Government's New Environmental Plan Stresses Awareness
The Ministry of the Environment is planning to change directions in its new environmental development plan, switching its focus from strict rules and penalizing violators, to improving education and awareness.
The new environmental protection development plan will be introduced on Tuesday at the Tuhala nature center.
"We have several reasons to be very happy over our environment. Firstly, for the fact that we even have an environment to protect because there are a lot of regions where the natural environment is no longer as rich in species and in as good a condition as is Estonia. We must continue this performance, of course,” Minister of the Environment, Keit Pentus, told ERR radio.
Pentus said she believes Estonia is moving onto the next stage. "It is no longer the mainstream opinion that protecting the environment is something that only the government should be responsible for. The new environmental protection development plan, which states our priorities till the year 2020, has taken environmental education as its primary focus, and in a much more general sense than that which is taught to schoolchildren,” said Pentus.
“Environmental protection will no longer entail just rules and prohibitions,” the minister said, adding that care for the environment must encompass more than just natural habitat protection areas.
Ott Tammik