EcoFund was called into being in 1992 by the Minister of Finance in the form of a foundation to manage the funds derived from a mechanism referred to as “debt-for-environment swap,” i.e. the conversion of a part of the foreign debt of Poland into funds assigned for supporting environmental protection projects. At present, the function of the Founding Organ is fulfilled by the Minister of the State Treasury.

Pursuant to the agreement signed by Poland in 1991 with the creditor countries making a group referred to as the “Paris Club,” a half of the debt has been remitted and the other half is to be paid back by Poland by 2010. A part of that paid-back money is now transferred to the EcoFund’s bank account.

So far, the following six creditor countries decided to join the Polish debt-for-environment-swap scheme:

The USA (decision taken in 1991) USD 370 million

France (1993) USD 66 million

Switzerland (1993) USD 63 million

Sweden (1997, 1999) USD 13 million

Italy (1998) USD 32 million

Norway (2000) USD 27 million

The funds received within that mechanism are allocated by EcoFund for providing financial support (in the form of grants and/or loans) for projects undertaken in the following five areas recognized to be of priority importance:

1. Reduction of the transboundary transport of SO₂ and NO_x and elimination of the low sources of such emissions;
2. Restoration of water cleanliness in the Baltic Sea and protection of drinking water resources;
3. Reduction of the emissions of gases that cause global climate changes (CO₂, methane, freons);
4. Biological diversity protection;
5. Rationalization of waste management and reclamation of soils.

The investment projects classified within those sectors are supported by EcoFund only at the project implementation stage. This means that the Foundation does not provide financial aid for the preparation of project documentation, research work, monitoring surveys, or ecological education projects.

A specific feature of EcoFund, which differentiates the Foundation from other institutions supporting environmental protection activities in Poland, is the EcoFund’s policy to facilitate the transfer of the best foreign technologies to Poland from the donor countries by way of concentrating the financial aid on purchasing the basic parts of project installations from manufacturers of those countries. This is beneficial both for Poland and the donor countries because, on the one hand, the efficiency and reliability of project installations is thus improved and, on the other hand, manufacturers of the donor countries are thus promoted on the Polish market.

Apart from the analyses of individual Project Questionnaires and Grant Applications currently carried out by EcoFund specialists as those documents are received, an extremely important part of EcoFund’s activities arises from the policy of active searching for the most valuable and most needed environmental protection undertakings, having been pursued by the Foundation for many years. Such an approach manifests itself in organizing competitions and developing own multiannual programs dedicated to specific subject matters or regions.

In 2001, the following 13 programs dedicated to specific subject matters or regions and aimed at comprehensively solving the most urgent environmental protection problems in Poland were continued:

• Protection of eagles and other rare species of the birds of prey;
• Protection and reintroduction of the swamp turtle;
• Protection and restitution of the forest gallinaceans (black grouse, capercaillie);
• Protection and restitution of the native species of migrating fish;
• Revitalization of forests in the Western Sudety (the Karkonosze Mountains, the Izerskie Mountains);
• Environmental protection in the Tuchola Forest;
• Restoration of water cleanliness of the Biebrza river in the Biebrza National Park;
• Restoration of water cleanliness of the Narew river to meet the needs of the Narew National Park;
• Restoration of water cleanliness of the Great Mazurian Lakes;
• Restoration of water cleanliness of Puck Bay and the Gdansk Gulf;
• Improvement of the quality of water supplied to the urban agglomerations of Cracow, Upper Silesia, and Wrocław;
• Elimination of the low sources of air pollutant emissions in the health resorts of the Kłodzko Valley;
• Modernization of the PTTK (Polish Tourist Country-Lovers’ Association) shelter-homes situated in national parks to reduce the environmental impact of such facilities.

Another form of the active searching for the best projects on the nation-wide scale is the organizing of competitions. The juries include eminent specialists in the fields relevant to the competitions and objective criteria give equal chances to all the investors who enter their projects for the competitions. In 2001, EcoFund prepared and held six competitions in the fields as follows:

• Nature preservation in landscape parks and national parks;
• Protection of the declining species of flora and fauna;
• Increasing the small retention in forests;
• Conservation of wetlands;
• Energy savings in municipal heating systems;
• Reduction of atmospheric emissions in health resorts and national parks.

Apart from normal operation, EcoFund also took a quick action in the second half of 2001 to render financial help to the towns and villages that were most severely affected by a flood. In general, 27 projects were awarded grants within that action, with the total amount of the grants exceeding PLN 18 million, which made 62.5% of the costs of rebuilding the water supply, sewerage, and heating systems destroyed by the flood.

In 2001, the stock of projects going through different EcoFund project handling stages consisted of 207 environmental protection undertakings (by over 20% more than in 2000) of various size and progress status; 117 of them were completed during that year.

The largest part of the total stock of EcoFund projects consisted of nature protection undertakings (91 projects). They were chiefly aimed at protecting endangered species and their habitats and restoring natural conditions in areas of high natural value. An important line in that activity was dedicated to reducing the discharge of sewage to rivers and lakes in areas of outstanding natural value, i.e. national parks, nature reserves, and landscape parks. The areas where particularly large numbers of water protection projects were undertaken for biodiversity protection reasons were Narew National Park, Biebrza National Park, Great Mazurian Lakes region, and Tuchola Forest.

Like in the previous years, projects aimed at reducing the emissions of gases that cause global climate changes made the second largest group of EcoFund’s projects, in terms of the number of undertakings. In that group, 45 projects were completed and 12 other projects were at the stage of negotiating Grant Agreements. The goal to reduce the emission of gases that cause global climate changes was pursued by changing the type of fuel when modernizing boiler plants (from coal to biomass or gas) as well as by saving energy and raising the efficiency of energy use. Actions continued for several years to promote renewable energy sources bring now increasingly satisfying effects: large funds were allocated in 2001 for projects dedicated to the use of biomass for energy generation purposes and the construction of next wind power plants.

The quantity of waste management projects increases from year to year but the scale of the actions taken in that field is still too small in comparison with the existing needs. Last year, 7 projects aimed at the safe disposal of dangerous wastes and the rationalization of municipal waste management systems were completed. Those projects included putting into service such facilities as municipal waste sorting and processing installations at Koszalin, Słupsk, and Sucha Beskidzka, a modern hospital wastes incineration plant in Białystok, or a system to utilize end liquors at the Chemical Works at Luboń near Poznań.

As few as 6 projects related to reducing the sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions and the transboundary transport of such gases were included in the stock of EcoFund projects in 2001. It should be stressed here, however, that the grants awarded to projects undertaken in that field were much higher than those given to projects of the other sectors. The projects of this kind were set to the application of large-scale modern engineering solutions, such as the construction of a heat and power generating plant fired with waste natural gas at Władysławowo.

Among the projects that were awarded EcoFund grants in 2001, the following deserve particular notice:

• Construction of a heat and power generating plant at Władysławowo, fired with waste natural gas emitted from a Polish offshore oil platform in the Baltic Sea (EcoFund grant: PLN 27.8 million, 20% of the project cost);
• Construction of two heat and power generating plants, in Siedlce (EcoFund grant: PLN 7 million, 18.7% of the project cost) and in Tarnów (EcoFund grant: PLN 2.4 million, 14.4% of the project cost);
• Repair of the heating systems destroyed by the flood in 2001 in Gdansk, Pruszcz Gdański, and Słupsk (total EcoFund grant: PLN 5.8 million, 79% of the total project costs on the average);

• Modernization of the sewage treatment plant at Skoczów, which is of considerable importance for the water cleanliness in Lake Goczałkowice (EcoFund grant: PLN 4.2 million, 29.4% of the project cost);
• Construction of transfer collectors from Szczecin to the sewage treatment plant at Ostrów Grabowski (EcoFund grant: PLN 3 million, 28.8% of the project cost);
• Construction of transfer collectors to the sewage treatment plant at Wapnica (the Island of Wolin) (EcoFund grant: PLN 1.5 million, 29.9% of the project cost);
• Projects related to repairing the damage caused by the flood in 2001, carried out at the water supply and sewerage systems at Maków Podhalański, Staszów, Koprzywnica, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Raków, Kazimierz Dolny, Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, Wilków, Zator, Łagów, Daleszyce, Bieliny, Nowa Słupia, Sandomierz, and Bogoria (total EcoFund grant: PLN 12 million, 79% of the total project costs on the average).

• Construction of biomass-fired boiler plants at Czarna Białostocka (14 MW), Łapy (4 MW), Frombork (6.5 MW), Waplewo (3 MW), Sępólno Krajeńskie (6 MW), Łukta (2 MW), Lidzbark Warmiński (1.86 MW), and Łabiszynek (1.5 MW) (total EcoFund grant: PLN 18.9 million, 41.9% of the total project costs on the average);
• Thermal energy savings through comprehensive modernization of the heating systems at Rumia, Tuchola, and the hospital at Lubliniec (total EcoFund grant: PLN 13.4 million, 26.9% of the total project costs on the average);
• Installation of heat pumps and solar collectors at a holiday center at Polańczyk and an indoor swimming pool at Kudowa Zdrój (total EcoFund grant: PLN 1.3 million, 40% of the total project costs on the average);
• Construction of boiler plants combined with heat pumps at Głogów and Wodzisław (total EcoFund grant: PLN 1.2 million, 37.7% of the total project costs on the average);
• Use of biogas emitted from the municipal landfill at Gliwice for the generation of electric power (EcoFund grant: PLN 1.5 million, 47.5% of the total project costs).

• Construction or development of sewage treatment plants to protect lakes and rivers of outstanding natural value, at Ruciane-Nida, Iława, Ostróda, Olsztynek, Lidzbark Welski, and Rytel (total EcoFund grant: PLN 15.02 million, 35.4% of the total project costs on the average);
• Revitalization of mountain forests in the Western Sudety (the Karkonosze Mountains, the Izerskie Mountains) (total EcoFund grant: PLN 3.23 million, 30% of the total project costs on the average);
• Construction of sewerage systems with sewage treatment plants at Suraż and Bielsk Podlaski within the Upper Narew river protection program (total EcoFund grant: PLN 3.14 million, 39.9% of the total project costs on the average);
• Construction of delivery collectors and sewage treatment plants at Brusy and Dziemiany within the program of the protection of natural values of the Tuchola Forest (total EcoFund grant: PLN 2.88 million, 30% of the total project costs on the average);
• Protection of ecosystems of the Stołowe Mountains (EcoFund grant: PLN 659 700, 39.2% of the project costs);
• Reconstruction of tree stands in the Gorlice forest division and in the Drawno National Park protection zone (total EcoFund grant: PLN 985 400, 29.5% of the total project costs on the average);
• Protection of biodiversity of the open marshlands within the Biebrza National Park (total EcoFund grant: PLN 293 400, 60% of the project costs);
• Protection of waterlogged areas in Western Poland (EcoFund grant: PLN 520 000, 75.6% of the project cost);
• Restoration of natural conditions in the Narew National Park buffer zone (EcoFund grant: PLN 481 200, 61.5% of the project costs);
• Protection of cows of the Polish Red breed at Szczyrzyc (EcoFund grant: PLN 634 200, 50% of the project costs);
• Protection of eagles and other birds of prey in Poland (EcoFund grant: PLN 589 500, 44.1% of the project costs);
• Protection of crane refuges in the Warmia and Mazury region (EcoFund grant: PLN 547 600, 68.2% of the project costs);
• Reconstruction of the fishery resources in Puck Bay (EcoFund grant: PLN 492 200, 31.2% of the project costs);
• Construction of a fish elevator on the Słupia river at Słupsk (EcoFund grant: PLN 313 060, 50% of the project costs);
• Improving the effectiveness of rehabilitation of wild birds (EcoFund grant: PLN 324 300, 41% of the project costs);
• Construction of a permanent exhibition at the Educational Center at the Białowieża National Park (EcoFund grant: PLN 1.78 million, 49.9% of the project costs).

• Comprehensive municipal waste management systems at Słupsk, Koszalin, and Sucha Beskidzka (total EcoFund grant: PLN 8.4 million, 29.2% of the total project costs on the average);
• Construction of a modern medical wastes incineration plant at the Provincial Hospital in Białystok (EcoFund grant: PLN 600 000, 34% of the project costs);
• Modernization of scrap battery recycling process lines at the “Orzeł Biały” Works in Bytom (EcoFund grant: PLN 2.18 million, 15% of the project costs);
• Recycling and safe disposal of end liquors at the Chemical Works at Luboń near Poznań (EcoFund grant: PLN 1.49 million, 19.8% of the project costs);
• Removal and safe disposal of deposits containing gas pitch from the Struga Darłowska river at Darłowo (EcoFund grant: PLN 449 000, 30.8% of the project costs).

Projects implemented with using EcoFund’s financial support have been considerably contributing to the improvement of environmental quality in Poland for the recent nine years.

In the field of air protection and climate protection, the environmental benefits achieved are measured, above all, by the reduction of atmospheric emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and dust whilst the actual material effects chiefly consist in the replacement of traditional fuels (e.g. coal or natural gas) with renewable energy sources (straw, chopped wood, heat pumps, or solar collectors). An additional effect is the rationalization of energy consumption accomplished by way of modernization of heating networks and heat distribution centers, automation of the heat generation, transfer, and reception processes, and thermal upgrading of buildings: in 2001, 58 000 m² of additional heat insulation was applied to buildings in the projects subsidized by EcoFund. Moreover, 24 boiler plants fired with straw and chopped wood of 50 MW total power capacity were put into service with EcoFund’s financial support. At the same time, 105 coal-fired boiler plants of 117 MW total power capacity were eliminated. In addition to that, solar collectors of 735 m² total area and 520 kW total power capacity and 7 heating systems with heat pumps of 1.6 MW total power capacity were built. Last year, EcoFund also co-financed the construction of two wind power farms of 23 MW total power capacity.

In total, the projects completed in 2001 brought about the abatement of carbon dioxide by almost 180 000 metric tons a year, sulfur dioxide by 57 800 metric tons a year, dust by 12 600 metric tons a year, and nitrogen oxides by 584 metric tons a year.

The material effect achieved in the water protection sector is the increased throughput capacity of new modern sewage treatment plants. Thanks to putting 12 such plants into service, technical capacity was provided for the treatment of about 20 882 m³ of municipal sewage a day with the characteristics of the treated effluents being in conformity with European union requirements. Five new facilities of this kind were built along the Baltic Sea coast and many other plants were put into operation in the interior, where they serve e.g. to protect underground water reservoirs, water intakes for large urban agglomerations, lakes, national parks, or nature reserves. More than 96 km of sanitary collectors were built to feed sewage to treatment plants and, within the action to recover from flood effects, 81 km of water supply networks were built to replace wells where water was contaminated.

The environmental benefits gained from nature-related projects may be described by presenting the scope of the work carried out to restore natural conditions in degraded areas, to protect various animal species, and to protect animal and plant sanctuaries.

Last year, 45 nature-related projects were completed, which included e.g.:

• Actions taken to restore natural conditions in old river-beds in the Narew Valley over a length of about 3.2 km;
• Reconstruction of 1 660 hectares of forest monocultures, with adapting the tree stand composition to the habitat and with purchasing 5.3 hectares of private land and incorporating that land into forest parks;
• Protective actions covering 1 560 nest of birds of prey;
• Protective actions covering 19 refuges of swamp turtle, inclusive of artificial breeding and reintroduction of nearly 550 young individuals of that species;
• Construction of fish elevators which enabled migratory fish to bypass hydraulic engineering structures;
• Preparation of the necessary documents for 14 ecologically usable sites and nature reserves of 667 hectares total area to be covered with legal protection;
• Work to provide favorable conditions for raising water retention in forests (61 small water reservoirs of about 40 hectares total area supplemented with surface retention on an area of 200 hectares of almost 500 000 m³ water storage capacity);
• Work to inhibit soil erosion (making erosion inhibiting structures along 30 km of erosion channels in mountain forests in the Sudety).

In the waste management sector, the seven projects completed resulted in creating potential for the annual recovery of 4 300 metric tons of scrap paper, 5 370 metric tons of plastics, 3 870 metric tons of glass wastes, and 1 300 metric tons of metals. Moreover, possibilities were provided for the production of 12 000 metric tons of compost and safe disposal of 10 000 metric tons of scrap batteries (which are a dangerous waste) a year.

The removal of gas pitch deposits (500 metric tons) from the Struga Darłowska river helped to protect the Wieprza river and the Baltic coastal waters in the vicinity of Darłowo from contamination.

It is worth pointing out that the material effects and environmental benefits presented here undergo reciprocal enhancement because of the concentration of EcoFund projects in the areas of national parks, health resorts, and towns of high population.

One of EcoFund’s tasks is to facilitate the transfer of the best foreign technologies developed in the donor countries to Poland. In 2001, considerable growth could be seen in the number of contracts concluded with suppliers from those countries: 398 contracts were signed with over 200 companies (to compare with as few as 82 contracts signed in 1999 and 156 contracts signed in 2000). EcoFund’s money was used to make purchases valued at PLN 55.7 million in total, with as much as 99% of that amount (PLN 55.21 million) being spent for equipment manufactured in the donor countries. In addition to that, investors spent about PLN 22 million from their own resources for purchases made in the donor countries. The money obtained from EcoFund and paid to suppliers from those countries made 35.2% of the total amount of EcoFund grants disbursed last year for the implementation of projects.

In 2001, the most successful bidders in the procedures of tendering for contracts in the projects subsidized by EcoFund were Italian companies, which were then followed in this ranking by French, Swedish, and Norwegian suppliers. If the situation is compared with that of the previous years, a considerable drop can be seen in the purchases made from US companies. This can be explained by the fact that those companies take part in large investment projects only, whilst the number of such projects implemented in Poland is now rather small.

Like in the previous years, the largest group of imports consisted of technical machinery and equipment bought for large projects carried out in the climate protection and air protection sectors, chiefly gas-fired turbines, wind turbines, technical equipment of heating systems representing various technologies, and energy generation and transfer control systems. In the other sectors, the technology transfer covered machinery and equipment for sewage treatment plants, forest protection chemicals, and facilities for selective waste collection, recycling, and disposal. Those imports complemented the available range of domestic products, which, in general, are good and offered at competitive prices.