The public hearing was opened by the Chairperson of the Environmental Protection Committee Milica Vojic Markovic. She emphasised the importance of the Natura 2000 environmental network and the need to adopt policies and strategies to deal with the conservation of plant and animal species and habitats both at the national and local level.
Jelena Ducic of the Ministry of Energy, Development and Environmental Protection, Natura 2000 Group presented the European Union environmental network Natura 2000 covering the conservation of plant and animal species and nature protection areas. The programme is the basis of nature protection in the EU and is the result of the Directive on the protection of natural habitats, wild flora and fauna and the Directive on the protection of birds, said Jelena Ducic. She added that the environmental network set up in Serbia covers 101 ecologically important areas and announced the adoption of a new nature protection law.
The participants of the public hearing were also addressed by Dragana Milovanovic of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management who spoke of the Ministry’s scope and briefed them on the water management plan for the Danube delta and areas suggested for revitalization, as well as the Ministry’s participation in the work of international commissions for the protection of rivers Danube and Sava.
Goran Sekulic of the Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia presented the goals of the European nature preservation network Natura 2000 and informed the participants on Serbia’s plans to join the network set-up process. Biljana Panjkovic of the Provincial Institute for Environmental Protection spoke of the composition and activity plan of the working group tasked with drafting the Action Plan for the establishment of the nature protection network Natura 2000 in the Republic of Serbia.
The participants of the public hearing were also addressed by Predrag Aleksic of Srbijasume PE, Ivana Vasic of Vojvodinasume PE, Milica Tomic of Tara National Park and Gabor Mesaros of the Subotica Association Protego.
The discussion focused on the conservation of habitats and plant and animal species in Serbia and the need to adjust the administrative capacities for the establishment of the Natura 2000 network in Serbia, and involved representatives of the executive, provincial nature protection services, representatives of the non-governmental sector and expert public.
In the conclusion of the public hearing, the Chairperson of the Environmental Protection Committee Milica Vojic Markovic said that the conservation of natural resources calls for a clear definition of the scope and coordination of all the relevant factors, with the inclusion of the civil sector which can, with its knowledge and recommendations, contribute to finding adequate solutions in the sphere.
The public hearing was organised with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) via project Strengthening the Oversight Role and Transparency of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, conducted in cooperation with the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.