Podgorica, (MINA) – The European Union will continue supporting Montenegrin institutions, but Montenegro must meet its constitutional commitment to be an ecological state, said Head of the EU Delegation to Montenegro Aivo Orav.
The EU Delegation, Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism (MORT) and the Environment Protection Agency organized on Thursday the conference “Nature 2000: next steps for Montenegro”, in which the results of that project and future challenges were presented.
Orav said that Montenegro, through EU accession process, pledged to join the Natura 2000 network, but added that mapping of the landscape and species in Montenegro is not an easy task due to low population density and lack of the trained experts.
He noted that in the last three years the EU implemented the project worth more than €2 million through supporting MORT and the Environmental Protection Agency to set foundations for the future Natura 2000 network in Montenegro.
“Despite great results, we concluded with certain level of regret that this project did not meet its full potential”, Orav said.
He emphasized that the goal of the EU projects is to help the institutions, but they cannot complete the job instead of them.
Orav remarked that it is now up to the government to take over the ownership over the project and increase efforts in the environmental protection field, by reaching results in other ecology agenda tasks, such as Ulcinj Saline protection.
MORT Director General for Environmental Protection Ivana Vojinovic said that the Ministry allocated €200,000 by the end of the year for continuation of the mapping the territory of Montenegro.
She said that the support Montenegro receives from the EU through accession funds and programs is an important aspects of the integration process.
Vojinovic said that the requirement to set the Natura 2000 network is the part of chapter 27, which opening, she stated, represents recognition of the Montenegrin institutions’’ intensive work in aligning national with the EU legislation and advancing administrative capacities.
She remarked that the parts of Montenegrin territory which will be the part of Natura 2000 and become a part of EU natural heritage, should create new possibilities, in particular in the North, and help in establishing balanced regional and economic development, based on the sustainability principles.
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