Greece wants to allow building in protected natural areas

The Greek government has presented a bill on environmental protection that eliminates restrictions on construction in protected natural areas, which has provoked numerous criticisms from the scientific community, environmental organizations and from the citizens themselves. The project, which is in the public consultation phase and is available on the website of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, allows the construction of roads, electricity networks, renewable energy facilities, car parks, tourism-related facilities and mines in protected areas such as the Natura 2000 Network, in addition to opening the doors to fishing and livestock in these areas. According to the Hellenic Institute of Statistics (Elstat), the Natura 2000 network covers approximately 28.5% of the country’s territory and some 470,000 people reside in these areas. After being published, the bill has received hundreds of negative comments from the population, which pointed to its potential “devastating effect” for protected natural areas, while environmental organizations criticize that only a week has been given to consult a law of 97 articles. In the presentation of the project, the ministry maintained, however, that the new law is especially restrictive in terms of the infrastructure allowed in protected areas, at least compared to the “real needs” of each area. Meanwhile, the great fire in the Dadía National Park, in the north of the country, continues to burn for the fifth consecutive day, and the Athens Observatory said that in this important nature reserve, home to the last colony of black vultures in southeastern Europe, almost 2,000 hectares of forest have been burned so far. The Hellenic country’s failures to protect the environment do not come only with the current proposed law. The European Commission decided to refer Greece to the Court of Justice of the European Union on July 15 for the incorrect application of the Environmental Impact Assessment Guideline, which requires “environmental impact assessment for certain infrastructure projects”, according to a statement on the Commission’s website.We recommend you read: Although the Commission acknowledged the progress of the Greek authorities, criticized that Greek legislation does not provide for evaluations in national defense projects, facilities for the processing of nuclear fuel, the disposal of radioactive waste or the creation of waterways that allow the passage of large ships. Earthquake in Turkey, building falls in Izmir

Original source in Spanish