A broad representation of environmental and naturalist activists in Donostia-San Sebastián this Wednesday called for the Basque Government to take "exceptional measures" to identify and restore to the current situation the degraded areas of Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa. The Government of Imanol Pradales should, in its view, give "priority" to the implementation of the new legislation that has been adopted in Europe.

Although the quote was fixed in the park of Cristina Enea, one of the lungs of Donostia, very dear to Gladys del Estat, finally by time the Live Forests platform, the coordinator Denon Berdeak, the peasant action Egurra eta Kandela, and representatives of the ecologist groups Eguzki eta Ekologistak, have been concentrated in Tabakalera. The Government document has been presented at the hearing, restoring nature, with the support of 22 other actors, in addition to the five groups that have created the text.

A long way towards compromises

On 17 August the Council of Environment Ministers of the European Union adopted the Nature Restoration Regulation. Member countries will therefore have to return 20% of degraded land and marine areas to their former state by 2030 and all ecosystems will be restored by 2050.

Ekologistak Martxan recalled that international negotiations on restoring ecosystems have been long to reach international commitments. The COP15 Conference on Biodiversity, held in Montreal in 2022, approved for the first time the “goal of living in harmony with nature” by 2050.

This agreement, however, must face major threats and challenges such as the protection of natural spaces, the control of multinationals, the recognition of indigenous peoples and the recovery of nature.

The European Union has now adopted the Nature Restoration Regulation, in its biodiversity strategy, on the road to achieving this objective.

A slot

They have thus taken advantage of the "reschedule" of this regulation to call on the Basque Government to take steps to ensure that, at least, it complies with the "minimum aspects" of the regulation. Each group has made its own reading of the law and has demanded Lakua from different areas and perspectives.

Ekologistak Martxan believes that the Basque Government should take immediate steps, “without waiting” for the restoration plan being drawn up by the Spanish Government’s Ministry for the Ecological Transition, as it has sufficient tools to do so.

For the group of baserritarras Egurra eta Kandela, who works in the field of agroecology, the regulation requires that ecosystems be “healthy, bioplural and resilient”, and for this it is essential to move from an intensive productive system to the ecological.

The threat of the tapia law

But even though the law is “good news,” some warnings have also been given to him. The Eguzki Group, for example, has considered that if so far nature restoration projects have not been carried out “it has not been for lack of a law or regulation” and has set as an example what happened with the Lemoiz nuclear power plant or the Txingudi Plan, “it has been 30 years and it is still not fulfilled”.

The Denon Berdeak Group, for its part, has warned that “projects of greater public interest” – with the Basque rule known as the Tapia Law – can be imposed over environmental conservation.

In any case, they have also made proposals to the Basque Government: that in the cities and surroundings trees cover at least 10% of their area, ensuring citizen participation; that a Law on Trees and Urban Green Areas is created; and that all types of “arboricides”, “especially eucalyptus plantations that significantly degrade the ecosystem and biodiversity,” says the Basak platform.

Also in municipalities

At the hearing on Wednesday, the representatives of the five groups agreed on the need to disseminate this document to the peoples. In order to do so, they will address the municipalities, not only in search of support, but also call for the adoption of measures in those matters that fall within their competence.

Call to Gernika

On the other hand, they have encouraged all citizens to join the demonstration that this Saturday will be held in Gernika under the motto Guggenheim Urdaibai Stop, as the mobilization comes “fully” with their claim to recover natural spaces.