Ecologists slam work planned for Cabrera National Park

Xisco Avellà, who represents the environmental group GOB on the board of the National Park of Cabrera, and the Greenpeace representative Sofia Alomar have criticised work on the island planned by the central ministry of the environment. They claim that it is “unnecessary” and is a “serious risk to the environment.” According to Avellà, the ministry's Master Plan for national parks covers three projects for the island off the south east coast of Majorca. Two of the projects are in an advanced stage of planning and will cost nearly 20 million euros. The first of the projects is an “integral plan for action and planning in Cabrera” which, according to Avellà, calls for the unnecessary expenditure of 12.5 million euros which could be put to better use helping clean up the ecosystems damaged by the Prestige oil spill. All this programme will do, says Avellà, is “remodel houses in the port and the two quays and add cement and paving to the road which goes from the port to the camp.” Both GOB and Greenpeace say that any reconstruction work on the island will have a serious impact on the environment, and traditional alternatives could be found for the road. The second project to attract criticism is the centre of interpretation planned for Colonia de Sant Jordi, which will cost 4.2 million euros. The GOB and Greenpeace representatives say that it would have been better to refurbish a building in the Colonia for a modest reception centre. But the ministry's plans include the construction of aquariums, and Alomar claimed that it will consume a lot of energy, which will “mortgage the budgets of future governments.” Both environmental groups have submitted their objections to the ministry in writing.