Building an adventure park in The Gërmia Regional Park forbidden

Posted on 28 June 2024

Building an adventure park in the first zone of the protection in Gërmia would have terrible consequences for nature

Pristina - Four years ago, The Municipality of Pristina was planning to develop an Adventure Park within the Gërmia Regional Park, which is declared a protected area in Kosovo. Despite the understanding of the idea of building an adventure park in Pristina as a place for children and families to spend their quality time in, WWF Adria, in cooperation with other non-governmental organizations, expressed disagreement with this plan and submitted this case to the court.

Our concerns regarding the project were focused on the adventure park’s location, planning process, transparency, public hearings, and compliance with relevant legislation, as the plan was to put this adventure park in the first zone of protection in the Park.

The area that was planned to be used for this project is covered in a beech forest (Fagus sylvatica), which is a natural monument and a field for studying and exploration for many pupils and students. As these forests are sciophytes (shade-loving plants) and are very sensitive to external influences, the harmful effect this adventure park would have on them would be disastrous. The project did not have a plan for the necessary infrastructure for parking and logistics. The area from the main entrance to the proposed construction site is extremely crowded with visitors, which is why adding attractions in the same place would have resulted in an unbearable overload for visitors, flora, and fauna, damaging their natural habitat.

To prevent that, local organizations and environmentalists, in cooperation with WWF Adria, jointly recommended steps to be taken in the process in order for this adventure park not to be harmful for nature.

“We proposed changing the project's location. Gërmia has about 2000 hectares of surface, access via asphalt roads, and other natural attractions. Since the adventure park does not require a specific type of wood – such as beech, constructing this park in another part of Gërmia would disperse visitors and reduce congestion, enhancing Gërmia’s appeal in other areas”, said Krenare Salihu from Ecopana/WWF Adria in Kosovo.

After four years, the Basic Court canceled the Environmental Permit for the Adventure Park in Gërmia.

"We are proud the Court recognized this as the right thing to do to protect nature in our beautiful Gërmia Park. I am happy to present this case as a good example for all citizens and civil society to find the courage to stand up and raise their voices when they witness legal violations and want to protect the environment. After four years of hard work on this case, it is gratifying to see the positive impact we can have," said Salihu.

Besides WWF Adria, this was possible thanks to many other organizations and environmentalists, including Qytetaret Aktive, the Group for Legal and Political Studies, as well as the Kosovo Institute for Nature Protection for their invaluable collaboration and dedicated efforts from the moment we became aware of this case until its conclusion.

We would also like to extend our gratitude to all the journalists from the Kallxo.com team for their close collaboration. Their efforts in highlighting these violations through the shows and interviews they conducted with relevant stakeholders for this case have been invaluable.

Germia Regional Park

Building an adventure park in The Gërmia Regional Park forbidden

Shpërndajeni këtë!