COURT STARTED LEGAL PROCEEDINGS OF ‘BIRD LOVERS CENTER’ AND ‘ECODAR’ NGOS AGAINST NATURE PROTECTION MINISTRY
arminfo
Thursday, June 9, 13:16
The Administrative Court of Armenia has admitted into the legal
proceedings the lawsuit brought by ‘Bird Lovers Center’ and ‘EcoDar’
NGOs against Nature Protection Ministry of Armenia. ‘Bird Lovers
Center’ NGO Chairman Silva Adamyan told EcoLur about this. The NGOs
accuse the ministry of inaction.
Suing the ministry is conditioned by the fact it’s already three
months since NGOs have sent an enquiry to the Ministry demanding to
hold environmental impact assessment of “Nemo” Dolphinarium operating
in Yerevan, nevertheless, they haven’t received any reply from the
Ministry so far.
The dolphinarium “Nemo” was opened in Yerevan on 24 Dec 2010. A group
of greens held a protest action in front of the dolphinarium the
same day. Experts say that in captivity dolphins are prone to stress
and can be very dangerous. There have even been cases of dolphins
killing people. Despite this fact, “Nemo”‘s commercial says that they
will also provide dolphin-therapy for children. The activities of
“Nerium,” the Ukrainian company that has brought dolphins for “Nemo”,
have been declared illegal in Ukraine. Some 50 organizations, including
Aarhus centers, environmental NGOs and international structures, have
written a letter against the dolphinarium project and have sent it
to the President earlier in December. No answer have been received yet.
Earlier, Armenian Administrative Court has rejected the lawsuit
filed by “Center for Bird Lovers” and “EcoDar” NGOs against Nature
Protection Ministry of Armenia. The NGOs demand from the court to
hold an expert examination on the dolphinarium construction located
at Park after Komitas, Yerevan, EcoLur reported.