Oceana accuses the Cabrera board of trustees of being complicit in the deterioration of the National Park
The National Park in the Balearic Islands is undergoing one of the worst periods since its creation, and the current Board of Trustees is contributing to blocking the enlargement of its maritime area.
Press Release Date: January 16, 2013
Location: Madrid
Contact:
Marta Madina | email: mmadina@oceana.org | tel.: Marta Madina
Oceana has warned about the breach of practically all the obligations assigned to the Board by the National Parks Act and its own regulations.
The maritime conservation organisation Oceana has described the Board of Trustees of the Archipelago of Cabrera Maritime-Terrestrial National Park as inoperative, due to its almost total lack of activity in 2012. The Board’s failings include the lack of regular meetings and its tolerance of the deterioration of park management, as no actions have been taken or declarations made against the drastic staff cuts in recent months or against the disappearance of the funds assigned to this protected space in the Balearic Islands.
“Cabrera is undergoing one of its worst periods since it was declared a national park. Over the entire last year, the Board of Trustees has breached its own regulations and thus the National Parks Act by its lack of activity”, says Xavier Pastor, Executive Director of Oceana for Europe. “The obligations of the Board of Trustees include meeting at least four times every year to organise the necessary activities and ensure compliance with any regulations concerning the park. Only one meeting was held, which moreover was announced only three days in advance. Thus, no actions have been taken in favour of this protected space”.
Internal regulations also specify the roles assigned to the Chair of the Board of Trustees, a position held since December 2011 by Severiano Quevedo, someone who had never been involved in environmental issues before, and who was appointed by the Councillor for Agriculture, Environment, and Territory, Gabriel Company.
Among other things, the Chair of the Board must ensure compliance with any agreements reached. For this reason, Oceana would like to remind that in June 2011, when the previous Chair, Albert Catalán, was still at its helm, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously, with no abstentions, in favour of an agreement giving full support to the recommendations for the enlargement of the maritime area of the National Park submitted by Oceana.
“The Chair of the Board of Trustees is blocking the measures unanimously taken one year ago to start the enlargement of the Cabrera National Park. He has not urged the Council for the Environment to carry out a full mapping of the marine habitats in the park and adjoining areas, as was agreed, or to perform any socioeconomic, legal, and management studies. He won’t even answer our letters requesting a meeting to provide documents supporting this initiative. The current Chair of the Board of Trustees is damaging the management and conservation of Cabrera through his ineffectiveness”, concludes Pastor.
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