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Description
The Vilnius City Municipality has prepared a project for the improvement of the territory of Tauras Hill Park. Unfortunately, the importance of preserving existing vegetation is not included in the design conditions. For this reason, the Public Vegetation Commission submitted a proposal to preserve the specific vegetation of Tauras Hill Park. Vilnius Municipality publicly declared that the comments received would be taken into account, but the Project, ignoring the experts'' opinion, was not adjusted according to the Commission''s proposals -- a permit was issued for felling trees, and the trees began to be removed.
The Community of residents of Tauras Hill surroundings and the Association "Išsaugokime Vilniaus medžius“ supports the Commission''s conclusions, and therefore turned to the Public Interest Advocasy Fund (VIGF) for assistance in advocating their civil rights.
Two cases have been initiated regarding the Tauras Hill Park Project. The cases are conducted by VIGF attorney Saulius Dambrauskas, partially financed only by funds donated by the residents and the attorney''s volunteer work, so funding is requested for the continuation of this process.
Summary of project results
Between the Vilnius City Municipality and the Organization (VIGF) in the period from 21/05/2021 to 23/05/2023, legal proceedings took place due to the insufficient involvement of the interested public in the consideration of the reconstruction project of Tauro Kalnos Park. Through these legal proceedings and the subsequent active participation in administrative procedures (submitting proposals), a clear message was given that the interested public is closely monitoring the reconstruction project of Mount Tauros park, which is important to them, and is capable of defending its rights through legal means, if the municipality ignores the conclusions of specialists and dialogue with the public. This project, based on the Aarhus Convention and all legal instruments used during the project, aimed to explore and expand the limits of possibilities of the interested society in protecting the public interest in the process of environmental change.
In the course of the project, the essential services were directed to legal efforts and legal services that condition them, as well as dissemination of the protection of public interest through the objectives of the implementation of the Project.
The objectives of the project were achieved: the target group gained confidence that the Stakeholder has the opportunity to have a real impact on the implementation of the project related to environmental change. The final webinar, which took place on September 20, 2023, remotely confirmed the importance of the project and the increased interest of communities in expanding legal opportunities and exercising their rights.