03 May 2016
03.05.2016 - Based on the importance that Natural Monuments have for the environment, the Kosovo Environmental Protection Agency, specifically the Kosovo Institute for Nature Protection, at the beginning of 2016, started the project for marking Protected Areas of Natural Monuments. The project has been carried out in seventeen municipalities, in which such objects had been previously identified.
The aim of the project is to inform the public that these areas are under legal protection and to raise general awareness about the importance of natural values and environmental protection. Therefore, these objects, as such, should be preserved and managed according to international rules and regulations, and their use should be done in a sustainable manner.
Currently, 130 Natural Monuments have been designated in seventeen municipalities, while three of them are Natural Monuments of Special Importance.
Natural Monuments are parts or wholes of unchanged parts of living or non-living nature that have ecological, scientific, aesthetic, or cultural-historical and touristic value. Such objects can be geological – caves, chasms, rock walls; hydrological – springs, flowing water, waterfalls, lakes; botanical – rare or significant specimens of plant life for a locality, a small botanical or zoological site important for its scientific value; as well as mineralogical, geological structures, sediments, etc.
Natural Monuments fall into the third category according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), while according to their origin, they are divided into two categories: Living nature objects and Non-living nature objects.
Living nature objects in this category include characteristic trees as well as territories with characteristic features of the living world and distinct biotopes, with the presence of plant and animal species that are endemic, relict, and rare. Then, trees with special aesthetic and decorative values, hundreds of years old or endangered, as well as trees or forested areas located on riverbanks, in the center of settlements associated with important historical events are included. Such areas are designated as Natural Monuments due to their scientific, natural, historical, and cultural significance, as well as their unique characteristics.
Inanimate natural objects are represented in this category by geomonuments, which are of various natures, and their classification is based on the form of their appearance and origin. According to the factors or processes that influenced their creation, these objects are divided into: geological, geomorphological, hydrological, etc.
In the Nature Monument and in its immediate vicinity, which is an integral part of the protected area, activities that endanger its characteristics and values are not allowed.
Natural Monuments have numerous and repeatable values, and any damage to them can be irreparable. Therefore, their protection is very necessary, because such values are important not only for the fact that they provide the basis of scientific information, but also for educational, cultural, historical, and tourist aspects. The scientific importance of Natural Monuments for sciences such as biology, geology, geomorphology, hydrology, etc., is very great since they provide important data that clarify various natural phenomena and laws.