| National park policies failing to protect Poland’s biodiversity |
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21 January 2011 | Press release Ecological policies to protect Poland’s natural resources are being undermined by local authority veto rules. Access the Polish version 21 January 2011 Current rules governing the creation and expansion of national parks in Poland are not working, new environmental organisation ClientEarth is arguing. Despite policies adopted by the Sejm recognising the need to create new national parks [“State Ecological Policy 2009 – 2012 with Perspective to 2016”] and declarations of the Minister of Environment Andrzej Kraszewski, current rules giving effective veto to each local authority over the creation and expansion of such parks are stagnating the process. No new national parks have been created in Poland for ten years and the last park expanded was in 2004. On Monday 24 January, a report published by environmental law organisation ClientEarth, Regulations for the creation and expansion of national parks in Poland, will set out proposals to more effectively implement and integrate legislation to protect Poland’s biodiversity. Current regulations require consent from all local government entities (local, regional and province-level authorities) – effectively giving each authority a veto in a way that frustrates the fundamental purpose of the legislation: ensuring that Poland’s national parks are allowed to develop in a way that protects biodiversity while accounting for the economic interests of communities living there. Dawid Szescilo, Biodiversity lawyer at ClientEarth, said: “Failure to protect our natural resources will mean we lose Poland’s rich biodiversity. Our national parks are the envy of Europe, yet we’re allowing conflicting laws to stifle them. Our report outlines a way that we can turn this around and at the same time secure the economic and social needs of local communities. “It is crucial that the Sejm takes action to review rules on the creation of parks to ensure they are constitutionally sound.” On 9 November 2010 a citizen’s initiative coordinated by a coalition of NGOs was submitted to the Sejm proposing the necessary legislative change to ensure that more National Parks can be created and existing ones can be expanded. ClientEarth’s report includes a model of public policy based on three conditions, and outlines how these conditions can be met. The conditions are: Social participation should be expanded beyond normal public consultation, (to include local and regional communities, non-governmental organisations, the academic community and businesses) when considering national park creation and expansion. Final decisions must be made by the government as the authority Final decision must be based solely in ecological (scientific) criteria ENDS To speak to the report’s author, please contact: Dawid Sze?ci?o, + 48 (22) 307 01 82, +48 697 051 664, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Media contact: Mike Haines | Communications officer | t. +44 (0) 207 749 5978 | m. +44 (0) 7538 418 460 | e. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Notes to editors: ClientEarth is an environmental law organisation working in the public interest. Based in Europe and operating globally, we address issues including deforestation, energy efficiency, biodiversity protection, and the transparency and enforcement of environmental law. www.clientearth.org |
