The State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic welcomes the amendment to the Act on Nature and Landscape Protection, which was presented by the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic. In this context, nine directors of Slovak national parks unanimously expressed their support for the amendment to the Act on Nature and Landscape Protection.

Disclaimer:

The current state of national parks reflects the state of current legislation. As a result, with the exception of non-intervention zones, the individual administrations of national parks often have their hands tied. We, their directors, are often in the positions of extras who can only watch what is happening in national parks. If we are really to be held accountable for this country’s most precious asset, we must also have the legal means to be able to live up to that responsibility with honour.

We are watching with concern how some want to change the current discussion about more fundamental protection of national parks into the question of how much wood we need to harvest for the bark beetle.

And that is why we doubly welcome the ambition to do what is natural – to put nature conservation in national parks above all other interests. Just as the amendment to the Act on Nature and Landscape Protection, in the wording of which all directors of national parks participated directly or indirectly, aims to do so.

Without new legislation that will allow national park administrations to actually manage national parks, we will continue to be in the position of extras. And the current state of national parks is unlikely to change.

Pavol Majko, Director of the TANAP Administration, Ľuboš Čillag, Director of the NAPANT Administration, Vladimír Kĺč, Director of the PIENAP Administration, Tomáš Dražil, Director of the Slovak Paradise National Park Administration, Michal Kalaš, Director of the Malá Fatra National Park Administration, Peter Vantara, Director of the Veľká Fatra National Park Administration, Milan Boroš, Director of the Muránska planina National Park Administration, Ján Kilík, Director of the Slovak Karst National Park Administration and Mário Perinaj, Director of the Poloniny National Park Administration.

Banská Bystrica, 4.10.2018