The Green Party opened a trial at the Istanbul Regional Administrative Court to stop the construction of a road through the Palovit Valley in the Çamlıhemşin district of Rize on the east coast of the Black Sea.
The Greens demand to stop the construction of the road and filed a complaint against the Rize Governor's Office and the Trabzon Natural Heritage Protection Council.
As reported by the Greens, the surroundings are well-known as a region of 1st degree natural protection. The party declared that the architects did not design their plans in order to protect the place in line with law 2863. At the same time parts of the valley are assigned as national park areas. The Greens highlighted the fact that paragraph 15 of the above mentioned law requires a master plan and its approval by the regulation office.
The Greens argue that the permission for the construction of the road is unlawful considering article 2863 of the National Park Act.
The Green Party expressed their concerns in the following statement:
"The unique ecosystem of the Black Sea is under threat of opportunists. In line with the construction of power plants and dams there is not one single valley left untouched in the eastern Black Sea region between Macahel and Ikizdere, not one single place is left unexploited. As if this is not enough, now trucks and dredges entered the Fırtına valley under the pretence of road works. This valley was recently protected from the construction of a power plant. The mentioned region is well-known as an area of 1st degree natural protection and is furthermore located within the borders of a national park".
"The Palovit and Fırtına Valleys are the regions being touched by human influence the least. They contain naturally aged forests, alluvium forests and endemic types of flora and fauna. We cannot make sense out of the efforts taken in our country to destroy nature while other countries accept their responsibility to increase natural areas and to propagate ecological politics. "
"We announce to the public that as the Green Party we take up the legal struggle for the Black Sea against planned hydro-electric power plants, unauthorized roads, dams, gold mines and stone quarries."
Ecologic value more important than profits
The Fırtına and Palovit valleys are the habitat of an extremely sensitive ecosystem. The naturally aged forests within the valleys account for the region's and for the country's most pristine and rare forest ecosystems. Palovit Valley is of great importance in terms of nature conservation since it is the habitat of a unique diversity of endemic plants as well as animal species. It is the region with the most dense population of grizzly bears all over Turkey. The area is also home to wild boars, the hook horned mountain goat, wild goats, wolves, foxes, jackals, wild cats, lynx, roe deer and badgers. (CUB/EZÖ/VK)
