The state has no money to spare, but national parks are our priority, said Turek

Minister of the Environment Igor Červený (Motoristé) met with the directors of national parks in the Czech Republic on Thursday morning. The main topic of the meeting was their financing. The meeting was also attended by the government's representative for climate and the Green Deal, Filip Turek. According to him, the ministry definitely does not want to put national parks on the back burner.

Only the directors of the three national parks attended the meeting. Petr Kříž, the director of the Bohemian Switzerland National Park Administration, did not attend the meeting, as he is on vacation. His deputy, Richard Nagel, attended the meeting.

After the meeting, Červený said that they had agreed to regular communication with the heads of the national parks. This was also welcomed by the individual directors. "The meeting was really very open and fair," said the head of the Podyjí National Park, Pavel Müller.

Next week, the economic deputies of the individual national parks will meet again to discuss the financial situation, along with economic experts from the ministry. The experts will meet approximately once a week, and the park management will meet every month.

"The previous government created a situation where we now have to make cuts and deal with personnel changes. This does not only apply to the Ministry of the Environment," said the minister. He also assured the directors that the ministry was fully available to them. "If any unexpected situation arises, don't worry, we will not leave you in the lurch," he said.

The directors hope that the announced cuts will have as little impact on the operation of the national parks in the coming years as possible. However, they also agreed that they face a challenging period.

Turek stressed that the meeting was held in a friendly atmosphere. "We agreed that we will visit the parks in person," he said. The ministry certainly does not want to put the national parks on the back burner. "On the contrary, they are our priority," he added.

According to Turek, the Ministry of the Environment does not intend to deprive national parks of money. "But we have to save money. This is especially possible in our ministry, because it is a flow-through ministry. That is why we are now discussing and looking for an effective solution," he said.

Turek and Červený refused to comment on whether they are now planning changes to the posts of heads of national parks. According to them, they are now waiting for data on the basis of which they plan to make a decision. The minister also confirmed again that his department is not considering the creation of a new national park in the Křivoklát region.

Parks have decent reserves, says Turek

Due to the announced budget cuts in the department, there is talk of laying off national park employees, limiting environmental education or events for the public. "We are doing our best to ensure that the parks do not lose any operating money that they need. We just want some effective financial management to take place here," Turek said on Wednesday in the ČT24 Interview program.

According to him, the parks should primarily use the money they have in reserves. "They have decent reserves, they have over 726 million crowns, which is enough," he says. According to him, in such a situation, it is not logical to take money from the indebted state budget.

On Thursday, Turek confirmed that they agreed at the meeting that it was necessary to start working with the parks' reserve funds. According to him, this is a reasonable solution. The director of the Šumava National Park, Pavel Hubený, added that the park representatives had agreed with the ministry that they would look for ways to deal with the funds.

The Ministry of the Environment's budget proposal for this year will be 531 million crowns lower than the original plan of the government of Petr Fiala (ODS), which counted on an amount of 20.85 billion crowns.

Collaboration for destruction? Experts are embarrassed

However, representatives of the non-governmental organization Hnutí DUHA point out the contradiction between continuing budget cuts and assurances that the functioning of the parks is not threatened.

Forest protection expert Jaromír Bláha said he was “embarrassed” by the statements made by the minister and the directors. “Budget cuts and layoffs of experts were not stopped, and at the same time, assurances were given that this would not jeopardize the functioning of national parks – that is very contradictory,” he said. According to him, the question arises whether the meeting was not aimed at getting the directors to cooperate on “destructive steps.”

On the contrary, he welcomed the agreement on regular meetings between the minister and park management, as well as the planned personal visits of the minister and Turek to individual regions. However, he considers it a warning that the minister did not rule out the possible dismissal of some directors.

According to Bláha, there is speculation about the future of, for example, the director of the Šumava National Park, Pavel Hubený, or the head of the Krkonoše National Park, Robin Böhnisch. "It looks like a clear intention of political cleansing," he added.

Jan Skalík from the RAINBOW Movement's Krajina program also mentions questions about the possible dismissal of directors. He primarily responded to Filip Turek's words that any personnel changes would be decided on the basis of data and analyses. "We would like to know what data and analyses he has in mind. National parks have been very stable in recent years and tourism in them generates, among other things, significant profits. So what are the potential mistakes of park management that could lead to directors losing their jobs?" he said.

Source: iDnes.cz