Old olive groves "turned" into apartments: Instead of protection, olive groves have become "obstacles to business"

What has been happening to olive trees in Montenegro for the past two decades is something that deeply saddens any sane person. Olive trees are being uprooted at every turn, old olive groves are being turned into construction sites, all for the sake of building apartments for sale. In doing so, olive trees that are up to 1000 years old and more are being uprooted, breaking into several smaller pieces.

This was told to "Vijesti" by the Bankada Foundation, which brings together the residents of Paštrovići, an area where construction urbanization has "swallowed" thousands of olive trees in the past two decades.

Several new construction sites in the Paštrovići area, on plots where there are olive groves, have once again disturbed the Budva public, and social networks have been flooded with photos of destroyed olive trees.

As they emphasized, Montenegro received tens of thousands of old olive trees as a "gift" from our ancestors.

"Many of them are older than 1000 years and such specimens all over the world represent both natural and cultural treasures. Man has also participated in the centuries-old growth of the olive tree, and this human intervention in growing olive trees over the centuries and millennia, or rather "cultivation", gives the olive tree the epithet of cultural heritage and not only natural. It is important to point out that UNESCO has recognized the importance of olive trees, calling for "the protection of olive trees and the values ​​to which they are attached, in order to appreciate their social, cultural, economic and ecological significance for humanity". UNESCO has established World Olive Tree Day, which is celebrated on November 26, and olive trees are also attributed with importance in terms of mitigating the negative consequences of climate change. The Council of Europe also attaches great importance to olive trees, viewing them as an important historical factor in the creation of the Mediterranean civilization ("Olive tree civilization"). Under the auspices of the Council of Europe, there are so-called Cultural Routes of Olive Trees that connect several Mediterranean countries and have great cultural, touristic and educational potential", emphasized the Foundation.

They state that many olive trees dry out during transplantation.

"In addition, many who treat olive trees in this way do so in violation of the Law on Olive Growing and Olive Oil, which prohibits the transplanting of olive trees older than 100 years. In addition, 'reputable investors' literally uproot all the olive trees from their plots and then sell apartments with a view of the olive groves on neighboring plots that have miraculously survived. Apartment buyers enjoy the view of other people's olive trees and probably do not know that there was once an olive grove under their apartment, which was then removed because it was an 'obstacle to business'. The saddest thing in all of this is the helplessness and indifference of state institutions over all these years, which do not care about olive trees. This is evidenced by the fact that numerous olive groves with ancient olive trees, especially in the territory of the Municipality of Budva, and probably beyond, are located on urbanized construction plots, so it is only a matter of days before excavators start digging them up. Therefore, the old olive trees are left at the mercy of the investor, so "only those trees survive that were lucky enough that their owner, new or old, has little morals or an innate sense for the aesthetics of the space and ecology or olive growing", they say in the Bankada Foundation.

However, as they emphasize, there are unfortunately few of them, which is natural because no one is obligated to act morally when the state gives them the green light to maximize their profits without any restrictions and without concern for space and the environment.

"Therefore, no one wants to 'swim upstream' if the system gives them the opportunity to easily make money regardless of the consequences for the area and the olive groves. It would perhaps be better if there were a complete absence of state institutions and anarchy were formally declared, and then perhaps some deeply suppressed moral need to preserve these olive trees would awaken in the people themselves. Other Mediterranean countries in the region, such as Croatia, Albania, Greece and Turkey, which also have challenges with the construction of real estate for sale in attractive areas, have not allowed anything close to what is currently happening in Montenegro to happen. If Montenegro continues on this path in terms of its attitude towards olive trees, especially old ones, sooner or later it will lead to the almost complete extinction of olive trees, especially in the territory of the municipality of Budva, in locations overlooking the sea. Then many tourists who come will ask us: why is it that in other countries in the Mediterranean there are so many olive trees and here there are so few," the Foundation claims.

They say that by uprooting olive trees, not only is valuable cultural and natural heritage that has great potential in terms of rural development and sustainable tourism destroyed, but it also disrupts the entire eco-system of olive trees in the micro-area, and also leads to an increase in floods and torrents due to the absence of roots to absorb water from precipitation.

"We appeal to the state to initiate adequate measures to protect olive groves and old olive trees and to take the problem seriously. There are fewer and fewer olive trees every day. It is necessary to initiate the creation of a Public Register of Olive Groves and Old Olive Trees, and if necessary, to assess the age of trees that stand out by their size at the root. A few years ago, the Bankada Foundation was on the verge of implementing a project to assess the age of certain old olive trees in the Budva Municipality in cooperation with scientists from Istanbul, many of which had over 10 meters of root circumference. The contractual documentation was already ready, however, the project was not implemented due to a lack of financial resources. Such an important project should first and foremost be initiated by state institutions and we are ready to help as much as we can, if necessary on a voluntary basis," the Bankada Foundation concludes.

Preserve at least some trees in the corners of the plots

The Bankada Foundation appeals to private olive grove owners and investors to show a modicum of responsibility and, when designing and building facilities in olive groves, to try to preserve at least some olive trees and leave them in their place, without transplanting, and possibly reduce the overall dimensions of the facility at the base.

"At least those trees that are located in the corners and edges of those plots where construction is planned should be preserved, instead of "freeing" the entire plot of land from olive trees, as is the case now, so that excavators can do their job more easily. In the long term, preserving old olive trees in the yard of a house or building, without transplanting, with a reduced size of the facility, increases the value of real estate in every sense, and also has a positive impact on the growth of tourism income. Therefore, preserving old olive trees, with adequate tourist valorization in accordance with the principles of sustainable development and tourism, in addition to preserving our environment, also brings long-term stable economic income," the Foundation emphasizes.