While exploring these areas, we discovered many interesting facts \u2014 for example, that the most beautiful and best-preserved forests of linden<\/strong> and maple<\/strong>, or alder<\/strong> and willow<\/strong>, grow in these basins. These are priority habitats for protection<\/strong>.<\/p><\/p>\n\n In addition to field data collection, we organized meetings with local communities to introduce the concept of ecological networks and explain their role and importance in the process.<\/p>\n\n Alongside presenting our results, at the conference we also initiated discussion on the establishment of EMERALD<\/strong> \u2014 the national network of protected areas \u2014 as a way to safeguard Montenegro\u2019s most valuable natural assets until the country joins the EU and establishes the Natura 2000 network.<\/p><\/p>\n\n Together with the representative of the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism, Director of the Directorate for Nature \u2014 Tamara Brajovi\u0107, and the Director of the Environmental Protection Agency \u2014 Milan Gazdi\u0107, we reached several shared conclusions:<\/p>\n\n The example from Slovenia and other countries in the region shows that nature is best preserved within ecological networks, and that local economies and rural tourism are most developed in villages that became part of these networks.<\/p>\n\n The project through which this research was carried out was supported by the Advisory Assistance Programme (AAP) for environmental protection in Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and other EU neighboring countries, within the framework of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment. The project was supervised by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) and the German Environment Agency (UBA).<\/em><\/p><\/p>\n\n In order to contribute to the process of establishing ecological networks in Montenegro, in 2021 we conducted a mapping of Natura 2000 habitat types, covering four river basins and approximately 12,000 hectares of territory (rivers: Skrbu\u0161a, Vranje\u0161tica, \u0160titarica, and Komarnica). While exploring these areas, we discovered many interesting facts \u2014 for example, that the most …<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/drustvoekologa.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/photo_2022-07-04-17.23.44.jpeg\")
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