Eco activists took to the streets of Sofia, Bulgaria to demand inclusion of Bulgarian areas in the NATURA 2000 Program.
Earlier European Green Party (EGP) MEPs sent 17 questions to the European Commission (EC) about the Bulgarian Government’s omissions from the list of sites proposed for inclusion in the Natura 2000 ecological network, the Bulgarian Green Party (BGP) said in a media statement on March 1.
Natura 2000 is a European network of protected sites which represent areas of the highest value for natural habitats and species of plants and animals which are rare, endangered or vulnerable in the European Community.
The World Wildlife Federation (WWF) says that in Bulgaria almost half of the most important sites identified by scientists, including nearly the entire Black Sea coast, have been removed from the list due to "investors" interests.
“We expected the government to cut some sites from its list of proposals for the Natura 2000 network, but what remains has been seriously compromised in terms of both quantity and quality,” said Vesselina Kavrakova, Bulgaria country manager for the WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme.
With its decision, the Bulgarian government has officially introduced "investment interests" as criteria for defining the network.
Many local people have expressed their support for Natura 2000 sites in their area, including the town of Assenovgrad in the Rhodope Mountains, the village of Skrino for the Skrino Gorge site and the town of Zemen for the Zemen Gorge site. In January, WWF and NGO partners delivered a petition with 50,000 signatures that called for urgent action to stop illegal construction in protected areas in a number of areas on the Black Sea coast and in the mountains.
The following article comes directly from an English version of The Sofia Weekly.
Flash Mob of Bulgarian Eco-Activists Throws "Good Morning" Rally
Organizers of the postponed standing protest of Bulgarian eco-activists, who demand that more territories be included in the NATURA 2000 program, greeted country's ministers on Wednesday when the state officials entered the Council of Ministers building.
Several people ambushed the ministers at the entrance of the Council of Ministers building to say them "good morning" at 9:30 on their way to work before the regular sitting of the Council. The activists carried maps of Bulgaria, made of Styrofoam and concrete and other signs to imply what exactly they went there for. Every minister who entered the building was greeted with a warm "good morning".
The concrete Bulgarias, one big for the government and three smaller for every of the parties in the ruling coalition were to be handed to the state officials.
"We are actually not protesting. We're here to give our modest presents to the rulers - they are he builders of our future concrete Bulgaria and it is most proper to give them an award," one of the participants explained.
Eco-activists put off their termless protest, which was fixed to start on March 13, because they did not agree upon the areas for the event, proposed by Sofia Municipality.
The protesters demanded their remonstration to take place in front of the Presidency and the Council of Ministers building, but Sofia Mayor Boyko Borissov issued an order and sent them to protest in the Central Public Bath garden.
This makes the whole protest pointless, eco-activists complained. The event is connected with the non-included in the list of protected areas territories. Some weeks ago the same people threw another extravagant rally, which consisted of people dressed in pyjamas walking on the streets of Sofia.
This morning greeting, which will be held every morning from now on, is a symbolic gestured with which the protesters will demonstrate their intentions' consistency to save Bulgaria's nature, organizers said.
This makes the whole protest pointless, eco-activists complained.
This morning greeting, which will be held every morning from now on, is a symbolic gestured with which the protesters will demonstrate their intentions' consistency to save Bulgaria's nature, organizers said.
Earlier European Green Party (EGP) MEPs sent 17 questions to the European Commission (EC) about the Bulgarian Government’s omissions from the list of sites proposed for inclusion in the Natura 2000 ecological network, the Bulgarian Green Party (BGP) said in a media statement on March 1.
Natura 2000 is a European network of protected sites which represent areas of the highest value for natural habitats and species of plants and animals which are rare, endangered or vulnerable in the European Community.
The World Wildlife Federation (WWF) says that in Bulgaria almost half of the most important sites identified by scientists, including nearly the entire Black Sea coast, have been removed from the list due to "investors" interests.
“We expected the government to cut some sites from its list of proposals for the Natura 2000 network, but what remains has been seriously compromised in terms of both quantity and quality,” said Vesselina Kavrakova, Bulgaria country manager for the WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme.
With its decision, the Bulgarian government has officially introduced "investment interests" as criteria for defining the network.
Many local people have expressed their support for Natura 2000 sites in their area, including the town of Assenovgrad in the Rhodope Mountains, the village of Skrino for the Skrino Gorge site and the town of Zemen for the Zemen Gorge site. In January, WWF and NGO partners delivered a petition with 50,000 signatures that called for urgent action to stop illegal construction in protected areas in a number of areas on the Black Sea coast and in the mountains.
The following article comes directly from an English version of The Sofia Weekly.
Flash Mob of Bulgarian Eco-Activists Throws "Good Morning" Rally
Organizers of the postponed standing protest of Bulgarian eco-activists, who demand that more territories be included in the NATURA 2000 program, greeted country's ministers on Wednesday when the state officials entered the Council of Ministers building.
Several people ambushed the ministers at the entrance of the Council of Ministers building to say them "good morning" at 9:30 on their way to work before the regular sitting of the Council. The activists carried maps of Bulgaria, made of Styrofoam and concrete and other signs to imply what exactly they went there for. Every minister who entered the building was greeted with a warm "good morning".
The concrete Bulgarias, one big for the government and three smaller for every of the parties in the ruling coalition were to be handed to the state officials.
"We are actually not protesting. We're here to give our modest presents to the rulers - they are he builders of our future concrete Bulgaria and it is most proper to give them an award," one of the participants explained.
Eco-activists put off their termless protest, which was fixed to start on March 13, because they did not agree upon the areas for the event, proposed by Sofia Municipality.
The protesters demanded their remonstration to take place in front of the Presidency and the Council of Ministers building, but Sofia Mayor Boyko Borissov issued an order and sent them to protest in the Central Public Bath garden.
This makes the whole protest pointless, eco-activists complained. The event is connected with the non-included in the list of protected areas territories. Some weeks ago the same people threw another extravagant rally, which consisted of people dressed in pyjamas walking on the streets of Sofia.
This morning greeting, which will be held every morning from now on, is a symbolic gestured with which the protesters will demonstrate their intentions' consistency to save Bulgaria's nature, organizers said.
This makes the whole protest pointless, eco-activists complained.
This morning greeting, which will be held every morning from now on, is a symbolic gestured with which the protesters will demonstrate their intentions' consistency to save Bulgaria's nature, organizers said.
No comments:
Post a Comment