The Slovenia Times

Half of Slovenia's farmland to be declared protection zone

Nekategorizirano


The government is working on the farmland classification because various construction projects, climate change and toxic contamination agricultural pose a risk to it, Agriculture, Forestry and Food Minister Dejan Židan told the press on Thursday.

"The goal of the decree is clear - to define...the areas of significant importance for food production and to establish permanent protection zones of farmland in local zoning plans," Židan explained yesterday.

He said that about 350,000 hectares of agricultural land could be declared permanent protection zones. Slovenia has a total of 673,321 hectares of farmland, which accounts for 33% of the country's total surface area, according to the Agriculture, Forestry and Food Ministry.

The biggest share of the country's surface area, 59%, is covered by forests.

Moreover, Eurostat data shows that Slovenia places 23rd in the EU as regards the share of farmland. Statistics moreover show that Slovenia has 2,358 square metres of farmland per capita.

The draft regulation has been sent to a one-month public consultation period. Agriculture Directorate boss Tadeja Kvas Majer expects the decree will be adopted by the government in June. She believes that by the start of 2017 the process could come as far as defining the protected zones in individual municipalities.

Share:

More from Nekategorizirano