When it comes to nature, the government often hates its citizens

biologist and talent– Journalist Dirk Drewlance continues to call for more citizen participation in environmental and nature politics.

Recently, the Flemish government has attempted to silence citizens’ elaboration on nature and environmental matters. Obviously, the Flemish government finds it disturbing that citizens can advocate for a livable environment, because that can stand in the way of “progress”, or at least “progress” in the sense in which it prioritizes: “economic progress”.

In 2017, then-Minister of the Environment Jock Schöflig (of an unfriendly nature CD and Vee) to make it more difficult for citizens and environmental associations to veto economic and industrial projects mainly through an administrative trick: they secretly wanted to smuggle a few well-aimed entries onto the so-called “manuscript train” of spatial planning in order to reduce the odds of veto.

I will spare you the technical details of her work, which, fortunately, at the request of most environmental organizations in our country, was canceled by the Constitutional Court. The main argument of the court was that our country had signed an international agreement that was supposed to promote citizen participation in the proceedings. It’s model government: publicly gloating with conventions to show goodwill and understanding to citizens, but when it comes to doing the opposite in the backrooms. How many politicians have supported charters and other public initiatives related to nature and the environment with a picture in the newspaper, while then going about ordering the day and sacrificing protected forests and unique roadsides for what they secretly think is really important?

The current Flemish government again attempted to limit the power of the citizens, and once again the attempt was overturned by the Constitutional Court. This time the applicant was Environment Minister Sahel Demir (N-VA), who, according to spokesmen for the environmental associations, regularly bets on two horses: in terms of regulations, interest groups such as VOKA are often ready for Flemish employers to create a “favorable investment climate” ‘, but often aligns with the associations of nature in tangible projects. Recently, judges are increasingly pursuing the legal interests of citizens, who are striving for a more beautiful and healthy living environment, whether through environmental organizations or not. This is a goal that benefits everyone, not just the champions or the participating organizations themselves.

But it troubles policymakers in their willingness to act, particularly at the local level. They like to sort with citizen participation and claim to hear what is going on among the population, but oh my god if those residents think differently than what they found out in their informed intakes. How often do you not experience advice or counsel from citizens being ignored, and that objections are dismissed en masse in order to advance one’s own agenda? Instead, listen to the so-called “experts” who produce reports proving customers right across the board, rather than the citizens who have to bear the consequences of decisions. Then this is called the “democratic process”. Today, everywhere in our living environment, we see how natural and environmentally friendly that democratic process was…

Especially in densely populated Flanders, where it is fought for every available morsel of land, nature and the environment are often pushed into the dark corner, the so-called corner of uselessness, of “three trees and a private bat”. While we are packed with scientific studies that exude the added value of nature and a healthy living environment, not only for the individual citizen, but also for society as a whole, including sectors such as agriculture, which have a lot to gain from a more nature friendly approach.

But no, someone with a CD&V signature with connections to the Boerenbond has recently been allowed to suppose in this magazine that the European aim for a more nature-friendly approach is not in line with the interests of people in a region as densely populated and industrialized as Flanders.” In a densely populated and industrialized region, commitment to nature and its restoration is more important than anywhere else, given the impact it has on our well-being.But of course it is easier to scare people with the fixed idea that they will never have enough to eat if nature is taken care of than it is to look for effective solutions to a sad situation.

The environmentally conscious citizen must constantly compete against interest groups that hire expensive engineering firms to write reports defending the interests of buyers. It is not uncommon for them to walk with the truth. There are examples of permit applications by farmers backed by advice from a consulting firm with incorrect information. Even if someone signs over that incorrect information and the permit is denied, the farmer still has to pay for that “service.”

I have studied an extensive report from a consulting firm that should justify the construction of an entirely unnecessary road through a protected grove. The agency came to the conclusion that no natural value would be lost, while for years citizens in the area had been giving information that it was teeming with protected natural values. The agency even determined that normal values ​​would be higher after the road was built than before, as a result of “accompanying measures,” such as a squirrel bridge and bat box.

In the first version of the plans, an “Otter Canal” was drawn next to the road to be built. Imagine the “otter channel”, only a person who knows nothing about nature will fall in love with it – a flaw that unfortunately applies to quite a few policy makers. In the Netherlands, the otter is one of the main victims of traffic, which jeopardizes its recovery. But in Flanders, someone initially thought it a good idea to include the concept in the “greening” of a project unfriendly to nature. So you have to constantly fight against this kind of nonsense.

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