Skopje, 18 August 2021 (MIA) - Mount Vodno has become a protected area in accordance with nature preservation legislation. The government at a session yesterday reached the decision approving a motion of the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning (MEPP). The MEPP points out that Vodno has been waiting a long time to get this status, according to the existing legislation for the protection of the environment, which is the only tool that enables such legal integrated protection. “We’ve been working hard to fulfil our obligation as a ministry to revalorize and declare protected areas, and we tried to secure maximum protection in accordance with the law. Now we need to prepare the necessary acts and a management plan with concrete steps, for which there will be a public consultation process, and I invite the public and the experts to participate in the operationalization of this protection the right way,” Environment Minister Naser Nuredini stated following government’s decision. The declaration of a part of Vodno as a protected area in accordance with national regulations will enable protection, preservation and sustainable usage of natural resources. The City of Skopje is in charge of the area. A management plan will be drawn up, which will contain all necessary measures and activities in order to protect the environment, especially measures for the management of the area and determining a system of protection measures and activities against fire and other natural disasters, including anti-erosion measures. “Recognizing Vodno’s extraordinary significance, and its multiple functions for the nearby settlements and the city of Skopje, after extensive public consultations and adjustments of the suggestion, an addition was put into the decision that stipulates the preparation of a spatial plan, it fulfils the local self-government’s obligation to determine the borders of erosive areas, as well as banning the building of new facilities or adding to existing ones, and expanding the settlements’ urban range to the protected area of Vodno. It’s important that Vodno was protected in accordance with existing legislation, and in the meantime, if we get a new idea that can improve the protection and regulation, it can be presented and voted on in the Assembly anytime,” Nuredini said. dk/ba/