Pirin National Park sacrificed over the national holiday

On March 1 Kostova decides that there is no need for an environmental
impact assessment of the new management plan for the national park.

Apart from the absurdity of not submitting the management plan for one of
Bulgaria’s three national parks to such an assessment, this decision
violates national laws. Chapter six of the Law on environmental protection
and Art. 31 of the Law on biodiversity clearly define when an environmental
impact assessment is needed.

Despite this, the ministry has decided that there should not be an
assessment, because “it is unlikely that there will be significant negative
impact on the environment and human health.”

Could this be true, given that the draft plan permits development in an
area 12.5 times larger than currently and felling of trees in 60% of the
park’s territory?

What is more, the Ministry of the Environment and Water has thrown out last
year’s determination by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee. At its annual
meeting in Istanbul, the Committee unambiguously stated that the draft plan
for Pirin absolutely must be subject to an environmental impact assessment,
and to an assessment against the objectives of Nature 2000.

To make the situation even more absurd, on March 2, at the close of the
last business day, minister Kostova signed a new decision, which stipulates
advance implementation of her own decision dated the previous day. This
move aims to preclude the opportunities for expression of opinions by the
public and independent institutions like the judiciary.

Kostova explained that her decision that it is important for her decision
that an environmental impact assessment is unnecessary to come into force
urgently “in order to protect particularly important national and public
interests and safeguard the lives or health of the public.”

Coalition For the Nature asks – how would an environmental impact
assessment threaten the lives or health of the public? And what are these
national and public interests, which the minister insists she is
protecting, when nearly 70 thousand people have already sent emails to the
caretaker Prime Minister Ognyan Gerdjikov demanding that the draft plan not
be accepted in its current form? The initiative is ongoing and at this time
it is critical for everyone to ad their voice for Pirin at wwf.bg/pirin.
Until a new management plan is accepted, the previous plan is in effect,
which provides considerably more robust nature conservation in Pirin.
Rushing and especially taking decisions ahead of the holidays can only be
explained by the hope that the public will be distracted away from the fact
that this is done in service to the oligarchic interests of the same group
that has tried for years to bring construction to the UNESCO natural
heritage site. It cannot be a coincidence that decisions with a three-day
appeal deadline are taken ahead of a long weekend.

This situation is reminiscent of the actions of the Romanian government,
which issued an amnesty decree for corrupt politicians at night, in hope
that the public would not notice. We all know what followed. We call on
minister Kostova and the caretaker government to immediately reconsider the
contentious decisions on this matter vital to Bulgarians.