Within a celebration of the World Biodiversity Day, Minister of Environmental Protection Goran Trivan pointed out that the biodiversity preservation was a condition for the survival of human beings in the future as well.
According to him, that is the reason why Serbia should continue with huge efforts invested in protecting its florae and faunae, with significant support of the European Union.
As the Minister underlined, Serbia is particularly important for Europe and the world because of its abundant biodiversity. “Although it covers under 2 percent of the total territory of Europe, Serbia is a home of around 40 percent of Europe’s vascular florae, 74 percent of types of birds, more than 50 percent types of fish, 40 percent of the reptile and amphibian faunae, 67 percent of the mammal faunae and as much as 67 percent of types of butterflies,” highlighted Trivan at a conference held in the “Zasavica” Special Natural Reserve.
As a result, Serbia is among the top 40 richest areas in the world in regard to biodiversity. The extinction of numerous species is a rapidly growing global trend and, similarly to climate change, it is a consequence of humans’ irresponsible conduct. Despite all the efforts, we cannot be deluded that the world has done enough to curb that trend,” said Minister Trivan.
We need to raise awareness regarding the significance and preservation of the florae and faunae, as well as to master and apply clean technologies, pointed out Trivan. “Owners of capital, namely, companies, play an important role in that endeavour, because by investing in and developing new technological solutions, they have a strategic impact on progress, as well as on global environmental footprint.”
Forestation is an important element of the biodiversity preservation. “Without forestation, there is no biodiversity protection. The Ministry will continue supporting forestation-related activities and it has allocated 41 million dinars for those efforts,“ underlined Trivan. He announced that the Ministry would continue working on all activities aimed at preserving biodiversity, as it is a prerequisite for preserving the future of Serbia.
H.E. Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden Jan Lundin has pointed to the importance of opening Chapter 27 for all citizens of Serbia and announced the continuation of that country’s support to the Serbian government in harmonising regulations and implementing European standards on Serbia’s road to the EU.
Ivan Karić, Head of Negotiating Group 27, emphasised that the deadline for adopting the negotiating position and related documents by the Serbian government was December 2019. It is necessary to adopt about another 100 legislative acts by 2021 in order to complete the transposition in the area of environmental protection and climate change.
“We implement environmental protection standards not only because of the EU membership, but also because of our own future, and we all have the responsibility to do the best we can,” said Karić.
Presentations on measures proposed in the aim of biodiversity protection were held at the celebration ceremony by Duška Dimović from the World Wide Fund for Nature of Serbia, and Ivana Živić, PhD, a professor at the Faculty of Biology in Belgrade.
