Group Wants to Make Lipica UNESCO World Heritage Site
A group fighting for the preservation of the Lipica stud farm in its present form will try to get this home to the famed Lipizzaner horse listed as the UNESCO World Heritage Site. This would prevent the planned expansion of a golf course in the area, the head of the International Association for Lipica told the press on Thursday.
According to Etbin Tavcar, the head of the association, who was formerly employed as a landscape architect at the farm, the association would like to present the issue of Lipica to a broader public.
The association has established ties with international groups and individuals who fight to preserve cultural heritage. One of these is a Croatian group which is trying to protect the Istrian mediaeval town of Motovun, which like Lipica faces the threat of construction of two golf courses and a polo ground, Tavcar said.
According to Tavcar, in both cases the local authorities launched plans for projects without making the necessary analysis first. He added that not a single study of tourism development or the project's integration into the broader area had been made.
Dorit Reimann, a German archaeologist who focuses on cultural heritage preservation and was present at the press conference in Ljubljana, said the public in Slovenia was not sufficiently aware of the danger threatening Lipica.
In the current plans, the Lipizzaners serve only the interests of the capital, Reimann said. "There are some 2,000 Lipizzaners worldwide, who need to be protected, which is why the world needs Lipica." Reimann said many organisations in Germany were willing to help the cause, but that an initiative must come from Slovenia.
The Association for Lipica has petitioned the Constitutional Court to annul the government-sponsored legislative changes that allow construction works to be carried out in a protected area at the stud farm in a bid to prevent the expansion of a golf course.
The court stayed the implementation of the law in October, but Tavcar claims that the works are being carried on nevertheless.
The director of the stud farm meanwhile said that they supported the idea. "The listing...would be positive for the stud farm as it would aid its development and increase its visibility," Matjaz Pust said. However, it would be difficult to carry out.
"I am not sure that it would prevent the expansion of the golf course," however, the state will make sure that nothing gets constructed in Lipica without the necessary permits, Pust told STA.
The government passed a new strategy for the stud farm last year, saying that it wanted to restructure the operations of Kobilarna Lipica, the state institution managing the Lipica stud farm.
The documents envisage the splitting of the institution into commercial and cultural units. Moreover, the strategy also allows for the expansion of the golf course in a protected area of the farm, which opponents to the government's plans found most contentious.
Lipica is the oldest European stud farm breeding the same horse from its beginnings. It was founded in 1580, when Archduke of Austria Charles II bought a stud farm and a deserted mansion in Lipica.
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