Nature Conservation Legislation

Nature Conservation 1/2010 — 16. 2. 2010 — Nature Conservation Legislation — Print article in pdf

Amendment to the Act on the Protection of Nature and the Landscape

authors: Barbora Landová, Svatava Havelková

The amendment to Act No. 114/1992 Gazette on the Protection of Nature and the Landscape, as amended later, had been prepared from 2004, due to the European Commissions warning on incorrect or insufficient implementing some provisions of Directive No. 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds, commonly referred to as the Birds Directive, and Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, commonly known as the Habitats Directive. The amendment removes legal impediments in transposition in species protection because it deletes the reasons for making derogations from species protection and for enacting statutory exceptions from the prohibitions (basic protective measures) for Specially Protected Species, going behind the reasons for making derogations given by the directives. In addition, the amendment introduces assessment of Forest Management Plans impacts on Bird Areas (in the Act the term for Special Protection Areas, SPAs under the Birds Directive) and Sites of European Importance (in the above act the term for Sites of Community Importance, SCIs under the Habitats Directive). It also distinguishes the legal regime for wild animals and animals reared in captivity. The new approach is important in birds and in the specially protected animals keeping and trading of which is prohibited by the Act. For an animal reared in captivity, whose keeper has obtained the certificate from the State Nature Conservancy authority that it was reared in captivity, the prohibitions are not applied. Another new prohibition deals with the PLA basic protection. Sites protected under the basic regime are protected against destruction and degradation and they can be used only in a way which avoids serious or irreversible degradation or destruction of the habitats of European importance or habitats of the species of European importance which need territorial protection as well as disturbing their integrity. Who intents to take measures which could result in the undesirable affect has to obtain an approval from the State Nature Conservancy authority. The Act newly makes provisions for cutting trees and unifies the conditions for permitting the cutting for natural persons and legal entities. Declaring Specially Protected areas was also amended. Division of competences among the State Nature Conservancy authorities has also been changed.