On Wednesday, May 29, the Government of the Slovak Republic approved an amendment to the Nature Protection Act. This will ensure the effective protection of 400,000 hectares of the most precious natural sites, which represents almost 10% of the area of Slovakia.
No large-scale felling or any intervention in nature in national parks without the prior consent of us state conservationists. Today, the government approved the long-awaited amendment to the Nature Protection Act, and the most precious sites in Slovakia can thus receive real legislative protection.
“Today, we have a law in front of us that, after many years, will provide national parks with the protection that these rare sites deserve. For the first time in history, our state conservationists will be given real competences,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment of the Slovak Republic László Sólymos.
The amendment to the Nature Protection Act prohibits large-scale logging in national parks and rare areas directly in the text. Accidental logging, such as the one the public could see, for example, in the Low Tatras, will be illegal after the amendment comes into force. The Director General of the State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic, Martin Lakanda, also reacts to the amendment adopted by the government: “We welcome the amendment to the Act on Nature and Landscape Protection approved by the government. The proposed changes to the legislation are crucial for us in terms of ensuring adequate nature protection in Slovakia. I see the strengthening of our position in approving interventions in national parks and other protected areas as the most significant change, whether it concerns logging, watercourse treatment, or construction planning. Today, we can only prevent felling in national parks in the highest fifth degree of protection, now our jurisdiction will be significantly extended to the entire territory of national parks. Our ambition is to achieve what is natural, i.e. to put nature conservation in national parks above all other interests.”
The new legislation brings specific powers to the State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic. Our consent will be needed for any steps that could endanger nature in national parks. Whether it concerns the aforementioned logging, excavation of soil or interventions in watercourses. The conditions for construction in national parks are also being tightened. While so far state conservationists have had no say in several construction works, we now have one.
Over the past three years, there have been significant shifts in the protection of national parks. The state began to actively use pre-emption rights. Since 2017, it has acquired land by pre-emption, for example, in the Slovak Karst, in Malá Fatra, Poloniny, and the Choč National Nature Reserve, and the Ministry of the Environment continues in this trend. In addition, 1262 hectares of non-intervention area have been added in Slovakia recently.
The state began to offer all available compensation options to private owners. From rent, damage, through contractual care to buyout. After years, the possibility of drawing support from EU funds has been created for private owners.
“We perceive the approved amendment to the law as a shift in nature protection in Slovakia. So far, we have been able to provide real protection of habitats and, consequently, species protection, basically only to the 5th degree of protection, which represented only less than 2 percent of the territory of Slovakia that was actually protected. We all perceived that it was woefully little… However, there was still no will to enforce better legal support. Nature conservation in national parks has so far been only on a formal level. The approved amendment to the law is a compromise and it should be mentioned that several important provisions have been dropped from it. However, it is the first step towards meeting the real goals of protecting national parks in Slovakia so that they are in line with the international standard.”
Mgr. Peter Vantara – Director of the Veľká Fatra National Park Administration.
