Greenpeace at the meeting of the Carpathian Convention in Poland: “We need a rescue plan for the Carpathians”
15.06.2023 - Representatives of Greenpeace took the floor at the meeting of the Carpathian Convention, which was held on Wednesday (14.06) in Mszana Dolna. They shared the experiences of their expedition through the Carpathian Mountains, which has already lasted over a month and addressed the need for an EU plan to protect these mountains. At the moment, the Carpathian ecosystems are not sufficiently protected. Every hour, a forest the size of five football fields disappears from the Carpathians, and only 3% of the Carpathian forests are fully protected from industrial intervention.
On June 14-16 in Mszana Dolna, Poland, hosted the Carpathian Convention [1] Implementation Committee meeting. The meeting coincides with the “Carpathian expedition”, a five-week mission by Greenpeace to publicize the ongoing devastation of the Carpathian forests. Following Romania, Ukraine, Hungary and Slovakia, the expedition is currently traveling through the Polish Carpathian Mountains from 5 to 20 June; from the Żywiec Beskid and the Tatra Mountains, to the Bieszczady and the Przemyskie Foothills.
“During our expedition we observed a lot of wonderful wild places and met people who are trying to save these places. Unfortunately, we also observed very well how these places are being destroyed. Both people and nature are losing, due to the lack of protection in the Carpathians. Instead, the winners are big companies that turn valuable nature into chipboard and pellets. This has to change! And since the Carpathians are a European natural heritage, the European Union’s involvement is needed. Therefore Greenpeace calls on the Secretariat of the Convention and all the Parties to take more determined steps to involve the EU in nature conservation in the Carpathians and to establish a dedicated working group aimed at defining the most effective financial mechanisms and funding schemes to enhance nature protection in the Carpathians that will secure the full and proper implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework as well as help to achieve targets of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 in this region”, said Krzysztof Cibor, head of the campaigns at Greenpeace Poland.
Greenpeace activists invited the delegates present in Mszana Dolna to join them in a conversation on what is needed to save the Carpathians forests, by taking a seat at a table shaped in the form of the Carpathian arch.
“The forests of the Carpathians are a symbol of European nature, and yet they are disappearing before our eyes. Among other things, Carpathians are home to Europe's largest population of bears and the second largest populations of lynx and wolves. We urgently need an EU rescue plan for the Carpathians, which will not only provide funding for nature conservation, but also funding for the local communities. It will probably take some time before the plan comes into force, so a 10-year moratorium on the construction of new roads in the Carpathians should also be implemented immediately”, said Marek Józefiak, spokesman and environmental policy expert at Greenpeace Poland.
The Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians was adopted and signed in 2003 in Kiev. During the meeting in Mszana Dolna, delegates, among other things, celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Convention. Parties to this international agreement are the countries on whose territory the Carpathian Mountains lie - the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine and Hungary. This Convention is the legal basis for cooperation between the Carpathian countries on the protection of the biodiversity value of the Carpathians and the cultural heritage of the region.
Notes;
1 - Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians; http://www.carpathianconvention.org/the-convention-17.html
For more info;
Marek Józefiak, spokesman and environmental policy expert at Greenpeace Poland;
mjozefiak@greenpeace.org, +48 53 954 4538