"EcoWatch" demands to ban road construction across Western Caucasus

The Supreme Court (SC) of Adygea found as justified the lawsuit lodged by activists of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch), who demand to ban the construction of a road in the territory of the natural monument "Heads of Pshekha and Pshekhashkha Rivers".

The "EcoWatch" demands to ban the construction of a highway running to the "Lunnaya Polyana" (Lunar Meadow) alpine ski resort across the territory of the "Western Caucasus" World Heritage Object. In July 2019, the Maykop City Court refused to consider the environmentalists' lawsuit, but the SC of Adygea supported their arguments and decided to accept the lawsuit, Andrei Rudomakha, the head of the "EcoWatch" reported on October 10.

"For more than 10 years, the 'EcoWatch' has been exercising public control over the construction of the road leading to the so-called 'training ground of the Biosphere Scientific Centre, under the guise of which the elite ski resort 'Lunnaya Polyana' is masked," the activist wrote in his Facebook page.

According to Mr Rudomakha, the "Lunnaya Polyana" resort is being built in the land plot within the "Western Caucasus", illegally removed from the Caucasian Nature Reserve.

In 2009, eco activists managed to stop the construction of the road to the "Lunnaya Polyana" – they launched a public campaign, and after the visit of the mission of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, the works were stopped. However, in 2018, the works "were resumed without any permits," says the activist's post.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 11, 2019 at 04:14 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.