PODGORICA, 06 April 2016 – Co-Chair of the Montenegro-EU Stabilisation and Association Committee of the European Parliament, Anneliese Dodds, and member of the Montenegro-EU Stabilisation and Association Committee of the European Parliament, Terry Reintke, wrote a letter to the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, regarding the protection of Ulcinj Saline. The same letter was sent to Montenegro’s Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism, Branimir Gvozdenovic.

Content of the letter is presented below:

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We are writing to you ahead of the 2nd Conference on the protection of Salina Ulcinj on the 7-8 April 2016.

The European Parliament has highlighted the importance of Salina Ulcinj as the most important breeding and wintering site for birds on the eastern Adriatic coast and has called for further efforts to preserve the biodiversity of Salina Ulcinj in its recent resolution on the 2015 report on Montenegro. The Montenegro-EU Stabilisation and Association Committee has also called in its recommendations for the protection of Salina Ulcinj. The conclusions of the 1st International Conference for the protection of the Salina, adopted one year ago with support of the Ministry of Sustainable Development, built the framework to ensure this.

We welcome the fact that the government has taken first steps to protect the Salina such as the repair of two water pumping stations and the establishment of temporary management of the Salina, but note that there is a significant delay in implementing several conclusions from the conference.

We would especially like to highlight the following conclusions from the 1st International Conference on the Protection of Salina Ulcinj. It was agreed that:

1) The national protection of Salina Ulcinj should be in place no later than October 2015.

While first steps regarding this measure have been taken, the national protection process is not finished yet. Therefore we call on the government to finish the process as soon as possible. We are concerned about reports of environmental NGOs stating that the spatial plan for the coastal development of Montenegro currently foresees the construction of hotels on 70ha of the area of the Salina. According to the NGOs these 70ha are part of the bird resting area. We hope that the spatial plan will be a mean to safeguard the natural protection of the Salina and that it will be adopted in a democratic and inclusive process.

2) Salina Ulcinj should be designated as an official Emerald site no later than June 2015.
	Salina Ulcinj has still not been declared an Emerald site and therefore we call on the government to urgently apply for Emerald status.

3) The government of Montenegro should nominate Salina Ulcinj as a Ramsar site no later than
	June 2015.
	In fact, the Ramsar application was not only discussed during the conference but also in our bilateral meeting with Minister Gvozdenović in November 2015. Moreover, the deadline for sending the application stated by the Minister – early 2016 – has already passed. Since the Ramsar application process has not started yet, we call on the government to urgently apply for Ramsar protection of Salina Ulcinj.

Furthermore, we are concerned that a potential privatisation of the area of Salina Ulcinj could have a negative impact on the protection of the Salina as a ‘natural monument’.

Legal protection and effective management in line with the nature conservation requirements of Salina Ulcinj, a potential Natura 2000 site, is crucial given the importance of the site. The European Parliament will continue to closely follow all developments regarding the area.

Yours sincerely,

Anneliese Dodds, Co-Chair of the Montenegro-EU Stabilisation and Association Committee of the European Parliament		Terry Reintke, Member of the Montenegro-EU Stabilisation and Association Committee of the European Parliament