We’ve just learned that the court has decided in favour of the federal housing authority to permit the destruction of the Pavlovsk Experiment Station’s field collection of fruit diversity. Some hope remains, however. The N.I. Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry (VIR) says it will today lodge an appeal with the High Arbitration Court against the Supreme Arbitration Court’s decision. This gains campaigners another month to save Pavlovsk.
A spokesman for VIR also said that they had received further confirmation that the Court’s decision can be revoked by the President or Prime Minister.
We don’t know whether either Mr Medvedev or Mr Putin is actually listening, but if you haven’t already done so, it can’t hurt to let them know how you feel.
I notice that the petition is now sending the message to multible recipients, not just to President Medvedev. If we would like to send a separate letter (or fax) and have it reach these multiple recipients, are the other addresses or contacts available for these other officials? Perhaps they would they pay more attention if the message came another way. We are considering sending one from the Society for Economic Botany, and I think it is being discussed by the International Society for Ethnobiology as well. How would you recommend that we send these “institutional” letters for maximum effect?
You raise a very important issue Eve, especially for letters that perhaps could carry more weight because they represent organisations with a specific expertise and point of view. I suspect that in that case, direct letters, by mail, to key government figures, copied to the Trust and to Bioversity, would be the best approach. I don’t have the names and addresses to hand, but I will try and compile a list tomorrow and make it available somehow.
Thank you! That would be great!