The NGO Clima21 called for the defense of Venezuelan National Parks after President Nicolás Maduro announced the creation of the National Recreation and Tourism System for the Venezuelan working class.
The organization highlighted that according to statements by the president, it was never said that the named destinations are National Parks, “that is, Areas Under Special Administration Regime (Abrae)”.
Therefore, they point out that it is the responsibility of the government according to the Constitution in its Article 127 “to protect National Parks, Natural Monuments and other areas of ecological importance.”
Defend National Parks
Likewise, Clima21 highlights that this area is protected and “governed by specific legal regulations.”
That in the case of this type of Abrae, “they have as their objective the long-term conservation of the ecological and cultural values of these areas.”
Any activity carried out on these sites must be governed by the different Management Plans and Use Regulations approved for each of these areas.
They emphasize that even “when recreation is included in the decrees creating National Parks as a permitted activity, these must be subject to the primary objective of creating them.”
strict regulations
That is to say that these recreational acts must have strict regulations that can guarantee that any activity; and that in turn is not detrimental to these protected areas.
“These guidelines exclude any form of mass tourism that by its nature always generates serious environmental and socio-cultural impacts, some of them in perpetuity,” the NGO stressed.
For the organization, National Parks are part of the environmental and cultural functions because they are essential in the development of the country.
As well as in compliance with the “Sustainable Development Goals of the Nation, compliance with national commitments on climate change and the realization of the human rights of Venezuelans.”
Serious actions in recent years
The organization pointed out this new announcement as a serious fact. In his opinion, it facilitates the illegal use, the commodification of spaces and looting of biological resources.
As well as the institutional abandonment of the Protected Natural Areas of Venezuela, generating serious and irreparable damage in many of them.
They also stressed that the enjoyment of Venezuelans should not be promoted with actions that only destroy and violate other rights.
worrying ads
In the statement they express that all these actions by the Venezuelan authorities are worrying.
“We urge the executive to comply with the constitutional and legal obligations to protect these Natural Areas and based on them, strengthen the principles and mechanisms that protect them,” they expressed in their statement.
Similarly, they called on the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment to urge the Maduro government to comply with its obligations, especially in terms of environmental conservation.
Because “it constitutes a fundamental element for the achievement of a dignified life for all Venezuelans«.
They also called on citizens to defend the country’s National Parks, since these are fundamental elements of the comprehensive security of the nation.
