CIPRA is also calling for the drafting of a water protocol in the International Year of Freshwater, and is to provide the technical basis.
At the same event the Austrian umbrella association for the environment recommended implementing the EU Water Framework Directive, amending the Water Act, and drafting a "national water conservation programme". It stated that only these measures could ensure that all Austrian waters would achieve a "good ecological status" by the year 2015. It added that it was essential for all those concerned and all interested parties to be involved from the very outset.
The third World Water Forum in Kyoto concluded with a ministerial declaration that contained few concrete measures, a fact deplored by many, among them representatives of NGOs, the UN and the EU. Switzerland's call for a sustainable use of eco-systems however was adopted in the declaration. The demand provides first and foremost for the comprehensive protection of forests, wetland areas and soils in which water is filtered, stored and distributed. The Forum was also the focal point for an exchange of information and views.
Information: http://www.worldwaterforum.org (en), Sources: Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management 20.03.2003 http://www.lebensministerium.at (de), umbrella organisation for the environment 20.03.2003 http://www.umweltdachverband.at/service/presse (de), NZZ 24.03.2003