PROACT SLOVAKIA

PROACT SLOVAKIA

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15 February 2002

The following mail has been received from Slovakia:

"Dear David,

We have very good news from Slovakia: almost unbelievable came true: the Slovak karst will be declared to National park. It was done by the decision of the Slovak government from 13. February last week.

This is a big success of everybody, who took part in our campaign to save the Slovak karst, including You and the Proact team!

Good luck,

Samo Pacenovsky, SOSNA

PS: just one more information about the Slovak karst. The official declaration of the national park will be at the end of April, on wednesday it was decided by the government, only. (It does not change anything, at all, just, to be precise).

The Slovak karst will be the 8th national park of Slovakia, with a territory 34 611 hectares, it is one of the biggest karst areas in central Europe."

Thanks to the many who helped.

Latest News:

The Slovak President Rudolf Schuster, after some initial hesitation, signed the Mining Bill on 26. December 2001. The new law will take effect from 01. January 2002.

Your support played a part in this small but important success for Proact and the Slovak environmentalists.

Thank you!

SLOW BUT STEADY PROGRESS IN THE SLOVAK KARST CAMPAIGN

Voting has taken place....
...... with mostly positive results!

ACTION! November 2001

On the whole the situation in the Slovak Karst, in terms of the expansion and uncontrolled exploitation of the limestone resources, appears to have been defused. The local conservationists are quietly confident that they will meet most of their aims and are grateful for the support given by Proact. We appear to have made a worthwhile impact.

The letter and mail campaign is now suspended.

The battle may be over but there are still some outstanding issues.

1. The Hrhov Fishponds. These are a sorry sight and are almost completely devoid of reeds and other vegetation over the greater part of the water surface. Forlorn Grey Herons try to nest in small, untidy clumps in the middle of the ponds. Numbers of Bearded Tits, and other small reed dwellers have declined dramatically. The magnificient Marsh Harriers are still breeding but other former residents sadly absent. Proact has now written to the Managing Director of the fish farming operation - see the ESOX link on the left. Other fish farmers in the region are not at all keen on interference. The well-known Senne ponds are protected by fierce dogs and an equally unpleasant watchman. Birders beware!

2. All this leads on to my second point. The region badly needs the financial support and influence of Eco-tourism. The Slovak Karst has a lot to offer. Besides super birding possibilities, geologists and botanists - and in particular bat-lovers - will be kept busy; and for the more active the caving, climbing and hiking opportunities are widespread. SOSNA is also organising bio-farming, traditional handicraft and folklore courses. Something for the whole family ;-). Proact will be lobbying Nature Tour Companies soon to include East Slovakia in their programmes.

For a brief personal impression see 'Proact in the Karst' and the bird lists linked to this page.

And now to the current situation:

INTERMEDIATE CAMPAIGN REPORT

Recent developments in the Slovakian Karst

From Peter Mandzak, Proact Liaison Germany/Slovakia

Hrhov Fishponds

May 2001

SOSNA, the local conservationist group and Proact's partner in Slovakia, was awarded the Ministry of Environment's prize for their efforts towards the protection of the Slovakian Karst. It is a respected prize, and SOSNA was entered in the category non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Two weeks later SOSNA returned the prize. The reason was that they received information about the existence of a memorandum from the head of the geological department (part of the Ministry of Environment) to the regional environmental offices responsible for approval of mining activities. In this note, the head of the geological section urged regional offices to avoid "putting obstacles in the path" of future mining plans. Since, according to SOSNA, the Ministry of the Environment is indirectly responsible for this action, they returned the prize by post. This caused some consternation in the Ministry and, according to Samo Pacenovsky from SOSNA, the Minister personally was quite upset. In any event, it provided a great deal of welcome publicity for the cause.

The major news is the approval of new mining act by the Slovak Parliament. The initial wording of the act, at it was at the start of our joint campaign, posed a major threat to all the karst regions in Slovakia because of the great interest by mining companies in the extraction of limestone and dolomite. Opposition to the act was also one of the main points of our campaign.

Fortunately, due to the opposition of local conservationists and (according to press reports) "...strongly negative reactions from abroad ..." the final version of the act has turned out to be satisfactory. A key clause point is that the regional offices of Ministry of Environment and local government have to approve new mining activities. Approval at this (local) level was not necessary in the original draft of the new law.

More good news. A group of Slovak MPs made a fact-finding trip to the Slovakian Karst. Their aim was to discover the opinions of local communities and industry towards the proposed national park. According to Samo Pacenovsky (SOSNA and local Proact coordinator) and the Slovak press, local support is firmly on the side of the National Park. The last obstacle is the negotiations on compensations for farmers, which is non-existent - and unplanned - at present.

Nevertheless the present chances of the Slovak Karst becoming a National Park are quite high. This is our main goal and when achieved, the campaign will have reached a successful conclusion.

For other recent and associated developments see ..

World Heritage Fund

Proact in the Karst!

and find out what is going on in the other Proact campaigns at .....

PROACT MAIN