ENVIRONMENT Minister Dennis Lister has come under fire from his political opposite number Kim Young for his silence on Earth Day on Monday.

But Mr. Lister hit back, saying that he had been off the island on Monday and yesterday he held a press conference highlighting three environmental initiatives, including the staging of an international environmental conference on the island next year.

United Bermuda Party MP Ms Young, who is Shadow Environment Minister, released a statement of her own on Earth Day when politicians and activists around the world focused on environmental issues and staged "green events".

Ms Young said this week: "Not a peep out of the Minister of the Environment on Earth Day! One would have thought that he would have taken this opportunity to remind our people that it's no good having a great economy and one of the highest gross domestic product per capita ratios in the world, if we don't care about the environment at the same time."

Mr. Lister said yesterday: "I did not comment on Monday, because I was off the island. I held the press conference today to launch some important environmental initiatives in recognition of Earth Day."

The Minister's first announcement was that the Environment Conference 2003 will be held at the Elbow Beach Hotel from March 22-27 next year, to address conservation issues in the UK's Overseas Territories.

The organising committee will comprise Amanda Outerbridge, director of the Bermuda National Trust, Dr. Annie Glasspool of the Bermuda Zoological Society and Andrew Dobson of the Bermuda Audubon Society, who will work in partnership with the Ministry of the Environment and the UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum to stage the event.

Mr. Lister said the Conservation Forum had been founded in 1987 and was dedictaed "to promoting the co-ordinated conservation of the diverse and increasingly threatened plant and animal species and natural habitats of the UK's Overseas Territories".

"I am confident that the Overseas Territories and other small island communities that share similar environmental problems will benefit from our experiences and our history of planning and conservation issues," said Mr. Lister. "We too can learn from the success of environmental programmes tried and tested elsewhere."

He thanked Government House for securing a $70,000 grant towards conference expenses from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office Environment Fund.

Mr. Lister announced that 2002 was the Year of Biodiversity Action, following the 2001 Year of Biodiversity Awareness.

"This year's programme will continue to raise awareness about the growing threats to Bermuda's rich and diverse natural heritage," said Mr. Lister, adding that it would involve a community-based plan of action, the on-going collection of scientific data and public education.

Thirdly, Mr. Lister announced a youth conference to involve 100 students to be held at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute from next Wednesday to Friday, with the theme "Preserving Bermuda's Biodiversity".

"There can be no more important or better ambassadors for the conservation and protection of Bermuda's biological diversity than our children," said Mr. Lister. The students, joined by 30 teachers, will take part in lectures, workshops and field trips.

Earth Day was first marked in 1970 by American organisers Gaylord Nelson and Denis Hayes. Three decades on, the pioneers head an Earth Day Network based in Seattle, which has grown to include 5,000 organisations in 184 countries.

Ms Young referred to a number of environmental issues she wanted to see tackled.

In her statement, she touched on the issues of traffic congestion, vagrancy, overhead wires, open space and illegal building, trash dumping, pesticide pollution, "dangerous dogs", boating and erosion.

She said the Corporation of Hamilton should be urged to remove beggars from the city's streets, as they were "menacing to tourists, business environments and locals alike".

"We need to deal with the issue of homeless people who sleep and live on the streets of Hamilton and around the island," said Ms Young. "The BHC are going to build a facility for 75 single men, but will this really rid our environment of those who sleep on the streets and urinate in the corners of buildings? I don't think so.

"We need overnight shelters where these people can eat, sleep and bathe until we can get to the root cause of their homelessness."

Traffic congestion had been a symptom of economic success which had led to "an environment of road rage", said Ms Young, and a fully integrated traffic plan with the ferry service was the only way to make a difference. The volume of traffic had made it unsafe to walk or run on the roads, she went on.

Unsightly overhead wires belonged underground, said Ms Young, and she supported the suggestion of adding a dollar to every bill from the Bermuda Electric Light Company, the Bermuda Telephone Company and CableVision until enough money was raised to finance the burial of the cables.

Ms Young added: "What steps has the Minister taken to clean up the mess that was left on the bases? The other long-standing issue that needs to be resolved is the asbestos that just sits there at the quarry. These two issues must be brought to the table and solved."

Dumping needed to be more carefully monitored, added Ms Young, as carelessness of our "throwaway society" had caused a serious threat of sea pollution.

"We in the UBP believe that a holistic approach for the environment is important to maintain economic growth, development and a high quality of life," said Ms Young. "We can't just talk rhetoric.

"We have to plan for sustainable development with minimal disruption to the country."