The Barents Region is in the Arctic and covers the area of Western Russia and the northern areas of Finland, Sweden and Norway. The Barents Sea has anaverage depth 230 m, bordered by the shelf edge towards the Norwegian Sea in the west, the island of Svalbard (Norway) in the northwest, and the islands of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya (Russia) in the northeast and east.

The Caucasus ecoregion covers a total area of 580,000 km2, includes six countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Russian and Turkey - and follows the ecoregion definition prepared by WWF in their Action plan for Caucasus. The Greater Caucasus Mountain Range with its lofty peaks forms a formidable barrier between the northern and southern parts of the ecoregion. The Lesser Caucasus mountain chain extends across Georgia, Turkey, Armenia, Aze...

Bosnia and Herzegovina is located in Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea and Croatia, comprising of 51,129 sq km. It has a population of 4,025,476 (2005). Major environmental concerns are: air pollution from metallurgical plants; sites for disposing of urban waste are limited; water shortages and destruction of infrastructure because of the 1992-95 civil strife; deforestation.

The country of Georgia is located in the Caucasus region of Asia, with a coastline towards the Black Sea. The 4.7 million country was a republic in the former Soviet Union, and is now an economy in transition and a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Overview over the country of Eritrea, with topography and major cities. Eritrea, independent in 1993, is inhabited by 4.5 million people, and the capital is Asmara. Environmental issues, according to the CIA world factbook, are: deforestation; desertification; soil erosion; overgrazing; loss of infrastructure from civil warfare.

Croatia is located in Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea, between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia, comprising of 56,542 sq km. It has a population of 4,495,904 (2005). Major environmental concerns are: air pollution (from metallurgical plants) and resulting acid rain is damaging the forests; coastal pollution from industrial and domestic waste; landmine removal and reconstruction of infrastructure consequent to 1992-95 civil stri...

Hungary is located in Central Europe, northwest of Romania, comprising of 93,030 sq km. It has a population of 10,006,835 (2005). Major environmental concerns are: the upgrading of Hungary's standards in waste management, energy efficiency, and air, soil, and water pollution to meet EU requirements will require large investments.

Kazakhstan is located in Central Asia, northwest of China; a small portion west of the Ural River in eastern-most Europe, comprising of 2,717,300 sq km. It has a population of 15,185,844 (2005). Major environmental concerns are: radioactive or toxic chemical sites associated with former defense industries and test ranges scattered throughout the country pose health risks for humans and animals; industrial pollution is severe in some cities; becau...

The Western part of the Eurasian continent, has some of the most populated and fertile parts of the World. Central Europe is densely populated, with few remaining fragments of undisturbed habitat, except for the mountain ranges. In the north - Scandinavia and Northern Russia, there is the taiga belt, with vast expanses of confierous forest, and further north, there is tundra and glaciers. Central Asia and Caucasus is a diverse region, with desert...

South Africa is located in Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent of Africa, comprising of 1,219,912 sq km. It has a population of 44,344,136 (July 2005). Major environmental concerns are: lack of important arterial rivers or lakes requires extensive water conservation and control measures; growth in water usage outpacing supply; pollution of rivers from agricultural runoff and urban discharge; air pollution resulting in acid rain;...

Antarctic is the fifth largest continent of the world at 14 million square kilometres and is covered by a permanent continental ice sheet. The ice is distributed in two major ice sheets, the East Antarctic and the West Antarctic, and in addition there are shelf ice, extending over the sea water. Antarctic inland ice ranges in thickness up to 5000 m, with an average thickness of about 2400 m, making Antarctica by far the highest of the continents....

Romania is located in Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Ukraine, comprising of 237,500 sq km. It has a population of 22,329,977 (2005). Major environmental concerns are: soil erosion and degradation; water pollution; air pollution in south from industrial effluents; contamination of Danube delta wetlands.

The Caucasus ecoregion, between the Black and Caspian Seas, crosses 6 countries. Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia are fully contained in this ecoregion, while parts of the Russian Federation, Turkey and Iran are included in the Northern and Southern parts.

Estonia is located in Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland, between Latvia and Russia, comprising of 45,226 sq km. It has a population of 1,332,893 (2005). Major environmental concerns are: air polluted with sulfur dioxide from oil-shale burning power plants in northeast; however, the amount of pollutants emitted to the air have fallen steadily, the emissions of 2000 were 80% less than in 1980; the amount of unpurified was...

Albania is located in Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea and Ionian Sea, between Greece and Serbia and Montenegro comprising of 28,748 sq km. It has an estimated population of 3,563,112 (2005). Major environmental concerns are deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution from industrial and domestic effluents.

The Caspian Sea runs north and south, extending over 1,200 km, with an average width of 320 km. It covers approximately 400,000 sq km (an area slightly larger than Germany). The population of the region is about 14 million, distributed over the coastal provinces of five countries: 6.5 million in Iran, 3.9 million in Russia, 2.2 million in Azerbaijan, 0.8 million in Kazakhstan and 0.4 million in Turkmenistan.

Overview over Southern Africa, and the countries Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania. This area is inhabited by more than 100 million people, and faces issues such as poverty, HIV and climat change.

Namibia case study locator map, with protected areas network

The Baltic Sea region is covered in primarily forested land and crop land, in the taiga and temperate forest regions. Agricultural land is a main driver for nutrient inputs to the Baltic Sea, and thus eutorphication, and is thus relevant. Forest lands acts as a net buffer for nutrients, unless it is heavily diked and/or fertilised.

The Balkans includes Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro (ex-Yugoslavia). The area is recovering from a long conflict and instability as a result of the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia.