Wildlife agency says ‘subsidiary activities’ in the dunes would
scare off rare lark
Mon 23 Jul 2018 10.54 BSTLast modified on Mon 23 Jul
2018 20.35 BST
The Belgian Naturism Federation has come to
the defence of its burgeoning membership after the Flemish wildlife agency
blocked an application for a second nudist beach in the country on the grounds
that bathers’ “subsidiary activities” would pose a threat to a rare bird.
Attempts to gain designated naturist status for a quiet spot near
Westende, about 12 miles south of the popular seaside resort of Ostende, hit a
snag after objections were raised that sexual activity in the dunes would scare
off the locally treasured crested lark, or Galerida cristata.
The Flemish Agency for Nature and Woodland informed the region’s
environment minister, Joke Schauvliege, that the lark, whose name derives from
the feathers on its head that rise up during courtship, would be alarmed by the
activity and would flee.
The dunes themselves were also likely to be damaged by such
“subsidiary activities”, the agency said in its formal submission.
A subsequent suggestion that a fence could be established around
the dunes where the birds breed was met with scepticism. Steve Vandenberghe,
the local mayor in Bredene, where Belgium’s first and only nudist beach is
located, told the Flemish daily newspaper Het Nieuwsblad that it would not
offer much of a deterrence. “Barbed wire against nudists? Pff. As if a man
without clothes cannot get over a barbed wire,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment