Public institution responsible for the protected natural values

According to the Article 77 of the Nature Protection Act, Virovitica- Podravina County established a Public institution which is responsible for the natural  values  governing  and registered at the Commercial Court in Bjelovar.Public institution is governed by the Governing Council . Its mission is determined by the Law and the Statute of the Public institution, which is governed by the president and the four members. Except for the Governing Council, this authority is mastered by the principal who is appointed  and acquited by the County Assembly. From February 9, 2010, Tatjana Sabo is the principal. Nature Protection Law ( N N 70/05) regulates protection and overall nature conservation and its values. Nature represents overall biological and lanscape diversity.

Objectives and tasks:

  • To preserve and restore the existing biological and landscape diversity in the natural state of balance and coordinated relationship with the human factor
  • To identify and monitor the state of nature
  • To ensure that the system works in order  to protect the natural values ​​of their permanent preservation
  • To ensure sustainable use of natural resources without damaging the essential parts of nature and with the least possible disruption of its components
  • To contribute to the conservation of the natural soil, preserving the quality, quantity and availability of water, preserving the atmosphere and producing oxygen and by doing so preserving our environment
  • To prevent harmful human activities and natural disturbances as a result of technological development and activities
  • To ensure the right of citizens to a healthy life, leisure and amusement  in nature.
  • Natural values ​​are a part of nature which deserves  special protection in preserving biological and landscape diversity  due to its sensitivity, because of scientific, cultural, aesthetic, educational, economic or other public interests.
  • According to the Nature Protection Act, protected natural values ​​are designated protected natural values ​​and entered in the Register of protected natural assets and protected categories are:

1)   PROTECTED AREAS

  • STRICT/ RIGOROUS RESERVATIONS
  • NATIONAL PARKS
  • SPECIAL RESERVATIONS
  • NATURE PARKS
  • REGIONAL PARKS
  • NATURE MONUMENTS
  • SIGNIFICANT LANDSCAPES
  • PARK FOREST
  • MONUMENTS  OF PARK ARCHITECTURE

2)   PROTECTED SPECIES;

  • STRICTLY PROTECTED WILD SPECIES
  • PROTECTED WILD SPECIES
  • PROTECTED DOMESTICATED NATIVE SPECIES

3)   PROTECTED MINERALS, RAW MATERIALS AND FOSSILS

Protection and conservation of nature is based on the principles of:

  • Action- everyone must act so that it contributes to the preservation of biological and landscape diversity, protection of natural values ​​and public benefit of the role of nature conservation,
  • Non-renewable natural resources – should be used rationally and renewable natural resources should remain sustainable
  • The use of natural resources and physical space-  required to apply the principles, measures and requirements of nature protection,
  • Environmental protection-  is an obligation of every natural and legal persons, and to that end shall cooperate to avoid and prevent dangerous actions and the damage, removal and rehabilitation of consequences of damage and restoration of natural conditions that existed before the damage occurred,
  • Free access to information about the state of nature- the public has a right to information about the state of nature, notification about the damages and  carried out measures in good time and the right to make a decision about the welfare of the nature

Natural values ​​of Virovitica-Podravina County  are systematically evaluated, mainly from the 1960’s  and introduced in the Register of protected natural values ​​in the Republic of Croatia.  During these 40 years, some of the registered values have lost their status and  some are in the process of cancelling. However, some new protected values have appeared and a lot of them are going to be processed.Today Virovitica-Podravina County  has 16 protected natural assets and 25 locations,which are estimated  by the Spatial layouts of cities and municipalities in terms of conservation.  

Activities of Public institutions, according to the Nature Protection Act, are:

  •  to monitor and study  the status of protected areas and other protected natural assets within the jurisdiction of the County and keeping proper records about them and their condition
  • to prepare the proposal ( based on expert surveys ) to the county authorities,  designating protected areas and other protected natural assets within the jurisdiction of the County
  • to monitor  the measure implementation  in protected areas
  • to initiate procedures of supervision and measure implementation of the protected areas and other protected natural resources by the  competent inspection authorities
  • to concern about the organization of proper maintenance, care and use of protected areas and other protected natural resources
  • to provide  technical assistance to owners and users of protected areas and other protected natural resources in carrying out their obligations to protect natural resources, particularly by providing expert opinions and guidelines
  • to prepare, organize and implement  activities to promote protected areas and other protected natural resources  as a part of the natural heritage of the County
  • to participate  in the development of spatial plans for areas with specific characteristics (regional parks, etc…) and other regional plans – to carry out other specialized errands dealing with the protection of the nature governed by the Virovitica- Podravina County