According to the Decision of the Director of the Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Waters for the construction of a solar park situated less than 2 km away from the nest of the Imperial Eagle must not be done an Ecological Assessment. This is the second such decision of the Regional Inspectorate for the same project. The first decision was made in 2009 but was abolished on the basis of the complaint of another environmental NGO.
The motives of the Minister and the environmentalists are based on violations of the Biodiversity Act, the Regulation for implementation of Appropriate Assessments and Directive 92/43/EEC.
For the same region there already exist a number of approved investment projects, for which the joint cumulative effect over the habitats and species is not calculated. Under these circumstances for any new investment intention must be made ecological assessment and appropriate assessment with the objectives of the NATURA 2000 zone.
The team of Green Balkans will continue to work on the case as the wild territories of Sakar mountain are extremely important for the protection of a number of rare species like the Imperial Eagle, the Booted Eagle, the Long-legged, the Ground squirrel, Four-lined snake, etc.
For contact and more information:
Dobromir Dobrinov – Green Balkans NGO
tel.: 0884004667, e-mail: ddobrinov@greenbalkans.org