv mlyn and took care of the nesting wall of sand martins in the Trebec sandpit, for which some time ago we initiated the process of being declared for a protected river area.

For local governments and other interested professionals we organized a round table on the issue of waste storage burning. In the fall in cooperation with towns of Pisek and Tabor we organized the workshops "Effective handling of wastes in the commune - how to do it?" for mayors and local governments accompanied with an afternoon excursion to a nearby facility.

In the course of the year we were involved in the follow-up of the Lisov waste storage site that was supposed to be re-cultivated, but the company A.S.A. Ceske Budejovice arrived instead with a request for prolongation of its operation. This plan was for the moment rejected and the waste storage site was "temporarily closed" in October 2007.

The Krasec Network associating South-Bohemian ecological consultancies transformed itself into an independent civic association and Calla joined it as a member. We were contributing to the magazine Krasec with our articles, were meeting in many info-stands, lectures, exhibitions, excursions or workshops realized by the network during the last year. In particular for the staff of eco-centers was in May organized the workshop "Work with the media - media training". The monthly cycle of discussions called "Green Thursdays" continued its fifth year of existence.

Within the framework of its already well in place ecological consultancy Calla specialized in the energy area (Edvard Sequens), the nature and landscape protection (Vladimir Molek, Pavla Matejkova, Jiri and Klara Rehounek), the waste management (Petr Drahos) and the agricultural alternatives (Hana Gabrielova). In 2007 we provided answers to 754 questions of consultancy clients, which represents a continued increase against the precedent year.

We are publishing the e-magazin "Dablik" providing information on our activities and projects. It contains information on our activities, our comments to the present issues and invitations to the interesting events in our region.
Independently of Krasec, Calla is member of the country-wide network of eco-consultancies STEP (www.ekoporadna.cz) and of its committee. Equally, we are a member organization of the association of ecological organizations The Green Circle.

Management report for 2006