The Žljebina Canyon, located in the Lukovo region, 12 kilometers from Nikšić, could be a new tourist destination. This was stated at the panel discussion "Environmental Protection and Promotion of a New Tourist Destination in the Municipality of Nikšić" organized by the non-governmental organization (NGO) "Medija Tim".
"It is still a hidden destination. With quite a lot of effort, we passed through that canyon, which is practically impassable for now. It is overgrown with bushes, trees, boulders, vertical obstacles, so that in nine places it is practically impossible to pass without mountaineering equipment. It is located between the villages of Lukovo and Ivanje and the starting point can be reached without any obstacles. In the past, a short and fast water stream flowed through the canyon, but since 1993, there has been no water there. The length of the canyon is about 2.000 meters, the average depth is 30 to 50 meters, with a width of 80 centimeters to even 150 meters," said Dobrislav Bajović, a retired colonel and experienced mountaineer, technical secretary of the Mountaineering Club (PK) "Piva".
At the end of February, he and a team of mountaineers from the "Piva" mountaineering team passed through the canyon, which, according to him, has via ferrata elements in some places.
"We created a preliminary design for the canyon's development, using the experience of similar canyons in the area. There are many attractive canyon trails, but I think that the Žljebina Canyon will surpass all others in terms of its attractiveness," Bajović is convinced.
Director of the Tourist Organization (TO) Nikšić Mitar Barać said that they see the valorization of the Žljebina Canyon as an opportunity to increase tourist traffic.
"The canyon is currently an undiscovered potential, but we hope that together we will valorize it in the right way. Such potential can really bring us a lot and can significantly influence the increase in the number of arrivals and overnight stays in our city," said Barać.
The aforementioned canyon and the possibility of its valorization were brought to the attention of the NGO "Medija tim", which organized the forum as part of the project "Slow down - protect the environment".
"The first phase, which would last between three and five months, would involve cleaning the canyon and securing it. There are also two caves on the side, so they should also be explored," said Duško Marković, president of "Medija Tima".
According to biologist Boro Vuković, an environmental protection specialist in the Municipality of Nikšić, the Žljebina Canyon's characteristics correspond to a natural monument, so the Local Ecological Action Plan, which was prepared last year, proposed that it be protected as a geoheritage object, but first it is necessary to conduct a protection study that will show all of its natural and, possibly, cultural and historical values.
The Director of TO emphasized that the best results are achieved when everyone works together, and this was demonstrated in the aforementioned "Team Media" project, where the non-governmental sector, together with the local administration and the Tourist Organization, managed to turn the landfill in Lukovo, on the site of the former mine, into an eco-park.
"We have repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that the greatest tourism potential of our city lies in rural areas. Nikšić is the largest municipality in Montenegro and is predominantly rural. It seems to me that in the last few years we have experienced an expansion of rural tourism and at the moment in Nikšić there are about 20 rural households engaged in tourism, and the first ethno village is in Lukovo. The 'Media' project also concerned the cultivation of the area not far from the mine in Lukovo, where we created a park on the site of the landfill, planted seedlings, and set up benches for rest. The plan is to also create a living green wall, which will be extremely aesthetically beautiful and give new value to the location," Barać pointed out.
Boro Vuković drew attention to the fact that although the municipality of Nikšić occupies the largest territory, only 0,06 percent is protected, and that certain natural objects have been waiting to be protected since 1999.
"Biodiversity is one of the greatest resources that the municipality of Nikšić has, and in terms of the richness of certain representatives of biodiversity, it is even ahead of some European countries, and whoever has a resource cannot be uninteresting, primarily from an economic point of view," Vuković pointed out.
In the process of accession to the EU, and in connection with Chapter 27, Montenegro has undertaken the obligation to increase the percentage of protected areas to at least 20 percent. Currently, 15 percent of the territory is protected, and, according to Vuković, out of 80 protected natural objects in the country, only three are in Nikšić - the Kovačević Family Arboretum botanical garden in Grahovo, the Trebjesa forest park and Gornjepoljski Vir.
"It is interesting that only three areas in Montenegro are of international importance - Skadar Lake, Solana in Ulcinj and Solila in Tivat. There is an area in the territory of the municipality of Nikšić that could receive the status of an internationally important area - these are the Nikšić reservoirs that could receive this protection for the sake of birds," said Vuković.
The project "Reduce Speed - Protect the Environment" is supported by the Ministry of Transport of the Government of Montenegro.
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