Under the motto “Hands off from sea, mountains and rivers!” and “Let’s save Natura 2000!”, Varna joins the national protest against the changes in the Biodiversity Act. The protest will take place on June 25 (Thursday) at 6.45 pm in front of Varna Municipality building. At the same time, the residents of Sofia, Plovdiv, Burgas, Ruse, Pazardzhik, Blagoevgrad and Botevgrad will express their dissatisfaction.
The aim of the protesters is to stop the changes in the Biodiversity Act, prepared by the former Minister of Environment Neno Dimov and supplemented by Valeri Simeonov.
The amendment of the law is to be considered at the second reading in the National Assembly. If adopted, there will be no more conservation objectives in Natura 2000 sites. For 4 years the Ministry of Environment and Water will not determine preventive measures against the destruction of animals, plants and habitats. The role of scientists, owners and citizens in the process of preserving the network will be abolished.
The protest came after none of the opinions of civil society organizations and scientific institutions had been heard so far. The demand now is for everything that affects Natura 2000 to be removed from the amendments to the Biodiversity Act.
The national protest is organized by the Coalition “For Nature to Remain in Bulgaria”, part of which is the Public Environmental Center for Sustainable Development.
The protest in Varna: https://www.facebook.com/events/290852538629223/
More about the bill here: http://forthenature.org/attitudes/138
The proposal of Valeri Simeonov: https://parliament.bg/bg/bills/ID/157366
Translator: Valentina Vagge
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Improving public knowledge about the role of Civil Society Organizations
The project “Improving public knowledge about the role of Civil Society Organizations” shall be implemented with the financial support of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under the EEA Financial Mechanism. The main goal of the project is to improve citizens’ awareness of the role of non-governmental organizations in society. This material is established with the financial support of the Active Citizens Fund of Bulgaria under the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area. The whole responsibility for the content of the document is held by the Public Environmental Center for Sustainable Development and under no circumstances can this material be considered to reflect the official opinion of the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area and the Active Citizens Fund of Bulgaria.