site.btaOn World Environment Day, Green Movement Co-Leader Thanks Supporters for Standing Up for Nature's Protection

During a meeting with supporters on the campaign trail, Green Movement co-leader Toma Belev thanked them for standing up to protect nature and catalogued the successful battles that his party has fought for environment together with them, the party said in a press release. 

His speech focused on the importance of grassroot support for all of the party's causes: to protect nature parks, try to stop land swap deals affecting forests, stop development projects in spots with pristine nature, fight illegal logging, expand the network of protected areas, to mention but a few. "We never had 121 MPs in the []240-seat] Parliament but we never used this as an excuse because what we need to do is not make excuses but protect the nature which is our home, and preserve the places we love so that our children can have a chance to enjoy the unique nature of Bulgaria," he said.

He argued that when the Green Movement became part of the government through the coalition with Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria, it could do more: a new protected maritime area was designated in the Bay of Koral in 2022, 100 km of Bulgarian rivers were granted protected status, the efforts of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms to enhance the votes-for-firewood scheme were thwarted, nearly brought to an end the long court battle against the Sofia waste incinerator project.

"Our kids grew up with the street protests. Each of us should remember that there is rarely a corner of Bulgaria that we did not fight for and if there is still pristine nature, it is because people have been fighting for it for years and decades. And it makes sense to participate and to fight for causes and ideas, to fight for nature and the environment, because that is fighting for the future," said Belev.