The importance of the protected Sinai was discussed yesterday in the main building of UNESCO in Paris - doctor of anthropology and professor at the University of Toulouse, Pablo Dominguez presented the case at the headquarters of the biosphere reserve.
He will do the same at the beginning of the week in Brussels, where he will tell the European parliamentarians that the mountain, on which the Ministry of Defense planned to establish a training and shooting range, falls under the Tara biosphere, which is already protected.
This is what Aleksandar Milatović from the Civic Initiative Save Sinjajevina and an activist of the Coalition for Sustainable Development (KOR) told "Vijesta".
Dominguez is a world-renowned scientist, who has been researching the connection between people and the nature of the Mediterranean for years.
Milatović said that the KOR adviser in Paris talked about what he saw during the scientific research of Sinjajevina.
"Dominguez, whose advice we have been listening to for months and who is helping us to preserve Sinajevina, was ours yesterday in Paris, and the voice of all the herdsmen from Sinajevina, as well as those who raise, pick teas on that mountain, enjoy untouched nature. He told the experts from UNESCO about the fact that the location where the military training ground is planned falls under one of the reserves that is already protected, i.e. it is directly connected to the biosphere of the Tara river canyon, he explained to them the impact of the possible training on the living world, he talked about the role of local communities, the traditional way of life and what he has been studying for years - nomadic cattle breeding".
Dominguez also talked about the earlier intentions to declare that mountain a nature park, but also about the fact that he and his fellow scientists, during the research of the socio-ecological jewel of Europe, discovered that, contrary to recommendations, the Montenegrin government decided to use it for a military training ground:
"In the heart of inhabited pastures and within a UNESCO biosphere reserve, with no publicly available environmental and health impact assessment, no available economic impact study and no substantive negotiations with the affected pastoralist communities, rejecting the GI Save Sinjajevina petition...Government officials are the ones who are fighting for the preservation of Sinjajevina qualified as enemies of the state or anti-government propagandists", Dominguez said in Paris, according to his report, which "Vijesti" had access to.
They will also talk about nature in Brussels
Dominguez was invited to talk about what he saw in Montenegro in Brussels at the beginning of next week - first before the Parliamentary Committee for Stabilization and Association, and then before the European Commission, that is, their Directorate for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement.
"Apart from Sinjajevina, he will also talk about the problems of building small hydropower plants, Durmitor, Lake Skadar, destroyed Tara, polluted air in several Montenegrin municipalities. We have no other mechanism to deal with those who destroy the natural resources of Montenegro and protect the ecological state, except to inform the European Commission directly about what is happening here, which is what we are doing now. It's fortunate that our advisor, Dominguez, is really a scientist who doesn't have to go anywhere for his opinion like most of the 'experts' here, but will talk about what he came up with through his work and what he saw. And he saw what all well-intentioned people see - that natural resources are being destroyed because of the interests of investors," said Milatović.
The KOR activist referred to the opinions of experts on the devastation of nature throughout Montenegro, which were found in the Draft Report for Chapter 27 - Environmental Protection and Climate Change, for the period from November 2018 to October 2019, which was submitted to the members of the European Parliament and on which European parliamentarians can amend in the coming period. "That is quite expected because it reflects the real situation. We hope that after listening to Dominguez and our friends from the European Greens, they will issue an ultimatum to Montenegro - to stop destroying nature".
The government and CRBC are deliberately destroying Tara?
Dejan Milovac from the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector said that the repeated evaluations about the devastation of Tara are not a surprise, when you bear in mind that in the past year, since the first videos from the highway construction site were released to the public, the Government has not done anything other than to improve the situation. fix it, but to stop destroying the river once and for all.
"The case of the devastation of Tara is, unfortunately, another proof that Montenegro is trapped and that the institutions are too weak to deal with those who are paid to represent the public, and they do everything to please someone else. Until now, MANS has repeatedly warned that this kind of road construction and devastation of the protected area of the Tara River is not the result of an incident or someone's carelessness, but very likely a premeditated agreement between the Government and the Chinese contractor".
Milovac pointed out that, as time passes, it is very difficult to find another explanation for the absolute passivity of state bodies at all levels and in all branches of government to even in principle acknowledge the existence of a problem, let alone determine and take responsibility for the devastation of this scale.
"In addition to the fact that access to information related to the construction of the highway is almost completely suspended, the data on financing and construction are also secret, there is no readiness of the state prosecutor's office, nor the Parliament of Montenegro to deal more seriously with this problem. Several criminal reports that MANS has so far sent to the competent prosecutor's office are still without an echo, while initiatives for parliamentary control of the work of departmental bodies of the executive power have so far been without any results. All of this points to the conclusion that adequate protection of the Tara River is not at the top of the Government's priorities when it comes to highway construction. What is indisputable and can be seen with the naked eye at the construction site, the Chinese company CRBC does not care much about environmental protection at its construction sites, because the Government did not send a strong enough message that Tara is important for Montenegro". The experts working on the report for chapter 27 emphasized, among other things, that the Tara River was "much damaged" by the construction of the Bar-Boljare highway, that UNESCO also observed serious impacts on the riverbed, and that the UN agency "expressed concern due to possible impacts downstream, which is why she asked the authorities to carefully assess all impacts".
Milovac: We will see what the price will be for Tara
Milovac said that not only the extent of the devastation on Tara, but above all the Government's attitude towards the problem and the behavior of the CRBC company itself, "open a huge space for doubt that the devastation was not an incident, but a premeditated scenario in the agreements regarding the construction of the highway".
"As long as the Government continues to ignore very harsh warnings regarding Tara, and on construction sites it protects the interests of CRBC and not the public, the space for such doubts will increase. Finally, I am convinced that the Government will not be able to ignore the warnings, especially the EU, for too long, because in the negotiations on Chapter 27 - environmental protection, this kind of behavior will have to be sanctioned. What will be the price of that, we have yet to see".
HURRY: And Marković to resign
The Citizens' Movement URA announced yesterday that the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, which was managed by Pavle Radulović, is the biggest culprit for the humiliating report in the field of the environment: "Therefore, Duško Marković must follow the example of Radulović and resign because of the ecocide of Montenegro. If he does not do that, it will be clear that his government is purposefully destroying Montenegro, in a way that is worse than any occupier in the history of our country. His government destroyed almost every natural asset of the country. From the north to the sea, the citizens defended the natural beauty like guerillas, and many did not resist under the arrogance and corruption of the state officials".
Bonus video:
