Public Debate on the Draft Decision on declaring part of Vodno a protected area in category V – Protected area, which was organized and held online by the MOEPP in cooperation with the City of Skopje, aroused great interest. In the presence of over 100 participants, an extensive discussion was developed among the professional public, the current representatives of institutions and civil associations regarding the way in which Vodno should be protected and ensure a transparent process of public involvement in the preparation of the proclamation act. The process of submitting comments, remarks and suggestions will be open until February 13 and they are welcome, in order to find the best solution to protect part of Vodno as an area of multiple importance for the city of Skopje and the wider environment.
The proclamation of a part of the mountain Vodno is an obligation of the national legislation for nature protection, as follows: Law on Nature Protection, the Environmental Plan of the State and the National Strategies for Biodiversity and Nature Protection with Action Plans and the Decision of the Government on the acceptability of the proposal for declaring part of the mountain Vodno a protected area.
In accordance with the Law on Nature Protection, MOEPP prepared a Draft-Decision on declaring a part of Vodno as a protected area in the category-V protected area V. The initiative for declaring Vodno a protected area was initiated by the City of Skopje, which submitted to the MOEPP a Proposal for declaring Vodno a protected area in the Protected area category together with a Study for valorization of the protected area park-forest Vodno. The basic document for preparation of the Draft-Decision is the Study, prepared by a team of experts and it was accepted by the City of Skopje.
At the same time, the initiative for declaring a part of Vodno is accepted by the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia, which adopted the Decision on the acceptability of the proposal for declaring a part of the mountain Vodno a protected area
As an obligation under the Law on Nature Protection, The MOEPP should perform revaluation to all protected areas and prepare new proclamation acts. Draft-decision for declaring part of the mountain Vodno a protected area in category V-protected area was made in accordance with the Law on Nature Protection and there is no other legal act at the national level for declaring protected areas, which also refers to Vodno.
The City of Skopje, MOEPP, including the Government of Republic of North Macedonia, express the need for the urgent declaration of a part of Vodno as a protected area.
All comments and remarks in terms of the Draft Decision on Vodno will be reviewed from the aspect of the competence of the MOEPP and the City of Skopje in cooperation with the team of experts that prepared the Study for valorization of the protected area park-forest Vodno. The MOEPP will prepare a Report from the Public Debate and will submit it to the Government of the Republic of Northern Macedonia together with the Draft-Decision.