IOANNINA ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ASSOCIATION
28 October, 6th, P.C. 454 44, Ioannina - tel. (0030) 6972 20 80 32
site: http://www.ecoioannina.gr/
Ioannina, September 5th
2014
Open
letter
To 1. International
Water Ski and Wakeboard Federation & Mr. President, Kuno Ritschard
2. The Administrations and the athletes of
the unions and water ski federations of countries involved in the nowadays events
in our city
3. To the citizens throughout the world
Dear Sirs,
The philosophy of athletics has always been closely
associated with the environment and its protection, because sport and
environment as specific concepts, institutions and particularly, values, do constitute
mainly the supporting pillars of the global civil society, but also of the
perspective of a sustainable development for the present and future
generations.
Sport, culture and the environment are the three functional
poles of the Olympic Games spirit. With this assumption, the protection of the
natural, structural and cultural environment is now a basic requirement and
essential parameter, which must be well- ensured during the design and the development
of sporting activities.
By formulating some environmentally friendly habits, prospects
and attitudes, the ideas & values of sport and olympism
are firmly founded.
With the under prot. nr. Φ31 / 4425/212/75 Decision taken by the Ministry of Culture and Science
the lake of Ioannina, Pamvotida, and the sourrounded to this area, at a depth
of 100 meters from the shore towards the town plan and 300 meters to the other
sides, was featured as a historical place of an exceptional natural beauty
because it is inextricably linked to historical moments and traditions of the
Modern Greek World.
The wetland of Amfithea, to a portion of which
currently the water ski and wakeboard racings are held, is a sensitive
ecosystem of the lake due to the high significance of the springs and its important
habitats & rare species of flora and fauna, as integrated to the system of NATURA
2000 as a Special Protection Area (ΖΕΠ) and Special
Area of Conservation (ΕΖΔ) GR2130005.
To this particular part of the wetland and adjacent to
the irrigation embankment, the Municipality of Ioannina proceeded during the last
year with eradicating the reeds and dredging the seabed to a depth of 2 meters
in an area described geometrically with a rectangle, 800 x 80 meters, creating,
as stated, a temporary alternative water ski track to be used in case weather
conditions could cause water rippling and impede the conduct of the games in
the main race track.
The constructional works of the track were made without legal permits, without Environmental
Impact Assessment (ΜΠΕ), unsupervised
and without being ware, no one knows, what was the cost and with what sources
of money this was accomplished. The persons in charge had made an extraction of
huge quantities of aggregates from the mountain Mitsikeli, destroying the
beauty of its landscape. Inert materials used to create temporary dikes and
dredging products remained in the wetland, in order to create roads, and were
dispersed to the remaining reeds by destroying it’s purpose.
Multiple provisions of the Greek law and EU directives
were violated for which our Association filed a lawsuit against persons in
charge, and this is still on regard by the Greek Justice.
The Environmental Inspectors of the Ministry of Environment
in their reports had mentioned the abuses and breaches of environmental law and
the resulting degradation of the natural environment, as described after the autopsies
conducted (prot .nr 305 / 26.03.2014
Certificate of Violation) [1].
Since year 1966, when in the city the water ski association
was founded, for many years in the Lake Pamvotida European Water ski races where
conducted with great ease. In the year 1986 to Limnopoula area an excellent
track with modern facilities was constructed in and there should have been held
all such events.
However, in order to help some people who for their
own reasons want the obsolete irrigation embankments to stay where they are in
the regions of Anatoli-Katsika and Amfithea, and react strongly to the embankments
removal, the construction of the water ski track was arranged in contact with
the embankment, supporting the prevalence of the embankments. This followed an action in favor of the prevalence
of the embankment by Mr. Prefect Kachrimanis, who is a nominated member (vice
president) of the organizing committee of the games. With his prot. nr.
7008/6885/ 06.08.2012 letter to the scholars who compiled the Study in order to
design a cycle path around Pamvotida, they were instructed as bicycles passage
be on the embankment of Amfithea. We should stress out to this point that the
pre-study drawn by the scholars defined the bicycle crossing through the
boundaries of the settlement Amfithea and the lake.
These embankments had cut off the communication of the
lake with the wetlands (hatching and breeding areas) and the springs of Mitsikeli
mountain, which were enriching Pamvotida lake with millions of cubic meters clean
water, and turned it into a closed tank with contaminated and dirty water.
It is due to all these imposed, therefore, from now on
to remove all obsolete embankments so as the lake can in an unhindered way be
connected with the interactive springs and all these wetlands. By doing this,
Pamvotida will also restore its self-cleaning ability throughout the wet
meadows of the wider region.
Removal of the embankments so that Pamvotida can restart
its operation as a lake ecosystem, as did it once, constitutes an old proposal
of scientific experts in Lake’s Management Plan and a request from local society
of Ioannina dwellers. Any contrary view is hostile to Pamvotida because it
creates conditions for possible conversions of wetlands to building landscapes,
which condemn the lake forever to be a lake-basin, lifeless and without future.
It is clear from the above mentioned that water skiing
track existence in the wetlands of Amfithea, except natural environment
degradation, contributes to the embankments prevalence, with all previously
mentioned consequences for the lake.
It also proves that such fundamental principles of
sport were violated and the destruction of Amfithea’s wetland for water ski
track, which deceptively were promoted as "water resources developmental
project for protection-maintenance of the ecosystem", constitute a unique
event in the world offending the conduct of water ski games events in such an area.
Our Association does not contravene the water ski sport,
on the contrary we will be very pleased to establish again such international races
in our beautiful lake, to the open water track of Limnopoula and not in the
wetlands.
For
the Administrative Board
President
Konstantinos
Sakkas
Note:
[1]
Prot. Nr. 305 and 306 /26.03.2014, Certificate of Violation, Environmental
Inspectors
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0LcyCdiSTqBaXRwNlI4aUQyeEE/edit
http://www.ecoioannina.gr/open-letter/
http://www.ecoioannina.gr/open-letter/
