PROTECTED AREAS SES SALINES CALA D'HORT WHY WE ARE AGAINST GOLF COURSES WINTER TOURISM

AIRPORT ENLARGEMENT THREATENS SES SALINES The airport enlargement project which the Central Government announced would cause irreversible harm to the Natural Park of ses Salines. The areas most affected are the coastal area and the dune system of es Codolar - both are habitats that are protected by the European Directives and are catalogued as Areas of Special Importance for Birds. The central government justifies the enlargement project claiming that during the summer months, the present installations cannot handle the air traffic. However the studies show that this only occurs during a couple of weeks in July and August and only on Sundays. If the project went ahead it would cause a series of socio-economic impacts, since a greater number of visitors would be able to arrive at peak times, when the basic infrastructures are already pushed to the limit: roads are congested and the sewage plants, the electrical generating plant, the hospitals and medical services are severely over loaded.

 

PROTECTED AREAS The Balearic Parliament has approved a modification of the Law of Natural Areas (Ley de Espacios Naturales) which will reduce the protection of the important ecological areas, by allowing construction in plots of 50.000 m2. This measure will only be applied in Eivissa and Formentera. We believe it will encourage speculation in some of the most important protected areas. The right wing government maintain that it is for the benefit of the country people and their children who may need to build a home on their land. Nevertheless, there are many other formulas to solve this problem without opening the door to land speculation. The protected areas are home to many important species of wildlife listed in European Directives and the authorities have a moral obligation to guarantee their conservation.   Plan of the protected area of ses salines of Ibiza and Formentera (with sattelite photo)

GO AHEAD FOR THE GOLF COURSE OF CALA D'HORT ? Cala d'Hort is no longer a Natural Park. The Balearic Parliament approved a law which reduced the park to a small area of public land where an archaeological site is situated. The Balearic government have promised to make a new law to protect the area and that until this is approved, the Plan of Natural Resources (Plan de Ordenación de Recursos Naturales - PORN) will be sufficient to protect it. There is a danger that the golf course planned in Cala d'Hort, which caused a huge public demonstration in 1999, could go ahead together with the building of a development complex to house 1000 tourists. This project has a building licence which dates from 1998. This was paralysed when the left wing coalition the "Pacte Progressista" created the park. This park is of considerable natural importance, being included in the European Network 2000 and is home to many protected plants and animals.

WHY ARE WE AGAINST THE GOLF COURSE IN CALA D'HORT ? 1. URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN A SPECIAL PROTECTED AREA A golf course is never considered an economically viable proposition, so the promoters always build an adjoining tourist complex. This would mean the building of hotels, roads, apartments and supermarkets, together with all the infrastructures that would be required for such a development. In Cala d'Hort the project allowed for a complex serving 1000 tourists. 2. TRANSFORMATION OF THE COUNTRYSIDE Eivissa is a small island in which very few natural areas remain unspoiled. Most of the coastline and the mountains have been developed. Cala d'Hort, with its breathtaking view of the island es Vedrá is one of the few beauty spots that have escaped development. Cala d'Hort is also an important area for wildlife, being home to numerous species of plants and animals many of which are listed by European Union Directives as requiring protection. The building of a golf course would mean the total transformation of the present ecosystem and consequently the elimination of habitats for the numerous species which depend upon them. 3. PRIVATISATION OF THE COUNTRYSIDE Until quite recently the countryside of Eivissa and Formentera was open to strollers. This delightful tradition has now become impossible due to the increasing enclosure of private property. Golf courses only add to this problem, since they occupy a large area of the countryside and access is limited to a privileged few. 4. WATER PROBLEM To obtain the perfect greens that golfers expect the grass requires regular watering, which on an island which has a severe water problem only aggravates the shortage.   5. CONTAMINATION Herbicides and artificial fertilisers have to be applied regularly to the "greens" to maintain their quality. These deplete the soil, pollute local water supplies and threaten wildlife. All these reasons are sufficient to oppose the construction of a golf course in Cala d'Hort or any protected area. And many of the arguments are valid for any such project in other parts of the island.

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WINTER TOURISM We believe that the islands offer the discerning visitor a large variety of other activities during winter months, such as visiting historical and archaeological sites, nature walks, scuba-diving and bird-watching, etc., which do not require the artificial transformation of natural areas. THE BATTLE TO SAVE CALA D'HORT The long battle started in 1992 and was been fought by a local group composed of the six neighbourhood associations of Sant Josep, the hunting association and the association TEHP, headed by NEUS PRATS of the GEN. Public opinion is solidly against this golf course. The public demonstration on 22 January 1999, (see CALENDAR ) saw 15.000 people, (15% of the island's population) take to the streets to demand the protection of Cala d'Hort and to reverse the environmental destruction of the island. IS THE BATTLE OVER ? Shortly after the change of government in June 1999, bulldozers moved in to start work on the golf course. Ecologists stood in the path of the bulldozers and the following day a protection order was placed on the area by the new minister for the environment of the Balearic Islands Margalida Roselló. We hoped at that time that the protection of the area was assured. However, recent political changes have reduced the protection of the area. Cala d'Hort was previously protected by the legal denomination of "Natural Park. This has now been eliminated although the minister for the environment Jaume Font maintains that the P.O.R.N. (Plan of Ordination of Natural Resources) is sufficient and that a new legal figure will be drawn up. Maybe the battle will have to be taken up again.

 

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