Environmental activist Vaso Knežević assessed that the local government missed a historic opportunity to present Pljevlja in a better light, after the mayor Rajko Kovacevic (DPS) withdrew from the agenda of yesterday's session of the Assembly the decision to declare the upper course of the Ćehotina river a nature park.
In his explanation, Kovačević stated that he withdraws the decision due to the need for a detailed review of the wider public interest and the possibility of developing other economic activities of importance for the local population and the municipality of Pljevlja, as well as the need for a further review of the spatial planning documentation for the said area.
Knežević pointed out that an opportunity was missed to create a more positive and beautiful image of Pljevlja, by which the city and the people of Pljevlja would be recognized, and not only by pollution and problems.
"The withdrawal from the agenda of the Assembly of the item on the declaration of the Nature Park Upper course of the river Ćehotina speaks of us Pljevlja people as ecologically unaware and uninformed, fearful of new and wider vistas and that we see nothing of this mining hole into which we are all slowly sinking. We are afraid that the protection of the basic segments of the environment will not threaten the economic development of Pljevlja, and we are not afraid that this kind of development will gradually destroy our water, air and land", he said.
The nature park, Knežević points out, does not stop development, but "actually initiates development, and sustainable development based on natural and cultural-historical resources that have been proven and recognized in the upper reaches of the Ćehotina".
"Just some of the facts that say that this area should be a nature park: preserved biodiversity, water from the Otilovići reservoir is used for the water supply of Pljevljak (more than 50 percent), the meanders of Ćehotina, which are already recognized tourist benchmarks of Pljevlja and Montenegro (included in All the wonders of Montenegro), the first human traces in the Balkans are found in the canyon of the upper reaches of the Ćehotina (cave under Gospića peak, Medena pećina, Mališina pećina), medieval gravestones in Ljutići and Marina Šuma, the Ćehotina river with its biodiversity".
Knežević stated that the people of Pljevlja "have become entrepreneurially stunted generationally and less and less sustainable, due to reliance on unsustainable resources that will eventually be exhausted", and that, as he assessed, when things go badly, the people of Podgorica will be to blame.
He says that the politicians from Pljevlja have not learned anything, even though they have been visiting Velenje in Slovenia for decades, fraternizing with the best and learning from examples of positive practice.
"In Pljevlja, talking about environmental protection is the same as talking to cowboys about protecting Indians... After 50 years, the cowboys realized that they were wrong, and when are we going to do it?"
GREAT NATURAL WEALTH
The procedure for placing the new protected area under protection was initiated by the Municipality of Pljevlja on March 3 last year by submitting a request to the Environmental Protection Agency for the preparation of a Protection Study.
In the meantime, the agency prepared the document.
The nature park "Upper Stream of the Ćehotina River" should be in category IV of protected areas, which includes areas where wild species of plants, animals and fungi and their habitats are protected.
The total area of the nature park would be around 1.330 hectares.
"The upper course of the Ćehotina river, proposed for protection, is its course before the city, in the area of the villages of Otilovići and Mataruga. That area consists of 11 kilometers of the free flow of the Ćehotina river in its upper reaches, about 2 kilometers of the Maočnica river at its confluence with Ćehotina, 3,5 kilometers of the Kozička river at its confluence with Ćehotina and 11 kilometers of the artificial reservoir 'Otilovići' on the Ćehotina river. The Otilović Lake was created 35 years ago for the needs of the Pljevlja Thermal Power Plant, but the water from the reservoir is also used for the city's water supply, which is even more reason to protect the upper course of the Ćehotina River, which would also be the sanitary protection zone of the Otilović Lake water catchment in order to protect water for drink", according to the Study.
It was clarified that the area of the nature park is placed under protection in order to create conditions for the survival and long-term protection of a large number of species and habitats, as well as to prevent harmful activities that may threaten special or significant components of biodiversity.
It is planned that the nature park will be managed by the Sports and Fishing Club "Lipljen", in cooperation with the Tourist Organization of Pljevlja.
"In the area of the upper reaches of the Ćehotina river, there is also a tourist landmark of the municipality of Pljevlja - the Meanders of the Ćehotina river, which should be valorized to a greater extent, but also in a sustainable way. Thanks to the active promotion of this area by the Tourist Organization of the Municipality of Pljevlja, especially the viewpoint of the meanders of Ćehotina, in the last three years there has been a significant increase in the number of visitors. By protecting the area of the upper reaches of the Ćehotina river, it is expected that there will be a further increase in the number of visitors, which consequently leads to a better promotion not only of this area, but also of the municipality of Pljevlja... The meanders of the Ćehotina are a natural phenomenon of the river, which became visible after the construction of the Otilovići reservoir for the needs TE Pljevlja, after the river level rose, its bed expanded and the meanders were filled with water. Due to the canyon area through which the lake winds, Lake Otilović is not accessible to visitors in its entire length. However, there are several approaches to the lake from which boats, kayaks, and tourist boats can depart," the Study states.
In this area, according to the editors of the document, autochthonous flora and fauna are still preserved, the area is not too burdened by urbanization and devastation of space.
"In order for it to remain so, it must be protected in order to prevent potential threats in the future that could threaten the values of this area, above all the sapling, which is considered an endangered species," the Study states.
The editors of the document claim that the upper course of the Ćehotina has a special significance for understanding the cultural history not only of the Pljeval region, but also of the central part of the Balkan Peninsula.
Natural and ambient conditions, natural beauty with expanses of forests, pastures and meadows, provide all the opportunities for the development of rural tourism, especially in the areas along the upper course and on the left side of the Ćehotina River, according to the Study.
No assessment of the necessary financial resources for the implementation of the decision on the declaration of a protected area was given.
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