Mountaineers, hunters, fishermen and scouts united...

Hunters, fishermen, scouts and mountaineers after years of efforts to regulate restrictions on driving in the natural environment

united: both driving with motor vehicles and with bicycles must be regulated by law

Representatives of the Hunters' Association of Slovenia, Alpine Association of Slovenia, Fishing Association of Slovenia and Scout Association of Slovenia,

which within the Non-Governmental Group for Environmental and Social Legislation have for several years been alerting competent institutions

as well as the broader public to the necessity of regulating driving in the natural environment, at a joint meeting

adopted common positions and comments regarding amendments and additions to the Nature Conservation Act and the Waters Act and forwarded them to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment RS.

Members of the non-governmental group, uniting over 100,000 members, otherwise welcome the long-awaited preparation

of the draft Law on Amendments and Additions to the Nature Conservation Act and agree with most of the proposed solutions,

but they are united that the law must regulate both the issue of driving with motor vehicles and with bicycles, whereby cycling cannot be treated the same as driving with motor vehicles, which causes

actual damage in the natural environment, and must be addressed with greater restrictions and sanctioned with stricter

penalties. In addition, they agree that cycling must be regulated in a way that prevents conflicts between

different users and that surfaces already basically built for vehicle driving are allocated to them. They oppose

any driving of all forms of motor vehicles and bicycles in the free nature. They warn that in practice it is necessary to ensure

a clear and effective monitoring system of the enacted regulation and ask the state to simplify procedures for construction

of dedicated sports polygons for mountain bikers and various motor vehicles, which would relieve pressure on

roads in nature. At the same time, they offer the state a solution and again propose that recreation in nature and its rules

be regulated in cooperation with non-governmental organizations. Within this framework, it can include in the direct monitoring system

hunting and fishing wardens, scout volunteers and professionally trained guardians of mountain nature, who already now

perform certain tasks for which the state has authorized them; with appropriate adjustment of authorizations, they could

also carry out such monitoring. This would mean financial relief for the state or free implementation of

monitoring.

Regarding the proposal for the amendment of the Waters Act, members of the non-governmental group supported the proposals of the Fishing Association of Slovenia

and agree with their arguments. All members of the group urge the state to consistently respect all Slovenian

and European legal provisions in construction interventions in watercourses, and members of the group explicitly expect from the state

that in all administrative procedures for obtaining water permits it will consider fishing concessionaires

as relevant parties in the procedure.

At the same time, members of the non-governmental group supported the initiative of the Alpine Association of Slovenia for the introduction of an independent classification

of association facilities operating in the public interest (these are hunting, alpine, fishing, scout huts and homes) at

the Surveying and Mapping Authority RS and thus lower their taxation rate.

The Non-Governmental Group for Environmental and Social Legislation emerged from the Non-Governmental Group for Limiting Vehicle Driving,

since there are still quite a few current laws related to the activities of organizations in the group, and they are

not connected only to the field of natural environment. Regarding laws, they will also act proactively, they will not only respond to proposals and react to them, but will submit their own proposals in advance. Thus, it has in the past actively participated in the creation of certain content solutions in the field of regulating restrictions on

driving in the natural environment. To encourage the preparation of a standalone law regulating the issue of driving in

the natural environment, in June 2013 it organized a consultation in the National Council, at which both non-governmental

and governmental organizations participated.

Nowadays it is more than obvious that the natural environment cannot withstand all the activities that man has devised.

The necessity of preservation – not only of the natural environment, but also of man – therefore requires certain self-limitations to which

human activities in nature must also be subordinated.

Hunters' Association of Slovenia, Fishing Association of Slovenia, Scout Association of Slovenia, Alpine Association of Slovenia,

president mag. Srečko Felix Krope president dr. Miroslav Žaberl chief warden Jernej Stritih president Bojan Rotovnik