{"id":6878,"date":"2025-02-07T16:02:57","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T16:02:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/polekol.org\/2025\/02\/07\/demand-for-responsibility-who-protects-nature\/"},"modified":"2025-04-29T09:00:24","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T09:00:24","slug":"demand-for-responsibility-who-protects-nature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/polekol.org\/en\/2025\/02\/07\/demand-for-responsibility-who-protects-nature\/","title":{"rendered":"Demand for responsibility – who protects nature?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On the occasion of the issuance of the Decision on conditions for nature protection – Project “Jadar”, 32 civil society organizations dealing with nature protection call on the Government of Serbia and the Ministry of Environmental Protection to take responsibility and take measures to sanction those responsible in the Institute for Nature Protection of Serbia for the non-transparent and illegitimate process of issuing nature protection conditions for the “Jadar” project. <\/h2>\n\n

REQUEST FOR RESPONSIBILITY FOR IRREGULAR ISSUANCE OF CONDITIONS FOR NATURE PROTECTION – JADAR PROJECT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The decision on nature protection conditions for determining the scope and content of the environmental impact assessment study of the “Jadar” lithium and pine deposit underground exploitation project was issued on August 21, 2024 at the request of the Rio Sava company, and by the Institute for Nature Protection of Serbia, an expert institution that carries out the activity of protecting and improving Serbia’s natural heritage. <\/p>\n\n

After the publication of information by the Center for Investigative Journalism of Serbia (CINS), the public was given confirmation of suspicions that the nature protection conditions for the “Jadar” Project were drawn up outside the standards, that they were changed and adopted without the consent of the experts employed at the Institute, that they are in line with the interests of the company and to the detriment of nature and the citizens of Serbia.<\/p>\n\n

Good management of the environment and the preservation of Serbia’s natural resources rest on the quality work of institutions, the application of laws, compliance with procedures, the use of scientific data and expert opinions.<\/p>\n\n

Understanding the complexity of procedures in approving projects, we believe that the main task of the Institute is to, through the issuance of a decision on nature protection conditions, present in detail all knowledge about the presence of natural values \u200b\u200bin a given area, without lump-sum selection of “some of the most important species”, to assess possible impacts and to propose protection measures. The principles of prevention and precaution and the principle of preservation of natural values, which are defined by the Law on Environmental Protection, require that natural values \u200b\u200bbe identified and stated, as well as that any possible impact on them be assessed, in accordance with the best knowledge of the profession and without any compromises. <\/p>\n\n

The fact that the management of the Institute for Nature Protection of Serbia does not respect the knowledge and opinions of its employees is worrying, and because of political decisions, it is collapsing practices that have been developed for years, thus greatly endangering the nature of Serbia and its citizens.<\/p>\n\n

We believe that nature protection is one of the priorities of our society, and that the institutions responsible for nature protection must be the greatest fighters and advocates for the preservation of natural resources.<\/p>\n\n

The Jadar project, which carries very high risks for the nature and the citizens of Serbia, stimulates corruption through such actions and practices and further erodes citizens’ trust in institutions.<\/p>\n\n

So that this way of creating conditions for nature protection would not become a common practice, which can have serious and tragic consequences, we request:<\/p>\n\n