Swedish Green Party MP's fears over quarrying in Ojnareskogen nature area

Swedish Green Party MPs have called on the country’s government to ensure the protection of the Ojnareskogen nature area in northern Gotland amid plans to quarry the site’s limestone. The views of Carl Schlyter and Annika Lillemets comes as the Swedish government is to announce whether to protect Ojnareskogen no later than on 31 August 2015. Finnish minerals company Nordkalk wants to quarry limestone in the area, but some fear quarrying will have negative consequences on the area. Sweden has committe

August 19, 2015 Read time: 2 mins

Swedish Green Party MPs have called on the country’s government to ensure the protection of the Ojnareskogen nature area in northern Gotland amid plans to quarry the site’s limestone.

The views of Carl Schlyter and Annika Lillemets comes as the Swedish government is to announce whether to protect Ojnareskogen no later than on 31 August 2015. Finnish minerals company 1423 Nordkalk wants to quarry limestone in the area, but some fear quarrying will have negative consequences on the area.

Sweden has committed itself to protect important nature areas and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Naturvårdsverket) has pointed out Ojnare as an important object to protect in line with EU's network of nature protection areas, Natura 2000.

In a Dagens Nyheter newspaper opinion piece, Schlyter and Lillemets say that the government must live up to its obligations and should not try to evade EU regulations for business policy reasons. Protecting Ojnare will have positive effects on Gotland, they argue, saying this will ensure water supply in Bästeträsk, while having a designated national park in the area would attract visitors.

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