On 7th July there was a first anniversary of signing a directive regulating prospecting and extraction of amber in Gdansk. On 9th July was held a special press conference at one of the plots rich in amber. It was participated by Mayor of Gdansk, Pawel Adamowicz, who went out on patrol with police officers and border guards.
The main aim of this patrol was showing negative results of illegal amber extraction – environment devastation – and in this way presenting that legal extraction is inextricably linked with a land rehabilitation. The last case of illegal extraction was noted in February this year (we wrote about it: Liquidation of illegal mine at Stogi) and it can be assumed that we owe it also to a better cooperation between amber people, municipal officials, police and border guards and more and more frequent patrols. Half a year without any new reports concerning this particular field may not constitute a spectacular success but in this case much more important is the fact that a likelihood of their occurrence is decreasing thanks to signing the directive regulating prospecting and extraction of the raw material within the area belonging to the district.
The directive as of 7th July
Let’s remind: the directive of Mayor of the City of Gdansk (no. 847/2007) determining the rules and procedures of the lease of land owned by the Municipality of the City of Gdansk for purposes related to the prospecting, identifying and extraction of amber deposits is the first in 35 years legal regulation in this field in Gdansk and the next action taken up within the program “Gdansk as the World Capital of Amber”. The first tender for plots (their choice had been consulted with the amber circle) took place on 11
th October 2007. As a result 7 out of 8 plots were leased – having an area of approximately 20 ha and located at Kaczence and Sucharskiego Streets in Gdansk. Two of them were leased by Golden Amber from Hrubieszow, four by Baltex Inzynieria i Gornictwo Morskie from Gdynia and one by Lucjan Nagorski from Gdansk. A minimum starting price was PLN 1 000 for lease of 1 ha for a month, a maximum auctioned price for one of the plots amounted to PLN 2 550.
In the agreement signed with the city for the period of maximum 12 months a lessee undertakes above other things to tidy up the whole land and to rehabilitate it: to restore a previous state of landform features. In order to secure this term of agreement a deposit is taken. The importance of this term of agreement is seen on the land where illegal extraction had taken place – pits even 8 metres deep constituted a very serious threat to life of the people present there. So the more important is an offer of the companies carrying out legal extraction, relating to a possibility to rehabilitate this land with a hydraulic method.
This tender as of 11
th November 2007 has been the only one so far although the next ones predicted at first for February this year and than for May did not take place because of failing to complete all the formalities. The nearest one, during which the district of Gdansk will make available about 70 ha of new land for amber prospecting and extraction, is to be put out at the end of July and was planned for August.
Results
Mayor of Gdansk emphasised that one of his objectives is also encouraging other, not only Pomeranian districts to use the experience of Gdansk in this field. In November 2007 the press announced that Grzegorz Rutkowski, a jeweller from Garwolin, received a concession to identify and prospect amber deposits (we wrote about it: Identification of deposits and not amber extraction near Lublin). At the end of April this year the Mayor of Gdansk Office received a letter from Julian Koltonski, a director of Port Morski Elblag Sp. z o.o., proposing including the authorities of the city of Gdansk in the activities aiming at identification, prospecting and efficient reclaiming of the raw material while carrying out hydrotechnical works conducted because of constructing navigational canal through the Vistula Spit (we wrote about it: Amber people will be the first to dig in the Vistula Spit).
So Gdansk is not only a production centre of amber jewellery anymore but also a place of prospecting and extraction of the raw material. Unfortunately, there is no data available concerning the amount of this extraction and a form of its distribution. However, it can be assumed that the amount is rather not spectacular and will not allow to free from the raw material supply from Russia or Ukraine. This directive has also a promotional dimension: an awareness that a definite majority of the raw material used in amber jewellery comes from illegal sources surely did not add up to build a positive image of amber both in Poland and abroad. Only this one directive was able to change so much during one year…
See also:
Amber prospecting and extraction in Gdansk regulated
Photo: Amber extraction. Photo by J. Pinkas www.gdansk.pl
