Illegal hunting activity in the Prespa National Park, which borders FYROM
31.1.2012
Question for written answer E-001127/2012
to the Commission
Rule 117
Michail Tremopoulos (Verts/ALE)
The uncontrolled actions of poachers in the Prespa National Park have exceeded all boundaries. In the most recent incident, on 18 January, a warden from the Prespa National Park Management Body, together with a Forestry Warden, found a large group of hunters in the area of the National Park prohibited for hunting and inside the prohibited zone 500m from the Greek border with FYROM. Moreover, the incident occurred during a severe freeze, when hunting was forbidden, since the ground was covered in snow. Similar incidents have repeatedly been recorded in the past. In the most recent incident, the Warden noted that he was threatened with death when he tried to tell the poachers that the rules must be complied with[1]. The environmental organisations the Society for the Protection of Prespa, ARCTUROS, the Hellenic Society for Environment and Cultural Heritage, the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature, the Hellenic Ornithological Society, Callisto and WWF Greece denounce this unauthorised poaching in the Prespa National Park and urge the state to take urgent action to stamp out illegal activities in protected areas and to strengthen the powers of the Park Management Body in order to enable them to carry out their duty to protect this precious, yet vulnerable, area[2].
Considering the above:
- 1.Has the Commission been informed by the Greek authorities of the unauthorised actions by poachers in Prespa National Park and other protected areas in the country?
- 2.Does it think that poaching in Greece runs counter to Greek and European legislation and, specifically, the provisions on the protection of biodiversity, the Birds Directive (2009/147/EC) and the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC)?
- 3.In particular, can a Member State allow hunting in areas in the Natura 2000 network if there are no special management plans for hunting activities in a protected area, as imposed under the ‘Guidance document on hunting based on Council Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds’ of February 2008?
- 4.What measures does the Commission intend to take in order to force a Member State to implement the relevant European legislation fully?
- [1] http://kozanimedia.gr/archives/49569
- [2] http://www.spp.gr/spp/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=6%3A2010-03-04-13-52-03&id=102%3A23-2012-&lang=el?&lang=en
OJ C 88 E, 26/03/2013