For the Brno-Vienna highway, a new route may be sought

Brno - A new route may be sought for the Brno-Vienna motorway. Nature protectors have discovered that the route of the road through Mikulov lies over a salt marsh, an ecologically valuable area with halophytic plants. The Czech Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection (AOPK) has therefore requested that the area be added to the list of European Union Natura 2000 sites. This was announced to reporters today by the Deputy Governor of South Moravia, Milan Venclík.
The agency's request will be assessed by the government. The South Moravian Region does not have any advisory vote in the decision of whether the salt marsh will be included among the European protected areas. However, the council members approved the text of a letter to the Prime Minister, protesting against the inclusion of the site in the Natura list.
According to Jiří Matuška, head of the Pálava Protected Landscape Area Administration, the salt marsh is located on a field of about half a hectare west of Mikulov. "There grow critically endangered species such as Salicornia valerandii and Carex divisa, as well as the severely endangered species Salicornia perenne. These plants are found in only a few remaining locations in the Czech Republic," Matuška told ČTK today. If the R52 road were to be built in close proximity to the salt marsh, he warned of the risk of it being covered with construction materials.
If the area were to be listed under Natura, the road could not pass through it. However, according to Venclík, even a minimal change in the route would effectively block the construction of the road. The construction has a valid land-use decision, is mapped in land-use plans, and any change in the route would require all necessary permits to be processed anew. Construction would therefore not start before 2020, Venclík said.
In the Czech Republic, around 260 new sites should come under the protection of the Natura 2000 scheme, half of which involve changes to the boundary or subject of protection. The expansion arose from a geographical seminar organized by the European Commission last April. It found shortcomings in the Czech national list and demanded the inclusion of sites with European significant plants and animals as well as types of natural habitats.
The proposal for the sites is not yet final and may be adjusted based on the comments of regional authorities. By September 2008, the Czech Republic must send the final version to Brussels. If the EU approves it, a six-year period will commence during which these areas will become European significant sites with a special protection regime.