Round table on “Ecological Security System in Montenegro – Management of Monitoring System in Protected Areas” was held on Wednesday, 17 July 2013 in ”Ramada“ hotel in Podgorica, and organized by the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, National Parks of Montenegro and “Ozone” Ecological Movement, with the support of OSCE Mission in Montenegro.
Within the introductory part, acting Head of the OSCE Mission in Montenegro, Mr Waldemar Figaj addressed the audience, as well as the director of the public institution National Parks of Montenegro, Mr Zoran Mrdak and, on behalf of the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, Ms Daliborka Pejović’, state secretary and Ms Ivana Vojinović, director general for environment.
Participants of the round table dedicated special attention to the discussion on the manners for the improvement of management and monitoring system in national parks, and ideas for solving the problems faced by the management of Montenegrin national parks and other protected areas in nature.
Ms Selena Tasić, programme manager, addressed the audience on behalf of the Public Policy Institute. She emphasized the significance of recognizing media and civil sector as key actors in informing citizens on policies regarding environment, within the context of the comprehensive approach to security sector, which has been coping with environmental threats as non-military threats to the state security. Recommendations provided by Ms Tasić at the end of her speech were related to the obligations of institutions in environment sector to implement priorities aligned with strategies of development and preservation of environment and to cooperate with civil society organizations and media which are familiar with knowledge and techniques of informing and educating citizens by appropriate, accurate and understandable reporting. In addition to this, associations of citizens and media are obliged to tackle issues from the field of their expertise, as well as to gather well-educated activists and journalists in their teams, for the areas that they cover.
The conclusion of the Round table is that it is necessary to improve management and monitoring system in protected areas, as well as to strengthen coordination and inter-sector cooperation of all entities, as monitoring in protected areas is not only the responsibility of management; it is necessary to involve the whole community in the work on overcoming the issues in this areas which are in the interests of the whole population.
