Is the adoption being prevented by a lobby or a law? The authorities in Pljevlja do not want to declare the upper reaches of the Ćehotina a nature park

The current local government in Pljevlja will not submit to the Municipal Assembly a proposal for a decision to declare the Upper reaches of the Ćehotina River a nature park, although several non-governmental organizations insist on this, and almost all important planning documents, from the Spatial Plan of Montenegro to the recently adopted local PUP, provide for exactly this type of protection.

This was confirmed to "Vijesti" by the local administration.

Secretary of the Secretariat for Urban Planning and Spatial Development Dragan Šubarić explains that the key reason for not accepting the proposal is that the area must be treated primarily as a water source. He notes that about 80 percent of the city's water is taken from the Otilović Lake reservoir in the summer and that the Water Act strictly limits other activities, while the Nature Protection Act is more liberal.

Šubarić added that this initiative could still be proposed by one of the local parliament members, and then the Municipal Assembly would have to decide on it.

For the upper reaches of the Ćehotina River, the process of preparing a protection study has been completed, a public hearing has been held, and all necessary approvals from state authorities have been obtained. Only the last step remains, the vote on the decision in the Pljevlja Municipal Assembly.

According to the proposal, the area that would be covered by protection is 1.326,87 hectares, divided into two zones: Protection Zone II - 109,40 hectares, which includes the Ćehotina River from its confluence with Otilovićko Lake, the Kozička River, part of the Mejdanica River, as well as parts of the riverbed to the bridge in Vrulja and Maočnica to Bratosavina.

The third protection zone covers 1.217,47 hectares and is divided into three spatial units: Otilovići-Ljutići-Maočnica-Krakalice-Kunine, then Katabun (from Vrulja to the mouth of the Maočnica) and Gradina-Gajeva.

In addition to the area itself, it has been proposed to introduce a 500-meter-wide buffer zone, which is the practice in other protected areas, and aims to mitigate negative external impacts such as wastewater, municipal waste, invasive species, illegal construction, pollution from agriculture, fires, and other factors.

In the opinion given by the Šubarić Secretariat for Urbanism and Spatial Planning on the proposal for amendments to the Spatial Plan of the Municipality of Pljevlja, which the Government of Montenegro has since adopted, the Secretariat warns that there has been an overlap between the two regimes for the protection of water sources and the nature park and that the Municipality of Pljevlja does not support such a solution.

“The Upper reaches of the Ćehotina River” was included in the proposal for the Pljevlja PAP based on the guidelines contained in the Proposal for a decision on declaring a protected area, a nature park, which was not adopted in its original form. The Secretariat believes that the position of the plan developer that the protection procedure for this area has already been initiated is not acceptable, because the plan clearly states that Otilović Lake is primarily a water source for the city. The PAP itself specifies that the protection zone includes the Otilović Lake reservoir and the protective belt around it. It explicitly prohibits public vehicle and pedestrian traffic, the use of watercraft, water sports, swimming and fishing. On the other hand, the chapter “The Upper reaches of the Ćehotina River Nature Park” states that sports and recreational fishing activities and controlled visits for tourist purposes are permitted, provided that they do not endanger primary natural values.

Vaso Knežević from the NGO "Da zaživi selo", one of the NGOs that initiated the procedures for declaring the Upper reaches of the Ćehotina River a nature park, claims that the protection of the Upper reaches of the Ćehotina does not exclude development, but on the contrary, it directs it towards sustainable models.

"While experts in the field of nature protection claim that the Water Law and the Nature Protection Law complement each other, the opposite position prevails in local authorities. For those who want it, they find a way, and for those who don't, they find a reason. Some officials in the Municipality do not want this Nature Park and are finding reasons that are unfounded and ignorant. Time will tell if this claim of mine is true," Knežević told "Vijesti".

He reminds that the procedure for declaring a nature park is in the final stage, and that all necessary approvals from the competent state institutions already exist.

He points out that the valorization of natural values ​​has already initiated the development of infrastructure and that last year, at the initiative of the NGOs "Da zaživi selo" and "Legalis", the Pljevlja Tourist Organization and the Mataruge Local Community, a kilometer of road to the "Meanders of Ćehotina" viewpoint was paved.

"This infrastructural shift will put even more pressure on this area in terms of increased visitor numbers, and therefore it is necessary for someone to finally start managing this area, for which the procedure for declaring it a nature park is in its final stage, but certain leaders in the Municipality of Pljevlja are hindering this procedure for unknown and unjustified reasons. However, at some point this area will have its own protection and its own manager, in order to preserve the recognized natural values, which recommended this area for a nature park. Also, all new relevant planning documents have envisaged the protection of the upper reaches of the Ćehotina River, including the Ćehotina meanders, as a Nature Park, such as the Spatial Plan of Montenegro, the Pljevlja Urban Development Plan, the Environmental Protection Action Plan of the Municipality of Pljevlja, etc. Someone is dangerously late with awareness, or there are other interests at stake. Time will tell what is at stake! This shows that nature can be a driver of development, but without a manager, this development can become a threat," says Knežević.

He states that "it is obvious that the devastator lobby in Pljevlja, which has been in force for more than 6 decades, is still strong."

"It is also obvious that the current government in Pljevlja serves this lobby, because it persistently avoids putting the proclamation of the 'Upper Ćehotina' nature park into the parliamentary procedure, for which all relevant approvals have been collected from state authorities and it is only up to us, the people of Pljevlja, to declare the first protected area in the territory of the municipality of Pljevlja."

This is not the first time that the municipality has not accepted an initiative. Even during the time when it was headed by Rajko Kovacevic, the decision to declare the Upper reaches of the Ćehotina River a nature park was withdrawn from the Assembly agenda, with the explanation that it was necessary to consider public interest and economic activities of importance to Pljevlja.