Environment in Moldova Essay ⋆ Environment Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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The east european republic of Moldova gained its independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union and is one of the poorest countries in Europe. Since the early 2000s Moldova has been recovering from a long economic recession and completed a successful privatization by the mid-2000s. A significant proportion of the population is living on agriculture; issues related to land use and farming are crucial in the country. The policy framework of Moldova has greatly improved since the early 1990s, however, improvements are still slow and there are a number areas in which the country has been trying to meet European Union practices.

Environmental assessment in Moldova has become transparent, but it is still inefficient and complicated. Therefore it is hard to enforce regulation from the country’s limited economic resources. Pollution fines usually go through a long court procedure, which decreases the efficiency of enforcing environmental regulations. Pollution fines are generally low, and violators often ignore penalties. At the same time environmental monitoring has improved but it does not provide full coverage for all waters and lacks a comprehensive nationwide program. Similarly some institutes have increased their activities, but they lack modern techniques to share information with the public.

Around 20 percent of the total labor force earns their living from agriculture; it contributes over 19 percent to the Gross Domestic Product. Increasing soil erosion and decreasing soil fertility affect a significant proportion of the country. During the years of economic crisis followed by the collapse of the

Soviet Union, environmental problems concerning agriculture lessened, because the economic crisis led to the reduction of fertilizer use and overgrazing. However, in the near future those problems will probably occur again because of the recent reactivation of the economy and more intensive agricultural production. Inexperienced farmers and the shift to private ownership of land may lead to overgrazing and erosion once more. In addition, environmental protection laws are not legislated and not properly enforced yet. Solutions will have to be developed by farmers, municipalities, and authorities working together.

After independence, industry emissions reduced rapidly due to the economic crisis, but since 1998 industrial output has grown over 30 percent in five years. However, overall emissions seem to have decreased. One must note that this is not the result of the current system of environmental standardsmost of these date back to the Soviet era and are inadequate for Moldova’s future.

Bibliography:

Nicholas Dima, Moldova and the Transdnestr Republic (East European Monographs, 2001);
Environmental Performance Reviews: Republic of Moldova (United Nations, 1998);
Rebecca Haynes, Moldova, Bessarabia, Transnistria (University College, 2003).