Poloniny National Park, Photocredit: Tomáš Hulík, WWF Slovakia
More than 10,000 people have signed a collective objection to Slovakia’s proposed zoning of Poloniny National Park, calling for stronger protection of one of Europe’s most important forest landscapes and warning that the current proposal undermines EU biodiversity commitments.
Zoning is one of the most influential legal tools in nature conservation. Across the European Union, it determines which parts of a national park are strictly protected, where limited human activity is permitted, and where sustainable uses such as tourism or traditional land management can take place. When designed well, zoning safeguards core habitats, protects water resources and provides clarity for long-term local development. When designed poorly, it can quietly downgrade protection and expose sensitive ecosystems to lasting damage.
Rushed consultation triggers public response
In late November, the Slovak Ministry of the Environment opened an interministerial consultation on a draft zoning plan for Poloniny National Park, giving the public just seven days to submit comments. The consultation closed on 26 November. Despite what campaigners describe as an unusually restrictive timeframe, 10,591 people signed a joint submission calling for the proposal to be withdrawn and fundamentally revised.
The collective objection was initiated jointly by environmental organisations including Zelená väčšina, Aevis, My sme les, Prales, SOS/BirdLife Slovakia and WWF Slovakia, reflecting a broad civil society coalition concerned about the future of the park. The organisations say the proposal advanced by environment minister Tomáš Taraba represents the weakest zoning plan put forward for any Slovak national park to date.
Poloniny National Park forms part of the UNESCO-listed Carpathian beech primeval forests, among the last large areas of old-growth woodland in Europe. The park is home to rare and protected species and includes the Starina reservoir, a strategic source of drinking water for eastern Slovakia.
“Zoning should be the primary mechanism guaranteeing the highest level of protection for these natural assets. Instead, the draft plan would do the opposite,” said Miroslava Plassmann of WWF Slovakia.
Concerns over biodiversity protection and EU obligations
If implemented, the plan would reduce protection for primeval and old-growth beech forests, weaken safeguards in Natura 2000 sites and leave even state-owned land without adequate conservation status. Around 1,700 hectares of areas of European importance would see protection downgraded, while strict protection would cover only about 16 percent of the park, an inadequate level for a national park of this significance.
The draft zoning is also not compliant with Slovakia’s nature protection law and conflicts with international biodiversity commitments. It fails to meet conditions agreed with the European Commission under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Plan, including requirements to ensure strict protection of all old-growth forests. Approving the plan in its current form could damage Slovakia’s credibility at European level and put EU funding at risk.
Scientists from the Slovak Academy of Sciences have echoed these concerns. In formal statements, researchers said national park zoning must be grounded in scientific evidence, legal clarity and long-term conservation objectives, rather than short-term political compromise. They also warned that similar shortcomings appear in zoning proposals for several other Slovak national parks.
Environmental organisations are calling on the Ministry of the Environment of Slovakia to halt the process, reopen public consultation and substantially revise the proposal. Without such changes, they warn, one of Europe’s most valuable forest landscapes risks losing protection on paper long before any chainsaws arrive.
