Threatened by the the goverment's plans: Lake Skutari National Park.
© Borut StumbergerNational parks should have one paramount goal: to protect nature. But this function now may be sidelined in Montenegro, as the government plans to privatise the country’s national parks. “Having national parks earn money and inject cash into the treasury is a contradiction in itself and a dangerous development. It reduces the purpose of protected areas to absurdity. Rather it is the state’s duty to invest into the future and to preserve nature for future generations”, says EuroNatur CEO Gabriel Schwaderer.
Privatising national parks would have disastrous consequences. Making profit from nature may lead to overexploitation and destruction of very valuable areas such as Lake Skadar National Park – one of the most important sites for migratory birds along the Adriatic Flyway. In an open letter, EuroNatur urgently calls on the prime minister of Montenegro to keep the national park administrations under public control and to invest into the preservation of natural resources.