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Work in DarfurSince 1957 HTSPE (formerly Hunting Technical Services) has undertaken numerous projects in Darfur that have covered all aspects of development planning and implementation. Rural development projects spanning several years comprised hydrogeology, forestry, ecology, soils, agriculture and rural economy studies. HTSPE also carried out surface and groundwater studies, remote sensing studies on land use change, and made numerous key contributions to drought rehabilitation efforts.Tearfund (www.tearfund.org) started working in Darfur in 2004. The current crisis has created large IDP camps in a region that previously supported only very low population densities. Meanwhile the hinterland of these camps has been affected by the changes in grazing and forestry that have occurred as the traditional routes of cattle migration have been blocked by the conflict. Tearfund is currently undertaking a project aiming to understand the environmental impact of the relief effort and the changes in land use in the conflict in Darfur. The study has three aims: o To make an assessment of the state of the environment in Darfur in the context of the crisis and relief effort. To present this information in a non-technical manner to inform a broad range of organisations promoting relief, sustainable development and peace in Darfur. o To identify and disseminate best practice with the relief community in environmental matters in the complex relief environment of Darfur. o To make recommendations to promote environmental sustainability for the following sectoral lead agencies working in Darfur: UNICEF – water and sanitation; UNHCR – return and reintegration, and camp management; FAO – agriculture including livestock. The study will make assessments to track the environmental impacts through the crisis and relief intervention. The study will project this tracking forwards to an assessment of risks associated with stages of the conflict that have not yet occurred such as IDP return. HTSPE has been happy to allow the Tearfund consultant access to their reports on the natural resources of Darfur and has offered other help on a voluntary basis.
Nuclear Plant Closures in Eastern EuropeUnder a contract for programme management from the UK Department of Trade and Industry, HTSPE contributed to the mitigation of the economic and social consequences arising from the early closure of nuclear power plants in Central and Eastern Europe. Over the period of 2002 until 2007 the UK programme provided technical assistance and grants to local organisations in the towns of Visaginas (Lithuania), Kozloduy (Bulgaria), and Slavutych (Ukraine), where employees of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant were evacuated after the 1986 disaster. An evaluation of the achievements of this £4 million programme was undertaken by the beneficiaries and the programme managers, who were supported by an independent expert, John Fyfe, and presented to a conference held in Slavutych in April 2007. Some 34 projects were supported by the programme, providing £1.3 million in grants to local organisations and businesses and helping to create around 700 jobs in total. The report concluded that the UK social consequences programme was relevant to the circumstances in which the towns found themselves, was never prescriptive, and proved to be genuinely enabling.
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