During the past four years, the local administration in Kolašin failed to provide a team of experts to prepare the Local Action Plan for the Protection of Biodiversity (LAB), as well as the 15.000 euros needed for that work.
The development of that plan was included among the goals of the Strategic Plan for the Development of Kolašin from 2018 to 2022. As it was planned, LAB was supposed to provide a greater degree of protection and promotion of biodiversity, and the bearers of that project were supposed to be the Municipality of Kolašin and the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Development and Tourism.
The Secretariat for Environmental Protection claims that the LAB has not been abandoned and notes that it is a very important document, the preparation of which requires both time and knowledge.
"And was there any money. It was necessary to provide experts who would work on the development of that action plan. Of course, we have not given up on that work and it will be completed. "In the past period, we made very important local action plans for energy efficiency and urban mobility, which were also the goals of the Kolašin Strategic Development Plan," explained the responsible secretariat.
They remind that the LAB would include the biodiversity of protected areas, that is, the National Park (NP) "Biogradska gora" and the Nature Park "Komovi", but also those that have yet to receive a certain degree of protection, among them Mrtvice Canyon, Kapetanovo Lake, Dulovine …
The richness and variety of flora, ecosystem diversity, as well as the mosaic arrangement of vegetation units are recognizable characteristics of the area of Kolašin and its surroundings, it is written in the strategic documents. On the territory of that municipality there are over 2.000 different plant species, many of which are endemic. Due to the presence of an extremely large number of endemic plant species and habitats, the area of Biogradska gora is recognized as an IPA area
"220 types of plants grow in forest communities. So far, the presence of 26 phytocenoses has been determined. There are significantly more plant species in non-forest ecosystems. Among them, 20 percent are endemic to the Balkan Peninsula. In the previous period, large-scale forest cuttings were carried out, which led to significant changes in certain localities, which resulted in the disappearance of some rare species. The richness of forest ecosystems and the presence of endemic plant species have caused a great diversity of fungi. So far, more than 700 species of mushrooms have been found in the "Biogradska Gora" National Park alone," says the Strategic Development Plan.
In that document, it was assessed that several species of mammals are endangered, so the brown bear (Ursus arctos) and the wolf "appear on the Emerald list only occasionally". Among other things, about 150 species of birds have been recorded in the area of Bjelasica so far.
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