No date set for change of management at Cabrera

THE Government expects to transfer the management of the Cabrera National Park to the Balearic Government in January. It refused to clarify, in a parliamentary reply, the extent of the transfer. The transfer will be made when the move is considered “acceptable”.
In the written reply it was pointed out that the transfer is obligatory under ruling 194/04 by the Constitutional Court, which established that the day to day management of national parks is the province of the Governments of the autonomous regions. So, in fact, this gives them the power to go ahead with the change in management.
The Government refused to detail in its reply the extent of the transfer and pointed out that “it is not possible to detail the scope before agreement is reached”. The Balearic environmental minister, Jaume Font, had already expressed his concern, in December 2004, that the transfer of the Cabrera Park management would be delayed beyond the summer and even to the end of 2005, after a meeting with the environmental advisors from the autonomous regions, which included national parks, with the Minister, Cristina Narbona. Narbona offered Jaume Font 2'452 million euros as an operating budget for the Cabrera National Park during the transfer of management to the Balearic Government, which was some 46.4 percent less (more than 2 million) compared with the Government budget in 2004 (3.8 million in 2001, 3.48 million in 2002, 4.66 million in 2003 and 4.57 million in 2004). Finance for the park museum which is being built in Ses Salines is also in dispute.