With 66 votes in favor, Parliament of North Macedonia declares Shar Mountain a national park

The Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia yesterday adopted the Law on declaring  part of Shar Mountain a national park. With this act, Shar Mountain became the fourth national park in the country, but also the first to be declared since the country’s independence. The last declaration of a national park in Macedonia happened in 1958 in the then Yugoslavia.

After the MPs voted, the Minister of Environment Naser Nuredini stressed that with this act we are opening a new chapter and possibilities not only for the protection of our natural heritage and the environment, but also for sustainable socioeconomic development and establishment of wider cross-border cooperation and use of new financial possibilities for the development of brands and various forms of tourism.

“By declaring Shar Mountain a protected area, it is put under protection and it allows for the establishment of a system for sustainable managing of an area that is considered to be a treasure trove of the biodiversity, a home of two-thirds of all plant species in North Macedonia and rich and endemic plant and animal wildlife. It contains exceptional natural beauties, geological diversity, hydrological characteristics, landscape and cultural values,” said the Minister of Environment Naser Nuredini.

The preparations for the draft law on declaring Shar Mountain a national park began at the start of September 2020, following the Government’s decision on the 5th of May to adopt a decision of acceptance of the proposal on part of the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planing to declare Shar Mountain a national park and tasked the ministry to carry out a public debate and to prepare a draft law.