Wild camping in the Julian Alps area will now hit offenders hard in the pocket
Until now, fines in some places were even lower than the cost of an overnight stay in an organized camp
Municipalities in the Julian Alps area, after January's legislative change granted municipalities greater authority, have decided to crack down on offenders who camp illegally. They will standardize and significantly increase fines across the entire area.
Mayors of 11 municipalities in the biosphere area of the Julian Alps agreed at the beginning of this year to standardize and drastically increase fines for wild camping. The main reason was the ineffectiveness of previous fines, which were often lower than the cost of an overnight stay in an organized camp, causing offenders to literally mock them, says Bohinj Mayor Jože Sodja: "Because they weren't taken seriously in any municipality. The same is confirmed on the coastal side. Upon the inspectors' visit, they already had the money for the fine ready, and even more, they offered to pay for the next day too, because they would stay there anyway."
Fines until now were indeed ridiculously low, on average 80 euros or with a "half" only 40, now they will increase significantly to 500 euros per person in a tent or motorhome. This may sound high, says Bled Mayor Toni Mežan, but since these violations are growing year by year and burdening the environment, the measure is necessary: "If we don't act now, I believe there will be a flood of these violations – on the best agricultural land and in completely unsuitable places."
The increase in fines for wild camping is also supported by official camps in the area, says the president of the Bohinj Tourist Association, which manages the Danica camp in Bohinjska Bistrica, Boštjan Mencinger. Particularly, order needs to be made first in areas like Triglav National Park, he warns: "So in that sense we support it, especially at times when there is enough capacity even in official camps. At the beginning of August, when all capacities are completely full, you might somehow understand something like that – though it's still not right –, but that it happens in June, September, and when there is enough space in camps, is definitely completely inappropriate."
Uroš Ambrožič from Šobec camp adds that fines are unfortunately the only measure to curb these violations: "They are necessary because people simply don't understand otherwise that something is not allowed. Much more needs to be done on prevention, on informing people that wild camping in Slovenia is illegal and that they need to find camps," he adds.
Soteska Vintgar Director Bojan Traven warns that fines alone will not solve the situation in the long term: "Now we're weighing whether the guest is guilty when he comes to us, and we don't provide capacities, but only increase fines. It's right that fines have increased, but again in Gorenjska, as always, infrastructure doesn't keep up with our needs."
Which is another story that, as interlocutors emphasize, requires careful consideration and a similarly unified strategy as the municipalities were able to adopt in the area of penal policy.
Source:
https://www.rtvslo.si/zabava-in-slog/ture-avanture/kampiranje-na-crno-na-obmocju-julijskih-alp-bo-krsilce-po-novem-krepko-udarilo-po-zepu/778753