The Kolašin Secretariat for Environmental Protection expects that the procedures for the protection of the most valuable areas in the municipality will be completed by the end of the year. The processes that will lead to protection are currently in various stages for the Dulovine Forest Park, the Mrtvica Nature Park with its surroundings, and the Kapetanovo and Brnjičko (Manito) Lake Natural Monument.
"It is very important that these processes are completed by the end of the year. This would enable the use of EU funds, which are of invaluable importance for the functioning and protection of these valuable spaces. The protection process is accompanied by transparency and active public participation, and the procedures are in different phases. However, despite certain challenges, we expect that this work will be completed by the end of the year," the Secretariat told "Vijesti".
They explain that the Protection Study for the Dulovine Forest Park should soon be up for public discussion. The protection of this area was proposed three years ago. Permanent protection would allow Dulovine to be saved from future devastation and construction, as the current planning documents do not allow for this.
The protected area would encompass, as previously announced, more than 10 cadastral plots, with a total area of about 50.000 square meters. Dulovine, as explained in the protection initiative, is “practically the only green area that remains in the ownership of the municipality of Kolašin, and is located near the city center.” In the late 20s, a stand of black and white pine was planted in that area.
The protection of Mrtvica and its surroundings has been slowed down by strong resistance from the locals. In the meantime, as the Secretariat explains, some private plots have been excluded from the area that should be protected, but they expect that the final definition of the borders, or a compromise with the locals, will soon be reached.
The Draft Protection Study, for which public debate was extended several times and many meetings were held with locals, envisages that the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Category IV guidelines for the management of protected areas will be applied in this area.
This category, as they remind in the draft, which was processed by the Environmental Protection Agency at the proposal of the Municipality of Kolašin, includes protected areas whose priority goal is the protection/conservation of certain species or habitats. A large part of the areas in this category “require regular, active interventions to meet the needs of certain species or to maintain habitats, but this is not a condition for this category of protected area management”.
The Mrtvica River is not only a natural phenomenon, but also a valuable ecological and tourist resource for the municipality of Kolašin, the Agency previously announced. The protection, they explained, aims to preserve this unique natural heritage for future generations, while at the same time providing socio-economic benefits to the local community through the promotion of sustainable tourism and employment, and the improvement of local infrastructure.
A Study on the Protection of Kapetanovo and Brnjica Lakes was sent to the addresses of the three ministries, and this will be followed by a decision by the local parliament, that is, the establishment of protection in that area.
In May, the Mayor of the Municipality, Petko Bakić, approved the draft Decision on the Declaration, as well as the draft Protection Study for the area.
The draft study proposes that 587,07 hectares be categorized as a Natural Monument, i.e. a Category IV protected area. This type of protection refers to areas “where wild species of plants, animals and fungi and their habitats are protected and managed for their protection.”
The future protected area of Kapetanovo and Brnjičko Lakes and their surroundings belong to the cadastral municipalities (KO) of Velje Duboko and Liješnje. Two protection zones have been defined (zone II and zone III).
The mountain lakes, which will be protected along with their surroundings, are in the Lukavice area. Kapetanovo is at 1.678 meters above sea level, its length is 480 meters, width 330, and maximum depth 37 meters. About a 40-minute walk from that is Manito Lake, which is also called Brnjičko, after the surrounding area of Brnik. It is higher by about 10 meters above sea level, it is about 220 meters long, and its greatest depth is 13 meters.
"Placing an area under protection is one of the solutions to the conflict that has become increasingly pronounced, and which has arisen between the desire to preserve the environment of an area with pronounced natural and cultural values and the aspirations of the population to economically exploit that area not only through tourism, but also through other forms of economic activity. The organization of tourism in protected areas is a particularly sensitive task," the document states.
For the management of protected areas in the territory of the Kolašin municipality, which in addition to Mrtvica, Dulovine and Kapetanovo Lake and Brnjiko Lake also includes part of the Komovi Nature Park, and in the future Sinjavina, a special Agency will most likely be formed, which will function as a limited liability company (LLC). This proved to be the most optimal solution, after the NGO Cluster Initiative, with financial support from the Eco Fund, implemented the project "Management of Protected Areas in the Territory of the Municipality of Kolašin".
The goal of the project was to develop an economic and financial plan for the management of protected areas, which includes a detailed economic overview, as well as guidelines and instructions for the sustainability and future improvement of protected areas.
The second option would imply that the Secretariat would be the manager, whose obligation now includes, among other things, managing the part of the Komovi Nature Park that is on the territory of the Kolašin municipality.
The first goal is to return to the original state.
The Danilo Vincek Botanical Garden in Dulovine should be one of the most important brands in Kolasin in the future, and experts in the field of botany were involved in the planning and management of this space, which is a Natural Monument, according to the Public Company for National Parks of Montenegro (JPNPCG). This company has been the manager of the Botanical Garden since 2018, and the central public debate on the draft Management Plan for the next five years was held yesterday.
According to that document, the goal is to restore the plant fund to its original state over the next five years, and then open the Garden to the scientific community, as well as to tourists, schools, and the entire community.
As Nela Vešović Dubak from JPNPCG reminded, the company submitted a draft Management Plan to the municipality five years ago, but that document, which has now expired, never saw the "light of day". The municipality did not organize a public debate, it did not reach the local parliament... Because of this, according to the representatives of the management, their "hands were tied", it was only possible to do "cosmetic" work, which contributed to the current unenviable condition of the space that Vincek left to the state.
"We have approached more innovative methods, and previously we visited the Botanical Garden and found that the botanical fund has "fallen", that these plant taxa have not been adequately cared for. Our goal is to raise this Natural Monument to a much higher level in the coming period, and in addition to the JPNPCG, the stakeholders should also be the Municipality, the Tourist Organization (TO), as well as the entire community," said Maša Vučinić from the JPNPCG.
The management plan was developed, she claims, by nine authors, including four botanists, one doctor of science, two masters and a graduate biologist, that is, a total of six biologists.
According to the draft document, the current state of the Botanical Garden is far from good. The former collection of 499 species, which were documented in accordance with the then current practices, as stated in the draft Plan, on the day of the last census, in August 2024, consisted of 188 systematically recognized plants. The manager currently does not have data on the total number of species in 2024, given that spring plants and other species that completed their vegetation cycle by August were not listed.
"The goal is to return to the original concept of the Garden with 38 plots as defined by Vincek," the draft document states.
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