PS Welcomes Concessions in National Parks Zoning but Asks Taraba to Revise Draft

Bratislava, 20 March (TASR) - The opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party welcomes the fact that concessions are being made in the zoning of national parks (NP) and that an appropriate level of protection is being proposed for certain areas, MP Tamara Stohlova (PS) told a press conference on Friday. However, she called on Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) not to submit the zoning proposal to the government for discussion yet, but to thoroughly revise it. "The concessions we see in the zoning proposals are positive proof that the pressure we're exerting makes sense, but at the same time, it isn't enough. We must continue to push, because the proposals are still insufficient. From this platform, I therefore call on Minister Taraba not to submit them for government approval next week, as he had announced, and to use the time he still has - until he needs to submit them to the European Commission, which is actually not until summer - to thoroughly revise the plans for all four national parks," stated Stohlova. The lawmaker noted that the proposal restores the appropriate level of protection for some reserves. "I'm particularly pleased that this is also happening in so-called development areas, where there has been enormous pressure from developers," she said, noting that this primarily concerns areas in the High Tatra mountains, but the changes also affect the Western Tatra mountains. According to her, the worst situation remains in the Poloniny National Park "where the problem is insufficiently protected old-growth forests, which are also a condition in the recovery plan". She noted that the Environment Ministry lacks a methodology for designating these areas. Currently, four zoning proposals are undergoing an inter-ministerial comment procedure, namely those for the Tatra National Park, the Low Tatra National Park, the Poloniny National Park, and the Little Fatra National Park. Completing the zoning process through the adoption of government decrees is a goal in the recovery plan for the disbursement of the eighth payment request. am