This week (April 24 and 25, 2023), a two-day conference on forest management in the Accursed Mountains National Park and the Komovi Nature Park was held in Kolašin.
The aim of the conference was to open a discussion on the topic of forest management in protected areas, and the problems that have been recognized in this area, and representatives of all relevant institutions dealing with forests, both from the nature protection sector and from the forestry sector, took part in the work of the conference.
The reason why the focus was placed on the Accursed Mountains National Park is the fact that this area is extremely rich in forests, but there are numerous problems that are present in this area, which include: illegal logging, forest fires, irregularities in the process of marking trees for cutting, reception and shipment of trees, and control thereof. On the other hand, in the Komovi Nature Park, the protected area is managed by three managers: the Agency for Protected Areas in Podgorica, the Komovi Nature Park in Andrijevica and the Municipality of Kolašin. At the same time, economic felling of trees is realized within the protected area.
During the conference, following themes were discussed: the non-compliance of the law on nature protection, the law on forests, the law on wild animals and hunting, as well as illegal and legal logging, and the consequences of these activities on the ecosystem and ecological corridors.
One of the conclusions of the conference is that it is necessary to initiate a revision of the Forest Management Plan in Opasanica in the Komovi Nature Park, and to assess how much damage was caused in that protected area by cutting down the forest.
Also, it is necessary to improve cooperation and communication between the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, the Environmental Protection Agency, the competent inspection, but also the managers of protected areas, whether it is national parks or nature parks. This is especially important due to the fact that the public debate on the Law on Forests is ongoing, while the preparation of the new Law on Nature Protection is underway.
The project Strong civil society for preserved forests of Accursed Mountains and Komovi aims to contribute to the strenghtening of civil society organizations, activists and individuals who are active in the area of Accursed Mounutains and Komovi in the field of forest management, and is supported through the program “CSOs in Montenegro – from basic services to policy making – M’BASE” implemented by the Center for Civic Education (CGO), the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), the Center for the Protection and Study of Birds of Montenegro (CZIP) and the Politikon network. The project is financed by the European Union and co-financed by the Ministry of Public Administration.
