Chronicle of a delayed judgment

On April 29, the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest approved a decision to approve the area that will be part of the Văcărești Natural Park. It is 183 ha located in the basin of the planned Lake Văcărești. The Council's decision was based on the favorable opinion of the Romanian Academy's Commission for the Protection of Natural Monuments on the scientific substantiation study on the biodiversity of flora and fauna, carried out by the Initiative Group for the establishment of the Văcărești Nature Park.

At the beginning of June 2014, the Initiative Group inaugurated, in the presence of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Environment, the Observatory of the Văcărești Natural Park, a place from where visitors can get a bird's-eye view of the area and receive specialized explanations on the ecosystem.

The Bucharest City Hall announced in early August 2014 that it intends to build a €30,000,000 project entitled Aquadom in the park by 2020. "We want to build it in Văcărești Park. We got in touch with Philippe Cousteau, the nephew and research successor of Jacques Cousteau, and he said he would help us. Help meant a free feasibility study. Father Cousteau was a great lover of the Romanian delta. It'll be a 360-degree aquarium. Not just a tunnel. Visitors will be able to observe the life above them. It is as if they were in the ocean," Bogdan Hreapcă, head of the PMB's Investment Department, told B365.ro. Habitats from different parts of the Earth would be recreated in Aqvadom.

Environment minister Attila Korodi told EVZ in August that the PMB had not consulted the ministry about the project and that he did not believe that a large-scale aquarium could be built in Văcărești Nature Park. The minister concluded, "once the clear legal framework of the protected area will be established, the management plan will also be established, that is, what and how can be built in the protected area".

On September 2, there was a fire in the basin of Lake Văcărești. Several hectares of land burned. "There have been several fires in the area this summer, even bigger than today's. The causes were both natural - namely self-ignition, due to high temperatures, and as a result of a deliberately lit fire," ISU Bucharest representatives told Mediafax. The park's ecosystem is not only facing fires, but also tree felling, waste abandonment and fish poaching.

On September 4 and September 30, the draft resolution to approve the establishment of the Văcărești Natural Park reappeared on the agenda of the General Council. In June, the prefect of Bucharest initiated legal action against several decisions, citing procedural reasons arising from the way the meetings in which they were approved were convened. In total, for 47 decisions, the prefect asked the CGMB to revoke them. Because of the Council's lack of response, he took legal action to annul them.

The council resumed approving these acts in September, but due to inter-party relations, which led to boycotts of the meetings by the PDL and PNL groups, the projects that required a 2/3 vote of councillors were put on hold. Among them is the one on Văcărești Park.

This is despite the fact that the park "exists de facto, has perfect legal and urban planning coverage, is supported by a large majority of the population and the press, by national and international environmental organizations, by the Romanian Academy and the Government and even by the Bucharest City Hall. Moreover, Bucharest, Brasov and Iasi are in the Infringement procedure (within the EC) for exceeding the concentrations of dust particles (PM 10) in the air. [...] In the meantime, the ecosystem whose value has been confirmed by the scientific opinion of the Romanian Academy is still subject to human aggression and threatened with destruction," reads a press release signed by the initiative group for the establishment of the Văcărești Natural Park, made up of the associations Save the Danube and the Delta, Ecopolis, Kogayon and "National Geographic" - Romania.

In addition to a decision by the city's municipal council, a government decision is needed to establish the protection. This would make the area the first urban nature park in Romania. It is home to 94 bird species, 40 of which are protected at European level and 20 worldwide. Medium-sized animals include otters and foxes.

In 1988, in the area between Calea Văcărești, Șoseaua Olteniței, Șoseaua Vitan-Bârzești and Splaiul Dâmboviței, work began on the construction of Lake Văcărești, which never became operational. Since the Revolution, the ownership of part of the land has been in dispute, with more than 150 claims. In 2002, part of the land was leased for 49 years for sports facilities. Of the 183 hectares of the area, approximately 40 hectares are under concession and/or in dispute. "The legal situation of the land in the area as well as the ownership regime are issues that have nothing to do with the biodiversity conservation operation and the establishment of protection, as the Protected Areas Law (OUG 57/2007) - Art. 7 allows the establishment of protection on any form of ownership," the Initiative Group informed the group at the end of April. "The status of protected area - Natural Park - IUCN Category V will allow the development of a management strategy that may include: visitation, development of educational activities and organization of the natural area into conservation and development areas. In other words, the area will be returned in its entirety to the inhabitants of Bucharest, while respecting its characteristics and conservation principles," they added.