Dozens of people gathered in front of the Government Office on Monday in order to express their opinion on a new proposed reform of national parks. Protesters included those who are against the reform as well as those who are in favour of it.
"We support the initiative of the Ministry of Environment to transfer state-owned land in national parks under the unified administration of the Ministry. All around the world, unified administration of national parks is a standard practice. What is rare is parks being administered by logging companies, which is the current situation in Slovakia," says Osloboďme národné parky or Let National Parks Free petition coordinator Marek Kuchta.
All together 33,000 people have signed the petition supporting the new reform. They are demanding the extension of the no-intervention zone to at least 75 percent of the territory of national parks, as is standard in national parks abroad.
Meanwhile, the Slovak Forestry Chamber (SLsK) is demanding the withdrawal of the particular amendment to the law that includes the reform of national parks. Moreover, it demands that the transfer of land in national parks be addressed by a government amendment in order that the reform go through the standard legislative process, including a period for commenting, since the amendment was submitted to the parliamentary session directly as a parliamentary proposal. "It must be done in a way agreed by all experts," says Slovak Forestry Chamber president Milan Dolňan.
Members of parliament are expected to vote on an amendment to the law on nature and landscape protection, which includes the reform of national parks, in September. The Ministry of Environment has led a series of discussions about the reform throughout Slovakia. The most recent one, at the beginning of August, took place in the town of Svit accompanied by protests of dozens of dissatisfied people.
