This is a heart felt cry for help from all you UKCers out there. If you have ever climbed in the Ariege in the French Pyrenees you probably visited the major crag of Calames and may have noticed the mostly inactive quarry next to the parking. It has recently been announced that plans have been drawn up behind closed doors to turn the quarry into a major operation with up to 350,000 tons of rock extracted and processed annually and 25 ton trucks turning up every 4-6 minutes. Apart from the obvious nuisance of noise, dust and dangerous traffic that will blight the lives of hundreds of locals and potentially kill of that tourist trade, the site itself is listed as a Natura 2000 site due to the rare species that live on the cliffs. This shouldn't be allowed but it seems where there is money to be made, common sense and local opinion counts for little. Climbing here will undoubtedly be adversely affected and could potentially be threatened with closure. The locals have mobilised in force but we need your help.
So if you have visited the area, plan to one day or just want to help protect our natural resources and climbing areas, please help by signing the petition:
http://www.petitions24.net/contre_la_reouverture_de_la_carriere_de_bedeilha...
to sign fill out the boxes:
name
surname
town
country- select 'Royaume-uni' for united kindom
email address
Thanks, your help could really make a difference.
