The Seimas decided not to change the ownership of the Trakai Historical National Park

The new wording of the Law on Protected Areas adopted this week provides that the protection and management of state cultural reserves, historical national parks, state cultural reserves and cultural heritage objects, areas is carried out by the Ministry of Culture through established budgetary institutions.

At that time, the Government proposed that all national parks should be subordinated to the Ministry of Environment.

According to her, this decision would have made it possible to strengthen the nature protection policy, better ensure biodiversity and landscape protection, and restore ecosystems in Trakai Park.

According to Simon Gentvils, Minister of the Environment, if the Seimas decides otherwise, the ministry will not take any further steps to change the situation.

“The Ministry of Environment has four national parks under its control. The Trakai National Park would have been able to fit into that complex, as 95% of it is there. nature and 5 percent cultural and urbanized spaces. Well, the parliament thought otherwise. I really won’t fight, it’s up to the parliament to decide. That park will continue to remain under the Ministry of Culture,” the minister told BNS.

According to him, the Curonian Spit National Park, which is under the Ministry of the Environment, also comprises 5% of the area. urbanized areas and 95 percent – nature’s.

“We provide comprehensive maintenance, we open both nature and visitor centers, and we are nurtured. (…) Our network is wider, more practice, more specialists, the Government, when presenting such a project, thought that it would be better to have five national parks together, rather than under separate jurisdiction”, S. Gentvilas told BNS.

However, the Seimas approved an amendment by a group of parliamentarians so that the protection and management of historical national parks would be carried out by the Ministry of Culture through its established institutions.

Its initiator, social democrat Kęstutis Vilkauskas, said that the protected area in Trakai was established primarily to protect the historical and cultural heritage of the area.

“It was created as the Trakai Historical National Park, where there are really many cultural values. Trakai and Old Trakai are very important for statehood, there are many cultural heritage objects of importance to the state, and the landscape that was formed in Trakai has a lot of human activity. All that landscape, territory is very closely related to cultural heritage, and cultural heritage is at the disposal of the Ministry of Culture”, said a member of the Seimas to BNS.

Trakai Park is the only one subordinate to the Ministry of Culture, at that time the national parks of Curonian Spit, Aukštaitija, Žemaitija, Dzūkija are entrusted to the Ministry of Environment.

Trakai Historical National Park occupies 8.2 thousand. ha area, includes more than 30 lakes.