EUROPEAN GREENS OPPOSE CARVING UP OF SOCHI NATIONAL PARK IN RUSSIA AHEAD OF 2014 WINTER OLYMPICS

The Spokespersons of the European Green Party have condemned the decision by the Russian government to remove land from Sochi National Park and give it to the City of Sochi, which is preparing to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.

EGP Co-Spokesperson Monica Frassoni said: “We European Greens have already expressed,on several occasions,our serious concerns about the serious and irreversible damage which is being done to areas of special environmental and scientific interest in the Sochi region in order to build facilities for the 2014 Winter Olympics. The news this week that the Russian authorities are to take 3,500 hectares of land currently within the boundaries of the Sochi National Park and hand the land over to the city of Sochi is just the latest example of environmental destruction which the Russian authorities, municipal government and construction companies try to justify in the name of “necessary development” in the run-up to the Winter Olympics.”

EGP Co-Spokesperson Philippe Lamberts MEP continued: “The government plans to give Sochi National Park forested land in exchange for the land which is being removed. However, environmental scientists argue that this is far from a fair exchange as the forest land which is being given to the national park is of much less value than the unique ecosystems along the River Mzymta which have been been almost completely eradicated as a result of preparations for the Olympics. We know that our member organisation in Russia, Groza, and our observer organisation there, Green Russia, are playing an active role, along with many NGOs , in the campaign to stop further environmental vandalism and we very much hope that the legal challenges being initiated against this latest decision will be successful.”