MILEŠEVIĆ: DRAFT STUDY ON JOINT TARA-DRINA PROTECTED AREA TO BE COMPLETED SOON

BELGRADE, NOVEMBER 3 /SRNA/ – The Director of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage Jasna Milešević has stated today in Belgrade that the planned activities of the institutes of Srpska and Serbia for this year have been completed and that a draft study on the joint protected area Tara–Drina is expected.

"Research was carried out in the area of the Višegrad municipality. It covers about 20,000 hectares that we plan to protect jointly," Milešević told reporters after the signing of a memorandum by the line ministries of Republika Srpska and Serbia. She noted that the memorandum is a formal document, while fieldwork is already well under way. Milešević said that the point is not only formal protection, but also continued cooperation in terms of further funding of protected areas. "We are aware that, after an area is declared protected, new public institutions managing such areas generally face problems with self-financing. At today’s meeting, we agreed on several new steps related to self-financing of the new protected area," she noted. Today in Belgrade, the Minister for Spatial Planning, Construction and Ecology of Republika Srpska Bojan Vipotnik and Serbia's Minister for Environmental Protection Sara Pavkov signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation in the field of environmental protection, which will serve as a foundation for strengthening bilateral cooperation.