Management is the key word for protected areas and without adequate management, nature protection is neither sustainable nor possible, said the Minister of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism in the technical mandate, Ana Novaković Đurović.
Today in Kolašin, she opened the conference "Protected areas in Montenegro - challenges and perspectives", which was organized on the occasion of 70 years since the establishment of the first national parks in our country.
According to Novaković Đurović, protected areas must not have such a status only "on paper". As she explained, "every establishment of a new protected area is a new achievement, but also an obligation and responsibility to ensure that what is protected is long-term and preserved."
"From the very beginning of the mandate of this Government and the Ministry, our intention was to show that, apart from the NGO sector and environmental activists, who made and are making the greatest contribution to the protection of nature in Montenegro, institutions also want to finally protect our natural resources. At the initiative of the civilian sector, we gave consent for the protection of certain areas... This is not the end of our intentions. The key question is how to proceed, when we decide that something should be protected. In Montenegro, 13 percent of the land and almost one percent of the sea are currently protected, and a significant expansion of the area under protection is yet to come. Through the Biodiversity Strategy, the EU has set a goal to protect 2030 percent of the land and the same amount of sea by 30, of which 10 percent of the land and sea should be under strict protection," reminded the minister in the technical mandate.
As she assessed, "such high-set goals indicate that protected areas are the main way to protect nature, and stricter protection is a prerequisite for its preservation." However, says Novaković Đurović, the goals set in the Strategy "must not divert attention from the assessment of the effectiveness of management of protected areas, as well as from the selection of the best management model for newly declared areas".
New times and new challenges require new analysis and finding the best solutions for our protected areas, said Aleksandar Bulatović, director of the Public Enterprise for National Parks of Montenegro.
"This year, the national parks are recording excellent results, which shows that domestic approach and care can change a lot for the better. "Such an approach can be a guide in the future - to maintain the continuity of good features, which are sometimes difficult in economic, social, industrial and social aspects, but good for the prosperity and survival of protected areas," he said.
Bulatović announced that on September 25, in honor of the jubilee, the entrance to the national parks will not be charged to visitors.
At the opening of the conference, Zoran Mrdak, the president of Parks Dinarida, as well as the long-time director of NP Durmitor Milenko Stijepović, spoke.
Bonus video:
