Academics protest against changes to bill on care for national parks

Some of the country’s leading academics and four former environment ministers have protested against a Senate-proposed amendment to the bill on care for national parks. In a petition to the lower house they say that the proposed changes would severely restrict possibilities for environmental protection and would have far-reaching consequences for the country’s nature reserves. The proposed changes go against the latest trends in environmental protection in Europe where countries are increasing the number of nature reserves and the area of no-intervention zones in them, the petition says. The Senate-proposed changes predominantly back the interests of villages located inside nature reserves, plans for local development and the tourist industry.