Although investors emphasize the benefits – new jobs and attraction of tourists – ecological organizations have no doubt: this is the devastation of one of the most valuable ecosystems in Poland. According to Forsal.pl, the Hel Peninsula is a key migration point in Europe, where thousands of birds rest after the Baltic Sea. The Hel's promontory is particularly sensitive, the first land shelter for individuals exhausted by migration.
According to experts of the National Bird Protection Society (OTOP), as many as 345 species of birds were found in the hotel intended for the hotel, including many covered strict protection, such as woodpeckers, sikora or owls. Treeing trees would mean losing breeding sites, feeding grounds and rest areas. OTOP warns that an environmental report prepared for investments underestimates real threats.
Read also: The State Forests want to put windmills in … forest. Residents are protesting
Residents do not want to invest
Example Hel Happiness – points out porsal.pl – fits into a wider problem of uncontrolled buildings of the Hel Peninsula. Each new investment is considered in isolation from the whole ecosystem, which is already under the pressure of mass tourism and overloaded infrastructure. In recent years, Hel has lost one third of the inhabitants, and the growing influx of tourists only deepens local problems – convince environmentalists. “Mass tourism is not a solution. Time to bet on an offer based on the unique natural values of the region,” emphasizes Otop.
The Society also supports local residents who demand the suspension of the construction of the hotel and a reliable assessment of its environmental impact. Environmentalists indicate that the investment does not meet the criteria of the parent social interest that could justify interference in protected habitats. In their opinion, reason should be won in this dispute, not the logic of profit.
