Environmentalists demand the Ministry of Environment and Water to revise the Management Plan of Pirin

Participants in the media conference included Vera Staevska, “Green Laws”, Katerina Rakovska, WWF, Toma Belev – “Green Balkans”, Andrey Kovachev, Balkani Wildlife Society, Vera Petkanchin, “Citizens of Rila”, Petko Tsvetkov, Bulgarian foundation “Biodiversity”.
Katerina Rakovska clarified that the proposed schemes of management are in violation of the Law on Protected Territories as they envision new projects for construction, logging and hunting grounds. She recalled the obligatory condition in the Evaluation of the Environmental impact assessment from 2000 to not increase the lodging capacity in Bansko, so that another disparity between the number of beds and the capacity of the ski facilities doesn’t occur. According to data from the current plan, which has been in place since 2004, this number is 7800 beds and in the draft of the new plan one can see that the total beds in the municipality of Bansko has reached 18 000. This means that Bansko municipality has not adhered to this condition and that the Ministry of Environment and Water has not exercised the necessary control in implementing it. Instead of being sanctioned, Bansko municipality is using this new imbalance, which it has created itself, as a reason to put more pressure on the process of expanding the ski zone near the city. The decision by the eco minister, Nona Karadzhova, from 2011 was quoted again in the sense that the concessioner of ski-zone Bansko – Yulen JSC, has used more than 650 acres more than what was allowed by the concession. This means that around 40% of the ski zone is in fact illegal and now efforts are being made not only to legalize the violations, but to increase significantly the robbing of one of the country’s national treasures.
Toma Belev presented the parts of the proposed plan of management which directly repeat the investment schemes of Yulen JSC, including the planning of ski zones reaching the borders of the reserves “Bayuvi dupki – Dzhindzhiritsa” and “Yulen”. It was also underlined that the executioner of the public order to create the new management plan of NP “Pirin” – Proles Engineering Ltd, has been spending finances from the national and European budgets without accounting for all the official reports on the condition and management of the national park during the current plan. In addition, the company has been directly including sections in the plan, which prioritize the investment projects of Yulen JSC as superior objectives in the management of the park thereby acting in violation of the Law on the Protection of Tourism, which envisions the main aim of a national park to be the protection of its wild nature and lastly, the development of nature-friendly tourism. Much data was revealed on the many violations in the execution of the public order due to overload and unrealistic planning of the working days of the employees in the firm Proles Engineering, which was working on management plans during the same period in other protected territories in the country, including Nature Park “Vitosha”. The data shows poor quality execution of the public order not only because of an overload on the appointed experts, but because of conscious ignorance of the reports and data on the biodiversity of the national park.
Andrey Kovachev outlined the rough violation of the Law on Protecting the Environment and the Law on Biodiversity by creating a plan of management without assigning the necessary ecological evaluation and assessment of compatibility with “Natura 2000” for the construction of new sports facilities, hunting grounds, industrial lugging and new touristic routes and others – activities, which encompass the entire park, including parts of its reserve.
Vera Pektanchin described how Proles Engineering Ltd refused any interested parties to participate in the process except for those local municipalities and council members directly involved in the investment projects. She further presented part of their statements repeating the priorities of the investor in ski zone “Bansko” and ignoring the aim of the national park to preserve its nature.
Vera Staevska pointed out that even the data gathered during the sociological research ordered by Proles Engineering prove that the statements made by the social authorities that they are acting in the interest of the local communities are not in keeping with the truth – the local citizens have been voted to prioritize the preservation of nature by 72% next to the continuing development of ski tourism.
Petko Tzvetkov brought everybody’s attention once again to the significance of NP “Pirin” as a territory with unique nature, protected by national laws as well as by the European network “Natura 2000” and included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List. In order to continue preserving nature, all the aforementioned violations must be eradicated. Firstly, the public order of Proles Engineering must be suspended until an ecological evaluation and assessment of compatibility is assigned. Also, the Ministry of Environment and Water and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food must conduct an examination of the capacity and declared experts in Proles Engineering, which is planning on conducting projects for managing forest areas and dozens of public orders connected with creating plans for managing protected territories (NP Belasitsa, NP Pirin, NP Vitosha, 12 reserves in the area of the Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water Montana, Rousse and Bourgas) and financed by Operative Program “Environment” and the national budget.
You can watch the event here: http://www.zelenizakoni.com/pres-konferenciya-za-nacionalen-park-pirin-2212-2014