Urban Development in Vodno Forest-Park Must Stop

28 February 2008

The Eko Misija Environmental Association believes that, ever since it was established in mid-1970s, little has been done to truly protect the Vodno Forest-Park. Quite the opposite, Vodno is under constant attack, not the least by urban development efforts that make steady progress into the protected area and degrade the natural environment.

View on Skopje from Vodno Mountain

On the behalf of the civic initiative for salvation of Vodno Mountain, Eko Misija demands from the Government, Minister of Environment, the City of Skopje and other relevant institutions to protect the park.

In addition to the demand to redefine and upgrade the status of the park to protected natural area, the Initiative makes efforts to prevent the urban development of the area. Eko Misija called on the authorities to give up plans to build a road through the Park to serve the Sun City (Soncev grad) suburban development. It has started a petition that was already signed by more than 3,000 citizens of Skopje.

Eko Misija President Dragan Nikolovski has recently informed Trifun Kostovski, the Mayor of Skopje, about the damages that would be created by the proposed road, both in terms of providing the opening for future urbanisation of the mountain, and from the viewpoint of rising pollution.