The Society for the Protection of Biodiversity of Thrace stands alongside local organizations that express scientifically documented opinions on the environmental degradation of ecosystems in the Evros region and on human health in the wider area of the two prefectures of Evros and Rodopi. No environmental terms in a potential gold mining project license can guarantee against the long-term negative impacts expected for the wider region:

• Storage and accumulation of heavy metals, resulting in the poisoning of living organisms over time
• Environmental pollution from the cyanidation method
• Release of large quantities of toxic dust into the atmosphere, as well as its transport and deposition over long distances by winds
• Degradation of agricultural, livestock, and rural products
• Risk of collapse of toxic waste storage dams and pollution of the Thracian Sea
• Degradation of the rare black pine forest of Perama-Petrota, which is a natural forest with a unique ecological and genetic profile, as it is located next to the sea and is a priority habitat for the European Union (9530-Sub-Mediterranean black pine forests)
• Consumption of excessive amounts of fresh water at a time of significant water scarcity affecting Thrace and especially the prefecture of Evros
• Change of land use and conversion of the area into an industrial zone

The productive potential of the primary sector in Thrace, and in particular in the regional unit of Evros, combined with its significant Natura 2000 areas, can, in the long term, ensure sustainable development and prosperity for the local community in a healthy environment for both current and future generations. Nature can always provide us with its goods and be a source of wealth in perpetuity, as long as we respect it and do not plunder it for short-term profits.