The first version of the National Map of Habitats of North Macedonia was presented today to the academic and professional public, representatives from the civil sector, government institutions and several foreign embassies in the country.
The Minister of Environment and Physical Planning, Kaja Shukova, in her opening speech, emphasized that the Map of Habitats represents a significant step forward in the long-term process of identification and valorization of the ecological condition of habitats in our country.
- The Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning, as the competent authority for creating policy and environmental protection at the national level, understands and confirms the need for such a map to be part of the basis for future planning processes in the country. This will be reflected in the area of spatial planning, and of course in the planning of the protection of nature and natural values of our country, but also in the area of identification of NATURA 2000 sites, which are part of the overall system for environmental protection planning – pointed out Shukova in her opening speech.
The map was drawn up within the framework of a project financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, implemented by Maneko Solutions DOOEL Skopje and a national team of experts, in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning.
When selecting the data, an appropriate determination of the habitats up to the third level was made according to the classification of the European Nature Information System (EUNIS 2012) of the European Environment Agency (EEA), and a correlation was made with the Directive of Habitats. A web GIS platform on the Map of Habitats has also been developed, which will be publicly available on the website of the Ministry, after the promotional event.