Parks for the Nation (2010-2012)

About the ammendment

This new act on national parks, a community initiative, stipulated that the requirement of obtaining a consent of the self-government authorities to establish a new or extend the existing national park would be abolished. In return, the new act would introduce an obligation to consult the establishment or extension of a national park with the local authorities, but without giving them a right to stop it. The new act also put forward that the Minister of the Environment should consult each decision on the dismissal of the director of a national park with the State Council for Nature Conservation and notify the public about the reasons behind the dismissal. This was supposed to prevent dismissing a director for non-objective reasons.

During a campaign lasting several months and joined by many Polish nature organisations (including Greenpeace, OTOP, WWF Polska, PTOP Salamandra and other) and ordinary citizens, the draft of the act was signed by more than 250,000 people, which was much more than the 100,000 required by law.