On Friday, non-profit organization We Are Nature.Brussels urged the Brussels government to pursue a more decisive climate policy. The movement demands a moratorium on the destruction of nature reserves in Brussels. Failure to do so will result in legal action against the Region.
The Brussels Gardeners Forum Des Jardiniers had already drawn up a manifesto last year to ask for a moratorium on the destruction of nature reserves and the felling of trees in favor of new construction projects. That manifesto and accompanying petitions were signed by 27 civic groups and 40,000 citizens, it says. The forum also says it has been received at various cabinets of Brussels ministers, including the cabinet of Prime Minister Rudi Vervoort (PS). There would have been constructive conversations there.
“After a year, we have not received any answer. With the new collective We Are Nature.Brussels, we are therefore once again asking for a moratorium to be issued to protect Brussels’ natural areas,” says Bernadette Stallaert of the Tuiniersforum Des Jardiniers and vzw We AreNature. “There is an urgent need to anticipate climate change in Brussels. If the government does not comply with our demand, we will go to court in September to achieve our goals.”
In concrete terms, the moratorium for We Are Nature should mean that the natural areas in Brussels, including the Friche Josaphat and the Donderberg, are removed from the category of arable areas and are given protected status in the Regional Zoning Plan, which determines which areas in the Brussels Region can be built on, and which cannot. We urgently need to safeguard our natural capital.
This article is originally published on bruzz.be
