Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (SNS nominee) is to submit a proposal to create bear strike teams in national parks to the government by the end of the year, and he should also review the territorial scope of authority of the State Nature Protection (SOP) in the given area, according to the information on the proposal for the formation of strike teams, which was approved by the government on Tuesday.
The first strike teams will be set up in the Tatra National Park and the Low Tatra National Park.
There are currently five bear strike teams in Slovakia, namely North, South, West, Podpolanie and Ponitrie. "The protection and management of this large beast in Slovakia requires the streamlining and rationalisation of the brown bear strike teams by reassessing the territorial authority of SOP in the given area and by creating a strike team for the territory of each national parks in order to effectively manage problematic individuals in areas of increased movement of hikers," said the Environment Ministry.
According to the ministry, the main advantage of creating a strike team in each national park is that the national park administration staff is familiar with the ownership conditions, user relations, local natural conditions and cooperates with the district authorities in the area of competence of the national park. "By forming independent strike teams in national parks we will improve communication with municipalities, livestock farmers and users of hunting grounds and other affected entities," it claims.
Source: TASR
