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Steps toward accord between coastal authority, Govern Balear re: organised nature tours to Formentera

La Demarcació de Costes, the coastal authority in the Balearic Islands, the Regional Ministry of the Environment of the Govern Balear and the Formentera Council have hammered out the preliminary details of a deal to define and regulate organised nature tours that debark on Formentera.

The Formentera Council defends the nature tours on the basis of their educational qualities, not to mention for their potential to promote the natural beauty of Formentera. The Council does, however, hold firm on its stated goal of avoiding the so-called 'party boats' and transport ferries camouflaged other products.

This morning a meeting was held in Palma that brought together Silvia Tur and Alejandra Ferrer, Formentera's councillors of the environment and of tourism and transport; Gabriel Pastor, head of the Balearic coastal authority and Neus Lliteras, the director general of the Balearic Islands Regional Ministry of the Environment.

At a plenary session of the Council this July, a measure was unanimously approved that urged the administration in Palma to take an official stance on organised nature tours that debark on Formentera.

Those present at the encounter this morning agreed to the formation in the second week of January of a technical committee to draft regulations concerning the tours. Another important feature of the agreement: it establishes approval by the Formentera Council as a fundamental component to any consensus concerning disembarkation points and maximum vessel capacity. In so doing, the representatives were able to make good on a pact formed at the most recent commission of the Balearic council presidents. The pact called for the respect of decisions made by the respective islands vis-à-vis the use of local territory.