Law on Limiting Vehicle Travel in the Natural Environment

Hunting, Fishing and Alpine Associations Strongly SUPPORT the new law on limiting vehicle travel in the natural environment



On Monday, July 18, the Non-Governmental Group for

limiting vehicle travel in nature held its first meeting at the Alpine Association of Slovenia, composed of representatives of the Hunting, Fishing and Alpine Associations

of Slovenia. The main topic of the meeting was the presentation and discussion of the draft law on limiting vehicle travel

in nature. In addition to the representatives of the associations, the head of the nature conservation sector

at the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning of the Republic of Slovenia, Mladen Berginc, also attended the meeting.

The natural environment is today more open and accessible than ever before, which also brings many negative

consequences into it. One of the important initial steps is raising awareness and deepening knowledge about nature, both among

residents and visitors, especially among children, youth and young people. An important step in

environmental protection will also be brought by the new law on limiting vehicle travel in nature.

Since the proposed law addresses areas that all three associations want to be regulated, the

presidents of the associations agreed at our first joint meeting on April 4 this year to establish the Non-Governmental

Group for limiting vehicle travel in nature, with the primary goal of preserving the natural environment and peace

also for our descendants.

All three associations are well aware that noise, exhaust fumes and vehicle travel in the natural environment, which includes

plateaus, alpine trails, forests, riparian and water surfaces..., thus also sensitive ecosystems,

cause unrest and disturbance to animals and plants, including many rare and endangered species.

For them in particular, unrest, noise, the risk of oil and fuel spills, etc., are extremely harmful and dangerous and can even be

directly fatal.

We firmly advocate for a new law that will upgrade the existing Government of the Republic of Slovenia Regulation on the prohibition of vehicle travel

in the natural environment from 1995 and establish clear, better and distinct demarcations of where in space and under

what conditions vehicle travel is permitted. For the purpose of preserving ecosystems, natural values and

landscape, we are firmly against any travel with motorized vehicles (motocross, quad bikes, off-road vehicles,

snowmobiles...) in the natural environment.

President of the Hunting Association of Slovenia Srečo Felix Krope: "The state must ensure that adopted legislation

is respected; if it is inadequate, it must amend the legislation. We are talking about the regulation of the field of environmental and nature protection,

and we find that you can drive through forests, fields, indulge or even enjoy yourself on a cross motorcycle or snowmobiles.

It doesn't matter at all whether you drive through the habitats of the capercaillie or whether

you disturb wildlife or young. If someone catches you between 7 and 3 pm, it only costs 40 euros.

I understand that the state is saving, facing an oversized state apparatus and officials, and yet cannot

ensure the implementation of the regulation prohibiting travel in the natural environment. I don't understand why

the state does not accept the hand of non-governmental organizations and prevents them from performing

nature conservation supervision tasks within their supervisory

system. And that for free. Something is very wrong.

I am glad that non-governmental organizations care about what is happening around us. And I am glad that the majority prioritizes

the environment and nature over economic calculations. Certainly, other non-governmental organizations

will join hikers, fishermen, dog handlers and hunters, so together we will ensure that we get appropriate

legislation and that the state will comply with it too. And then wildlife, deer and even bears will carefree

cross the highway and go their way. And then the number of reports of wildlife collisions on railways, roads and

injured people in these accidents will be very low or almost none compared to today's figures."



President of the Fishing Association of Slovenia Borut Jerše: "We expect the new law to satisfactorily

limit, if not prevent, the delivery of individuals and small groups to the headwaters of our mountain streams

from where they then have easy access to gorges in which they perform so-called canyoning. The seemingly

harmless adrenaline descent through waterfalls of inaccessible gorges has strong negative consequences on

the specific animal, and also plant life of areas that are usually rarely sunlit and therefore additionally cooler

mainly in the alpine area. In these special conditions, there are still some, even endemic, plant and animal species,

of which the genetically pure and therefore particularly endangered populations of

marble trout, which is an endemic of the Adriatic basin, and brook trout, which is one of the most important

European trout (salmonid) fish species, are particularly important for freshwater fishing."

President of the Alpine Association of Slovenia Bojan Rotovnik: "In recent years, hikers have increasingly

encountered motorized vehicles in unwelcome encounters on alpine trails and off-trails, where drivers are often

inconsiderate towards other nature visitors and nature itself. To satisfy their own needs for

adrenaline release with their activities, they endanger and disturb hikers, other visitors and nature lovers,

as well as animals and the entire natural environment. Hikers feel not only the noise and smell of vehicles, but

also dangerous detours from alpine trails, reckless pushing, not to mention how all this scares animals;

deep, visible tracks are also left by vehicles in the soil. Nature in the mid-mountain and high-mountain areas needs substantially

longer time for regeneration than in the valley world.

The alpine organization has in the past actively dealt with the problem of vehicle travel in the natural environment.

We have done a lot on prevention, especially among the youngest, youth in alpine circles and

alpine camps and among professional staff at professional training. In addition to prevention and awareness-raising,

we have also embarked on systematic work for the legal regulation of this pressing problem. We will persist in this

and strive for the law to be adopted as soon as possible. At the same time, we will continue to care for prevention and awareness

of our members as well as the wider public. In this, our professional staff in the alpine organization help us a lot – especially nature wardens and guides of the Alpine Association of Slovenia, of course, as well as other professionally

trained staff. Our Commission for the Protection of Mountain Nature of the PZS is very active in this area, currently a brochure on the prohibition of vehicle travel in nature is being prepared, with which we will equip nature visitors with instructions

on how to act in case they witness unauthorized travel, e.g. with quad bikes, snowmobiles, motocross, etc.

on alpine trails and off-trails.

We firmly advocate for the earliest possible adoption of the new law on limiting vehicle travel in the natural environment and

the establishment of effective supervision over the implementation of the law's provisions."

Preservation of the natural environment, animal and plant species, the beauties of nature is important not only for us, but

also, we are convinced, for numerous nature lovers, many non-governmental organizations, groups and individuals.

We expect all those mentioned to also actively and publicly support the adoption of the law and also its implementation and

compliance with the law's provisions in practice.

The Alpine, Hunting and Fishing Associations call on all nature lovers and other non-governmental organizations to

thoroughly study the draft of the new law, which is publicly published today, July 22, 2011, on the website of the Ministry of the Environment

and Spatial Planning of the Republic of Slovenia, http://www.mop.gov.si/nc/si/splosno/cns/novica/article/12118/8185/,

and to actively participate in the public discussion yourselves and at the same time cooperate in eliminating

unauthorized travel with motorized vehicles in the natural environment according to your possibilities.