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International ActivityPoland faces court over motorway through protected wetlands 20 February 2007 The EU threatened legal action against Poland on Tuesday over the construction of a motorway that would destroy Europe's only remaining ancient peat land if built. As hundreds of campaigners stayed put in tents pitched on snowy ground in Eastern Poland this week, EU environment commissioner Stavros Dimas personally warned Polish environment minister Jan Szyszko that Europe can seek to stop the project through a court order, and sent a letter to Warsaw asking ministers to put the construction on hold. With peat bogs that formed over 10,000 years and rare species of plants and animals, the Rospuda valley is protected under EU law as a Natura 2000 conservation site. Despite this, the Polish government has so far been intent on letting the motorway plans to go ahead, but now seems to be reconsidering following the EU warnings. "If we do not have a positive reaction from the Polish government to the letter that I am going to send today, then we shall start the accelerated procedure. It should be done as soon as possible in order to avoid and avert the irreparable destruction of the habitats in that area of Poland," Stavros Dimas said. Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski has since said his government may reconsider the route. He had previously warned that giving in to the EU on Rospuda would set a dangerous precedent that could harm the development of the country. The controversial section of motorway would provide a bypass for the town of Augustow in the Polish lake district. While environmental campaigners agree the bypass is necessary, they are proposing an alternative route which would come at a lower financial as well as environmental cost (see related story). "The option we are proposing is maybe 3km longer, and much cheaper because it sidesteps the need to plough through these wetlands," Jacek Winiarski of Greenpeace Poland, one of the groups campaigning on Rospuda, told edie. With the entry of bulldozers into the valley imminent, protests have spread across Poland. Thousands took to the streets of 13 Polish cities on Sunday and 450 protesters continue their sit-in protests at a camp in the snow-covered valley itself. Last summer, 150,000 holiday-goers signed a petition against the plans, reflecting the area's status as a national symbol of wild nature for many people. Campaigners say the construction of a 500m flyover across the peat land would lead to the extinction of species and destroy a unique European ecosystem. "If this road is built through Rospuda valley, then the last peat lands of this kind West of the Ural mountains will be destroyed," said Maciej Muskat of Greenpeace Poland. The road would modify the water balance of the wetlands, cut across the migration routes of animals including big mammals like lynx and wolves, as well as causing noise which would disturb the entire ecosystem. The construction work itself would cause even greater damage as 100-year old pines are chopped down and heavy machinery is brought in. The Augustow bypass is part of Via Baltica, a mega-motorway that is to connect Western countries with Finland via Poland and Estonia and crosses numerous national parks. In the face of growing urgency campaigners decided to concentrate their efforts on saving Rospuda valley as the most unique of the natural areas. They chose to focus on Rospuda "for emotional as well as scientific reasons," Jacek Winarski said - Rospuda valley is both a popular holiday destination whose wild nature many Poles remember from childhood holidays and a unique peat land home to endemic species of plants and rare and protected birds and mammals. Local people in the Augustow region are divided on the issue. While some oppose the road and say it would bring destruction of their natural heritage, others believe it would bring jobs, easing the area's high unemployment, as well as stopping the stream of lorries currently tearing through the town centre. Environmentalists said their opposition was targeted at the chosen route and acknowledged the need for a bypass. "We hope that work on an alternative route for a bypass for the Augostow bypass, which is essential for the town's residents, begin as soon as possible," said a spokesman for Greenpeace Poland. More English-language information on the Rospuda valley can be found here. Gośka Romanowicz Edie Environmental News Service
55 DAYS TO THE BIG JUMP ! (First European River Swimming Day)
FOCUS: EUROPE  Opposition to dams in Europe has a long tradition. Stories of boaters breaking up mill ponds date back to medieval times, and in the 17th century a group of Scottish fishermen attempted to destroy a newly completed weir.  The modern movement has its roots in high profile anti-dam campaigns in the 1970s and 1980s in Scandinavia, Switzerland, Austria and France. While many countries in Europe are no longer building big dams, over the past decade Turkey, Spain, Greece, Croatia and Portugal have all revived plans for big dam projects, resulting in equally big resistance by communities and environmentalists. Spanish activists have been leading the movement with their opposition to the Spanish National Hydrological plan (NHP). In a major victory for these activists, Spain's new Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, withdrew government support for the largest part of the plan - a massive water transfer scheme - in April 2004. The $25 billion NHP would have involved the construction of more than 1 20 new dams on the Ebro River and a massive water diversion scheme that would have transferred water to the so-called "dry" south for tourism and intensive agriculture purposes. The new government stated that it was considering cheaper alternatives to the plan, including desalination, reuse and increased water efficiency. The movement against the NHP had organized massive mobilizations in opposition to the plan, including a 300,OOO-person march through the streets of Barcelona.  NGOs waged a successful campaign to stop British government support for the Ilisu Dam in Turkey, which would have affected up to 78,000 Kurdish people and flooded unique archeological sites. However, the Turkish government is still moving forward with its controversial Southeast Anatolia Project (known by its Turkish acronym GAP), which consists of at least 22 large hydropower dams concentrated exclusively in the Kurdish regions of the southeast.  The European anti-dam movement consists of strong local networks concentrating on specific river basins as well as continent-wide organizations which campaign on a broader level. Organizations such as European Rivers Network, Friends of the Earth, and World Wide Fund for Nature have all led important campaigns against dam projects in Europe. In addition, NGOs are increasingly targeting European companies and funding agencies involved in dam projects outside of Europe. Dam decommissioning and river restoration have become a major focus for river activists in Europe. Many dams in Europe are now reaching the end of their useful life and thousands of dams are due for license renewals in the coming years. This will present opportunities for removing dams and restoring rivers. Since 1990, four medium-sized dams have been decommissioned in France and the European Rivers Network is new campaigning for the removal of the 25-meter-high Poutes Dam on the largest tributary of the Loire River. In Eastern Europe, environmental groups in Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and the Czech Republic have been working to restore damaged rivers and ecosystems and to educate the public about the importance of healthy rivers. Roberto Epple
CASE STU Dl ES: MAKING IT HAPPEN
On the 15th March Klub Gaja has organized a press conference and happening entitled "Stop the regulators" in Warsaw. The anglers and social activists from different parts of Poland took part in the conference. After the event a colourful parade marched to the Vistula, where a doll of "ubiquitous regulator" (marzanna) was drowned. The letter:
Bielsko-Biała, 9.03.2004 Mr Leszek Miller
Mr Prime Minister, In May 2004 we will become members of the European Union with full rights. This is a great event. Looking at it from a different perspective though, the Earth existence and its processes it is a split second and insignificant episode.
Jacek Bożek
Crusader for a river Tirtho Banerjee Jacek and Beata FROM learning Hath yoga to alleviate his childhood ailments to campaigning for Europe’s last preserved natural river — Vistula — Jacek Bozek has come a long way. Jacek, now 43, believes that his life’s course has indeed been wayward. Young Jacek couldn’t concentrate on studies as he had bronchitis and spent a lot of time in hospitals. As he grew up in his hometown Bielsko-Biala in southern Poland, Jacek started finding ways to tackle his sickness. He chanced upon books on Hath yoga and even as a young boy of 14, he found them interesting. He started practicing the postures described and over a period of time, he mastered them to perfection. His physical and mental faculties became strong. Besides books on Hath yoga, Jacek also read books on Indian spirituality. "Vivekanand and Ramakrishna impressed me a lot," says Jacek. He adds, "For me, Indian spirituality was very interesting because it was profound but at the same time very clear and simple." From the teachings of the Hindu spiritual leaders, he realised that he had a duty to perform. He opened his eyes to the injustice and confusion around him. His "understanding of life" developed. And he wanted to do "everything for everybody". He travelled extensively in Central Europe and trekked a lot.
By this time, Jacek was 25 and raring to give catharsis to the overwhelming passion within him. Hath yoga again came in handy. He started giving Hath yoga classes and found it relieving. For seven years, he taught Hath yoga. He still practices Hath yoga but not as regularly as it was before. Today, 43-year-old Jacek is deeply involved with his movement to save Vistula river. While Poland was still in the communist regime, Jacek formed the Gaja Club (GA-ya, for the ancient Greek Mother Earth) underground in 1988. This was an informal group that promoted forest protection and animal rights. Later in 1994, when Jacek saw that the Vistula river was facing peril, he included the eco-friendly development of the Vistula river in his club’s agenda. Jacek remembers the early days when the club was formed. "I did everything from scratch. I invited the Hath yoga group members to join the club, which they readily did. We sought funds from different corners," he reminisces. He got a good response from the Rainforest Information Centre, Australia. The Gaja Club was registered in 1992. Today, Jacek’s club has 3,000 volunteers around Poland. Gaja Club has also taken off recently in the UK. It presently concentrates on three main campaigns: Vistula now (to protect Vistula river), An animal is not a thing (to safeguard animal rights) and Art for the Earth (linking art to environmental protection). Talking about the most important campaign of the Gaja Club — Vistula Now – Jacek points out. "The river’s 200,000 sq km basin covers more than half of Poland and is home to 220 bird species, including 60 per cent of Europe’s white storks. Industrial dumping has put half the native wildlife on the endangered species list. Moreover, we are also against a government plan to build eight dams and dig a 300-km canal to factories in the south as it would kill several species and raise the water table, making vast tracts of land unfarmable." Through the media, books, exhibitions, street plays, demonstrations, Jacek has succeeded in bringing the debate on dams to the local level. Gaja’s networking with other NGOs, scientists, youths and local governments has helped 20 communities challenge the dam proponents and start eco-friendly river developments involving nature reserves, eco-tourism and alternative energy resources such as wind power and composting. The Bielsko-Biala government has also approved a plan for 80 km of bicycle paths along the river. The BBC World News and Newsweek have covered Jacek’s Vistula campaign. WWF has chosen the Vistula among five most important rivers in the world that need to be left untouched and Vistula is one of them. The biggest success of the Gaja Club, as Jacek says, is that the club has made Vistula an international issue and pressurised the policy makers to depollute it. He felt that Ganga can also be depolluted like the Vistula. While on his third visit to India with his wife Beata, Jacek, who incidentally is a vegetarian, gave a mantra to save Ganga: Make use of Ganga’s spiritual connotations. He admitted that India’s path to clean Ganga river is much more easier that it was to clean Vistula. "We do not have such deep spiritual connections with river like people in India have. Ganga is regarded as a mother and goddess in India as if it is a living entity. So, why not make use of these religious sentiments to purify Ganga once again," Jacek emphasises. Is anybody listening? Beata, Jacek’s wife, has been with Jacek for over 20 years now. She is a very good painter and gives all her support to Jacek in running the Gaja Club.
Indie, The Tribune, Sunday, August 10, 2003 Lead Article |
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