Call For Solidarity With Polish Village-protest Against Destructive Mining Plans

Call for solidarity with Polish village-protest against destructive mining plans

Save the unique cultural landscapes in the Polish Karkonosze mountain region

Rudawy Janowice landscape park, Mala Kamienica (county of Stara Kamienica), threatened area by mining industry

7th July 2003

Dear colleagues,

Today sustainable development is almost a standard plea within the tourism sector. Numerous policy documents are published, projects funded and conferences held. Professionals however often tend to forget that sustainable development is based upon small daily decisions made by individual entrepreneurs, consumers and governments. Sometimes simple (bureaucratic) decision can have a tremendous effect on the prospects for sustainable future for an entire region. Often one does not to be an academic or a professional to know what is sustainable or not...

Take the case of the Karkonosze and Izery mountains in South-West Poland. At present moment this region ­ which has remained untouched for more than 50 years - is being invaded by mining companies trying to obtain long term mining concessions (just before EU accession?). It is however widely recognised that this region is unique in Europe in terms of its cultural heritage along with its historic landscapes and natural beauty.

Three international conferences organised by the Polish centre for the preservation of historic landscapes under the patronage of the International committee for historic gardens and cultural landscapes (ICOMOS-IFLA) have advised the Polish government to introduce the region into the UNESCO World Heritage list. Last year an international exhibition has been organised in Poland (Wroclaw, Jelenia Gora) and Germany (Berlin, Potsdam, Görlitz, Dresden) under the name "The Jelenia Gora (Hirschberg) valley of castels and gardens, our joint European heritage". Even in the 19th century the region was known for it's attractive and romantic landscapes when it was one of the most visited European regions (first by the European nobility, later by painters and middle class).

During communism the tourism industry was marginalized but is now slowly recovering and expected to grow steadily back to it's pre-war level. It is in this Polish region that local farmers initiated exactly 10 years ago the European Centre for Eco and Agro Tourism (ECEAT), today an international organization with branches in more 15 countries and 2.000 associated tourism accommodations promoting sustainable tourism. These first ECEAT farmers have shown successfully how tourism can contribute to sustainable development. Today however their efforts are in serious danger.

So far mining companies have obtained land in 4 villages. Applications for mining concessions have been submitted to the Polish government. Local governments have refused the present mining plans The communities however fear to be overruled by the provincial and national governments. They also expect - based on experiences elsewhere - a non-transparent decision making process.

It is felt that only with the strong support of national and international organizations local communities will be able to convince the Polish government that providing a mining concession is not an "administrative" matter to be decided by bureaucrats but first requires serious public discussion on the future development pattern for the region.

We therefore would like to request you - on behalf of the Village Protest-committees - to spend 20 minutes of your time and do one or more of the following things:

1. Give us a mandate (in case you are in the position) to put your organization under the enclosed protest letter. Send your: organization name, your name and position, your address, telephone, email-address, internet site to sender or to polen@pz.nl If possible we would appreciate also your specific motivation or opinion.

2. Send a signed (only your organization) copy of the protest letter to the Ministry and Province:
A. Ministry of Environment: Fax: +48 22 5792224, e-mail: minister@mos.gov.pl
B. Province of Lower Silisia: Fax +48 71 340 66 01, e-mail: bp@duw.pl

3. Send the letter further to your mailing list of organizations and individuals (or inform us about your contacts)

4. Publicise the "Alert" in your own media channels (and inform us about it)

5. Inform your media contacts or sent us your relevant media contacts (we are planning an
international media tour to the region)

6. Inform your Polish partners about this case and ask them to pressure their government

For more information or suggestions please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours sincerely,

Naut Kusters
ECEAT - Projects

Barbara Jochymek
ECEAT ­ Poland

Attached:
* Protest letter
* Organizations already signed
* Background information

ECEAT ­ Projects
P.O. Box 10899, 1001 EW Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tel + 31 20 4651318,
n.kusters@eceat.nl
www.eceat.org

ECEAT - Poland
Bukowka 71, 58-420 Lubawka
Tel + 48 75 74 1 1395
info@poland.eceat.org
www.poland.eceat.org