Theodota Nantsou
«If we weren’t optimistic, we certainly would have stopped bothering about the environment. It is true that many, perhaps most, developments do in fact inspire fear, disillusionment and even panic. «But there are many signs of optimism, mainly from people’s increasing awareness and involvement in the shared struggle for a better quality of life, environmental protection and truly sustainable development. «These signs are evident both in the polls and in the support we have found for our every move. «Given that the protection of our natural resources doesn’t bring about any immediate visible economic gain, it is rarely given much attention by governments or businesses, so hope lies in the hands of the people. People power «An outstanding example of people power that finally saved an ecologically important part of Attica was the Oropos lagoon affair. «Recently, local residents clashed with the local municipality over this lovely wetland, trying to protect it from flooding. In this difficult battle we had the support of volunteer lawyers from WWF Hellas’s citizen support legal group. The people finally won and the threat to the area was lifted, although everyone is still maintaining vigilance. «We do our best to raise environmental protection to the level of popular demand in order to bring about a truly ‘green revolution.’ «In the coming year, we would like to see that interest grow considerably and become a factor in the government’s political choices and those of all the political parties.»
