SAVE SPANISH BEARS

A business consortium, backed by regional government, is threatening the continued, precarious survival of the Cantabrian brown bear or Oso pardo Cantábrico (Ursus arctos), already catalogued as in danger of extinction in Spain.  An unsustainable project to build a ski resort in an important corridor of access for the last remaining bears in the region of the San Glorio pass in the Cordillera Cantábrica mountains of N.Spain may be given approval. Relatively low altitude and regular windy conditions would ensure the need for water-draining, artificial snow machine use. The local population will not get rich on the occasional weekend of piste skiing a year whilst destroying habitat of bear, capercaillie, marsh fritillary and apollo butterflies, among others of the area's natural wildlife and beauty - it's main attraction. (This petition will also be sent to the EU Minister for the Environment, currently Stavros Dimas.)
For more information visit;
www.picos-accommodation.co.uk/MammalsofthePicosdeEuropa.html#cantabrianbrownbear
and www.iberianatureforum.com/index.php/topic,47.0.html
Pedimos a los ministros del medio ambiente de España y del
Parliamento Europeo que no permiten la construcción de una macro-estación de esqui, insostenible por la falta de nieve fiable y por vientos fuertes, en un paraje natural tan importante para la supervivencia del oso pardo y del urogallo entre demas especies tan emblematicas de Espana.

A business consortium, backed by regional government, is threatening the continued, precarious survival of the Cantabrian brown bear or Oso pardo Cantábrico (Ursus arctos), already catalogued as in danger of extinction in Spain.  An unsustainable project to build a ski resort in an important corridor of access for the last remaining bears in the region of the San Glorio pass in the Cordillera Cantábrica mountains of N.Spain may be given approval. Relatively low altitude and regular windy conditions would ensure the need for water-draining, artificial snow machine use. The local population will not get rich on the occasional weekend of piste skiing a year whilst destroying habitat of bear, capercaillie, marsh fritillary and apollo butterflies, among others of the area's natural wildlife and beauty - it's main attraction. (This petition will also be sent to the EU Minister for the Environment, currently Stavros Dimas.)
For more information visit;
www.picos-accommodation.co.uk/MammalsofthePicosdeEuropa.html#cantabrianbrownbear
and www.iberianatureforum.com/index.php/topic,47.0.html
Pedimos a los ministros del medio ambiente de España y del
Parliamento Europeo que no permiten la construcción de una macro-estación de esqui, insostenible por la falta de nieve fiable y por vientos fuertes, en un paraje natural tan importante para la supervivencia del oso pardo y del urogallo entre demas especies tan emblematicas de Espana.

Please let the Spanish Minister for the Environment, Cristina Narbona, know that this is of worldwide importance. Her green credentials should prevent her from letting this project continue. A major problem facing bears today is population insularization, in which subpopulations of bears become isolated from one another and each isolated subpopulation lives in a relatively small area with limited resource diversity. Already many isolated subpopulations of some species, including brown bears and American black bears, have gone extinct. These proposals are illegal. The areas in question are (supposedly) protected by EU laws, in particular NATURA 2000 which states that any building proposals have to be compatible with the conservation of affected habitats and species. If the project goes ahead, it will be funded by the very same institution that made the law. These laws were not made to be broken!  Uncertain and windy conditions promise the project's unsustainability. We want green mountains and wildlife not concrete and artificial snow contaminating our rivers.
Por favor, permite que la Ministra de Medio Ambiente de España, Cristina Narbona, sepa que esto es de suma importancia para el mundo entero. Sus credenciales verdes deberían ser suficiente para prevenir la continuidad del proyecto.
El mayor problema a los que se enfrentan los osos hoy en día es al aislamiento de las poblaciones, cuyos núcleos de subpoblación se ven abocados a un aislamiento unos de otros en pequeñas áreas con una diversidad de recursos muy reducida. Debido a esto muchas de estas subpoblaciones, incluidos osos pardos y negros en América, se han extinguido.
Estos proyectos son ilegales. Estas áreas en cuestión, están protegidas por la Leyes de la Unión Europea, en particular la Red Natura 2000 que obliga a los estados a proponer proyectos compatibles con la conservación de los hábitats y especies afectadas. Si el
proyecto sale adelante, será financiado por la misma Institución que hizo la Ley. ¡Estas Leyes no han sido hechas para incumplirlas!. La incertidumbre y las condiciones ventosas de la zona refuerzan la insostenibilidad del proyecto. Nosotros queremos naturaleza y montañas verdes, no hormigón y cañones de nieve contaminando
nuestros ríos.