Skylakakis: The decision for wind turbines in Evros and Rhodope is based on scientific data

Based on the scientific data it will be decided whether they will finally proceed wind farms to Evro and the Rhodopeaccording to what he said in Parliament, the Minister of Environment and Energy Theodoros Skylakakisanswering a topical question of KKE, Ioannis Deli.

KKE MP Ioannis Delis complained that while the beautiful national park of Dadia was “still smoking”, the decentralized administration of Macedonia Thrace issued a decision by which he gave wind farm installation permit Inside the burnt areawithin an area designated as “Special Protection Zone” – NATURA, in the southern forest complex of Evros.

After the “outcry”, as Mr. Delis said, the government announced suspension for up to one year of the licensing of the installation of wind turbines in the forest of Dadia. The MP called on the government to cancelto abolish this decision of the decentralized administration, which attempts to install wind turbines in a forest and to ensure that the breeding habitat of the rare predators that were there is restored.

The Minister of Environment and Energy stated that “the specific licensing, in terms of a collective decision on which the decentralized administration relied, had been given before the fire. The devolved administration effectively validated this decision that had been made before the fire.”

As Mr. Skylakakis noted, “the ministry came as soon as it became known, and said that there is a suspension which will in principle last up to one year, and in the meantime there will be a scientific study on whether and what should be continued in economic activities in this affected area.’ “Fortunately, the destruction that took place in Dadia – and which is very large – has also left many clusters, which have not been tampered with. We will see how it develops in the next phase. In other words, within the burnt area, we have many stands – where the trees have been kept – to see what will be the speed of natural regeneration in the area”, said the Minister of Environment and Energy.

The government’s policy is that the first reason in these cases should be the science: “Science will provide answers as to what exactly the wind turbines are interfering with in an area. This must be documented scientifically, so that the protection of the environment is proven, and where there is a need to have the corresponding environmental equivalent, for any weaknesses they have in relation to the protection of the environment, any intervention, whether it concerns wind turbines, whether it concerns photovoltaics, whether it concerns quarries, or anything else, it must intervene in forest areas”, said Mr. Skylakakis.

“You let it be understood that after a period of time has passed and after a study has been carried out, it is possible to re-license the installation of wind turbines in this burnt forest”, said KKE MP Ioannis Delis and added: “This is an obvious one, but totally unacceptable political maneuver by the government in relation to this issue and he is certainly not the only one. It does not take special scientific documentation to make someone think that wind turbines cannot be put in a protected area, such as the Natura area, much less in an area that has been burned. In other words, it has been injured, the natural environment has been eaten, the birds and animals have left, and while we need to reforest there to invite them, so that they can come back again, we will go to work.”

The Minister of Environment and Energy, however, insisted that “the discussion must obviously be done with scientific criteria and we must look for solutions that optimize both environmental protection and green growth».

In this spirit, Theodoros Skylakakis said, addressing the KKE MP: “But for me, my job, the government’s job, is not the temporary benefits, political or otherwise, but to do work, to do work and to to reduce the dioxide that goes into the atmosphere and destroys our forests – this is primarily, across the planet, the dioxide destroys our own forests – and to ensure the protection of the environment, but in scientific terms. To know what we do, why we do it, how we do it, who is affected, how we help not to be affected, which populations are affected and how we help not to be affected, and to fully document all this scientifically. This is our policy.”