Environmentalists demand protection for Šumava

Prague, Dec 12 (CTK) - Representatives of the Friends of the Earth environmentalist movement yesterday submitted a petition urging the Chamber of Deputies to pass a law on the Sumava National Park (NPS) that would protect nature and curb further construction in the protected areas.

The petition was signed by about 1600 visitors to the Vltava springs, a popular tourist destination in the NPS near the Bavarian border, the movement's members said.

The petition also calls for the preservation of the present size of NPS's strictest protected area that is left to spontaneous development and for its gradual extension.

Friends of the Earth criticise the bill on NPS, drafted by the Environment Ministry, which, they say, will open the valuable mountainous landscape to developers.

The ministry, nevertheless, says the bill is a compromise combining the views of all groups disputing over what regime and approach to nature would be optimal for the NPS.

The bill's drafters say it will bring stability to Sumava for the next 40 years.

Challenging the petition's validity, the Association of Sumava Towns accused the environmentalists of using irregular and misleading methods to gain people's signatures.