Developers meet resistance from environmentalists in Slovakia National Park

“We have completely lost the spirit of the country,” says Pavel Herich of the Pre Dolinu (For the Valley) civic association – a recently created bottom-up initiative committed to the protection of the Demänovská valley in northern Slovakia.

The underground cave system of the Demänovská Valley is world famous from a scientific point of view. “It is the system of dozens of underground rivers, river beds and cave biotopes directly connected to these waters”, which is threatened by the unbearable construction of hotels and cottages in the upper parts of the valley, he said. Pavel Herich told FairPlanet.

Herich is the head of the For the Valley association and, along with other members and activists, started a petition calling for a halt to construction works and traffic regulation in the Demänovská Valley in mid -November 2020. The petition had collected over 113,000 signatures in a country with a population of 5.4 million, and as such is considered a very successful initiative.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE VALLEY

The first serious interest in the site dates back to the beginning of the 18th century, when the first scientific findings about it were published. “One of the oldest cave maps in Europe comes from here. We have the largest cave system in all of the Carpathian Mountains, from Romania to Hungary, Ukraine and Slovakia,” said Herich.

In 1929, part of the Demänovská Valley was proclaimed the Demänovská Valley National Nature Reserve and, as such, included in the fifth and highest degree of protection. Later, in 1978, the Demänovská valley was incorporated into the new Low Tatras National Park. The valley has become more popular, which has resulted in increased investment in the construction of infrastructure for winter sports and accommodation.

In 2005, the authority over construction projects in the valley was transferred to the municipalities, which in the case of the Demänovska valley meant that five members of the municipal council and a mayor were in charge of the decision-making processes of the natural heritage of all the people of the region.

The future zoning plan had then evolved in favor of the projects of a new developer. Tourism and the uncontrolled construction of buildings have taken their toll in the upper parts of the valley, under official stamps from control bodies, Herich said, describing the genesis of the show.

Developers’ ambitions collide with environmental concerns

While the upper part of the valley, which includes hotels and ski resorts, is in the third degree of natural protection, a few kilometers through the valley extends a complex system of caves with drinking water resources that is classified in the fifth protection zone. “It is the most important source of drinking water for [the] Liptov, “said Herich. Therefore, the development of recreation in the upper part raises concerns among environmentalists, activists and residents of the region.” On the one hand, the pipeline is sometimes faulty and with the materials of construction that we have seen around, either the insulation, the adhesive or the paint that [over time] degrades, enters groundwater and is therefore a hazard.

About 100 meters from the mountain lake of Vrbické, which is in the fifth degree of natural protection, a large hotel called Damian is under construction. Paul Zika, general manager of the Damian complex, claims that when it comes to materials the hotel is built with high quality materials and is said to be one of the greenest in Europe with one of the weakest carbon footprints as well. .

The resort will accommodate 700 guests and offer a variety of services, which Zika says will reduce the mobility of people up and down the valley, as they will find everything under one roof.

The current mayor of the village of Demänovská Dolina, Ľubomíra Klepáčová, admitted during a discussion on the TA3 television channel that massive constructions can worry people, but added at the same time that “tourism infrastructure is needed in a reasonable measure, which will not be Harmful to the environment. “However, she did not specify what” reasonable measure “would mean.

Obviously, a developer would define “reasonable extent” differently from activists or environmentalists, and that seems to be the key premise, both from an environmental protection standpoint and to someone who sees nature as a source. of profit.

People around Herich, as well as other activists, argue that the current speed of construction in the upper part of the valley has exceeded the accepted limits in the Low Tatras National Park. “The protection of nature in the national park is superior to any other activity under the law,” Herich says. At this point, he continued, something that changes on a great level affects the life below, not to mention the miles of plastic tubing and infrastructure being built under the ground of the national park.

Regarding the question of the future of tourism in the Demänovska valley, Zika from the seaside resort of Damian believes that “the ideal way is to seek the symbiosis of sustainable development of tourism and protection of the natural environment”, a approach strongly criticized by sociologists and environmentalists arguing that one can hide different actions towards specific goals behind the banner of “sustainable development” to such an extent that it becomes vague and inherently contradictory as a term.

LOOKING FOR A SOLUTION

Currently, the members of For the Valley are trying to communicate with all parties involved: the village of Demänovská Dolina, the developers and, last but not least, the deputies in order to find a solution reflecting the importance of the Demänovská Valley.

The need for communication between the different parties is all the more pressing as the village Demänovská Dolina is working on a new zoning plan. In an online discussion hosted by the Goethe-Institute in Bratislava, Pavel Herich, with his guests Juraj Rizman (activist and former director of Greenpeace Slovakia) and Iveta Niňajová (of the citizens’ initiative My sme Les) agreed that the petition is only just beginning and that this initiative, which has alarmed so many people, must be satisfied only with a real solution for the valley of Demänovská.

The Demänovská Valley case may be a good example of what it takes to participate in civic campaigns for justice.

Image: Zuzana Gogová.