MANUAL FOR SERBIAN CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS PROCESSES OF DEVELOPMENT AND ADOPTION OF SPATIAL AND URBAN PLANS WITH SPECIAL FOCUS ON PROTECTED AREAS

The document serves as a practical guide for civil society organisations (CSOs) in Serbia to navigate the complex legal framework of spatial and urban planning. It details the hierarchy of planning documents—from the national Spatial Plan of the Republic of Serbia to Detailed Regulation Plans—and outlines the stages of their adoption, including early public inspection and expert control. Through three case studies (Kučaj-Beljanica, Ovčarsko-Kablarska klisura, and Parkovi Vrnjačke Banje), the manual illustrates common illegalities, such as the disregard for conservation studies and the manipulation of building heights to bypass ministerial jurisdiction. It emphasizes the importance of networking, precise legal argumentation in objections, and the strategic use of access-to-information requests to prevent environmental degradation and policy capture.

• The Republic of Serbia has 66 strict and special nature reserves, 5 national parks, 311 natural monuments, 6 protected habitats, 23 protected landscapes, and 18 nature parks, covering approximately 691,433 hectares, which represents only 7.81% of the total territory.
• Civil society organisations face significant barriers to combating corruption in protected areas due to non-transparent decision-making, restrictions on public participation, and the fact that databases like the Central Register of Planning Documents are often opaque or non-functional.
• Spatial plans are categorized as strategic (providing guidelines) or operational (containing enough detail for building permits). The Special Purpose Area Spatial Plan (SPASP) is unique because it is adopted for specific projects and can prioritize a single sector, such as a national park, potentially neglecting other sustainable development aspects.
• In the case of the proposed Kučaj-Beljanica National Park, the draft Spatial Plan of the Kučaj Mountain Tourist Destination (SPASP Kučajska planina) ignored the existing Conservation Study, proposing a ski resort in a II-degree nature conservation zone where such construction is expressly prohibited.
• The construction of a glass observation deck on Mount Kablar in the Ovčarsko-Kablarska klisura area involved the use of an invalid 2000 regulation instead of the updated 2021 Regulation, and the final location conditions failed to incorporate prohibitions against decorative lighting and electric grid connections.
• In the Nature monument “Parkovi Vrnjačke Banje”, a Ferris wheel was constructed using a temporary construction permit based on manipulated height data (listed as 49.80m to stay under the 50m threshold for Ministry jurisdiction) and without the required nature conservation conditions from the Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia.
• Public participation in the planning process occurs primarily during the early public inspection (minimum 15 days) and the final public inspection (minimum 30 days), but the manual notes that authorities often adhere only to the legal minimum regardless of the project's complexity.

APA

Ristanović, D., Rajić, J., & Martić, M. (2022). MANUAL FOR SERBIAN CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS PROCESSES OF DEVELOPMENT AND ADOPTION OF SPATIAL AND URBAN PLANS WITH SPECIAL FOCUS ON PROTECTED AREAS. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/334/9qk8jja779_TNRC_projekat_ENG.pdf

Chicago

Ristanović, Dragomir, Jovan Rajić, and Marija Martić. MANUAL FOR SERBIAN CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS PROCESSES OF DEVELOPMENT AND ADOPTION OF SPATIAL AND URBAN PLANS WITH SPECIAL FOCUS ON PROTECTED AREAS. WWF International, 2022. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/334/9qk8jja779_TNRC_projekat_ENG.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ristanović |first1=Dragomir |last2=Rajić |first2=Jovan |last3=Martić |first3=Marija |title=MANUAL FOR SERBIAN CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS PROCESSES OF DEVELOPMENT AND ADOPTION OF SPATIAL AND URBAN PLANS WITH SPECIAL FOCUS ON PROTECTED AREAS |publisher=WWF International |date=December 2022 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/334/9qk8jja779_TNRC_projekat_ENG.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ristanovi2022manual, author = {Ristanović, Dragomir and Rajić, Jovan and Martić, Marija}, title = {{MANUAL FOR SERBIAN CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS PROCESSES OF DEVELOPMENT AND ADOPTION OF SPATIAL AND URBAN PLANS WITH SPECIAL FOCUS ON PROTECTED AREAS}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2022}, month = dec, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/334/9qk8jja779_TNRC_projekat_ENG.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }