Party for the Animals calls on Brussels to help against the Sterrebos felling
BRUSSELS (ANP) – The Party for the Animals is calling on the European Commission for help to preserve the Limburg Sterrebos. The clearing of the forest by car manufacturer VDL Nedcar is possible for bats and adjacent nature reserves, which are protected by European rules. According to MEP Anja Hazekamp, the committee must state that at least the consequences are better investigated.
The Council of State has yet to decide the fate of the forest, which has been occupied since the beginning by activists who want it to be destroyed. The committee awaits the verdict of the national considerations, but monitors the nature conservation rules and can intervene if necessary. The Council of State will make a decision within three weeks.
Hazekamp points out that eleven protected bat species live in the Sterrebos. It could suffer under the hood, located nearby nature reserves of Lilbosch and Monastery Maria Hoop. The MEP asks European Commissioner Frans Timmermans and his colleagues to keep an eye on the matter. “It would send a bad signal to condone the felling of a 200-year-old forest, in violation of EU rules.”