STA, 11 July 2021 - Slovenian voters have overwhelmingly rejected the new waters act in a referendum on Sunday. More than 86% voted against, show near-final unofficial results. The statutory requirement that at least 20% of all voters must be against for a law to be rejected has been satisfied as well. 

After more than 99% of the votes were counted, the tally showed 86.6% voting against and 13.4% in favour of the law.

Turnout was just shy of 46%, the highest in a referendum since 2007. It was the highest in Ljubljana, at nearly 50%, and lowest in the Ptuj electoral unit, at almost 37%, according to preliminary data by the National Electoral Commission.

The law was overwhelmingly rejected in all 88 electoral districts, with the share of the no-vote exceeding 80% in almost all districts.

The referendum revolved around provisions of the new law that determine the development of coastal, lakeside and riverside areas.

It was initiated by a grassroots movement of mostly NGOs that objected to provisions that they say would lead to too much development, damage public access to waters and potentially jeopardise groundwater.

The no-vote is a sign that people have had it with obstruction of democratic rights and indicates their disagreement with current policies, Nika Kovač of the Institute 8 March said in an early comment.

"There are claims that the votes were emotional. And I say yes, they definitely were. But they were based on a clear opinion of experts and the work of environmental organisations that the authorities constantly ignored," she said.

Uroš Macerl of the environmental NGO Eko Krog said that people had demonstrated that water and nature were something they were not prepared to give up and perhaps the greatest assets of Slovenia. "This is a victory of courage and activation of good people who wish to change things for the better," he said.

Macerl highlighted that this was also a victory of the young, noting that young people showed they would fight for their future. "I really missed this in the past 10, 15 years of activism and I'm extremely glad," he said.

He also noted that quite a few parties that had been on the side of the experts in this referendum campaign had done many mistakes when it came to environmental policy in the past, urging them not to repeat these mistakes if they ever get to lead the country again.

The government claimed the opposite than the against camp, arguing that the new provision would in fact protect coastal, lakeside and riverside areas from over-development.

Environment Minister Andrej Vizjak said the referendum had been stolen and misused to achieve other goals, including political targets.

"People have reacted emotionally ... voters were encouraged by some pamphlets that have nothing to do with the legislation's purpose," Vizjak told public broadcaster RTV Slovenija.

STA, 9 July 2021 - Voters will be heading to the polls on Sunday to support or reject a set of changes to the waters act passed on 30 March. The government and the bill's opponents have presented diametrically opposing views on whether the new legislation expands or limits construction in areas around bodies of water.

Coastal or embankment areas are currently defined as five or 15 metres from the perimeter of a body of water such as the sea, lake or river.

Under Article 14 of the existing waters act, the government can narrow coastal or embankment areas on the proposal of developers, but only under certain conditions.

Construction is now allowed only in an existing building plot within a town, it must not worsen flood safety or threat of erosion, and must not affect water quality.

If a coastal or embankment area is narrowed, however, no special safety measures regarding construction apply to it, despite the closeness of water.

The new act regulates this in Article 37, which the referendum proponents find the most problematic.

Although it introduces the provision that a water permit will have to be obtained for all construction projects, it no longer requires building only within an existing building plot within a developed area.

The opponents claim this significantly expands areas eligible for construction if municipal zoning plans are changed, which is easy under pressure from capital.

But the government says that the new Article 37 expands the strict rules from coastal and embankment areas to water areas and areas of intermittent lakes, as it prevents construction there, except for certain exceptions.

The exceptions are among others construction of public or utility infrastructure, including for the country's defence, or buildings constructed for public good, including hotels and restaurants.

Several types of construction related to water protection are also allowed along the construction for safe navigation or protection of people, animals or property.

These exceptions have been transposed from the existing law into the new one, with two more added: simple buildings and buildings for public use.

While the opponents admit that a few simple buildings will do no harm to waters, they believe a cumulative effect could be extremely harmful.

Since 2008 when the law enabled narrowing of coastal and embankment areas, there have been very few exceptions approved, which the opponents see as the existing law protecting waters relatively well.

Environment and Spatial Planning Minister Andrej Vizjak meanwhile says the new legislation improves the existing situation.

He has recently explained that the existing legislation allows all types of buildings if a coastal or embankment area is narrowed, including private mansions.

This will no longer be possible, as only simple and public-use buildings could be build there, while every project will also have to be approved by the Water Agency.

This means decisions will be in the hands of experts rather then politics, Vizjak has argued in favour of the new legislation.

However, the government and the three coalition parties seem to be largely isolated in their promotion of the new rules for areas close to waters.

The referendum proponents - a broad coalition of environmental NGOs termed the Movement for Drinking Water - had opposed the bill while it still in its early stages.

They have since seen massive support by those with vested interest, such as water experts and engineers, but also organisations with practically no direct link to water management, such as WWII veterans.

The University of Ljubljana stressed the new law enabled construction even on water, and the Speleological Association said it enhanced risks of pollution.

"In Slovenia we are well aware of the role of water and the water sources which we manage. We are one of the two EU member states which have legislated the right to drinking water by writing it down in the constitution," the Academy of Sciences and Arts (SAZU) has said as it presented its view against the bill.

In a heated political atmosphere, some see the referendum as a vote on the government, while the two opposing sides have also accused each other of misleading voters.

The campaign wraps up at midnight after problems with early voting at several major polling stations in Maribor and Ljubljana as well as problems with registration for absentee voting, leading to accusations of voter suppression.

STA, 8 July 2021 - Slovenian authorities dealt with more incidents of damage caused by bears and fewer by wolves in January-June compared to the same six-month period last year, while the total damage is lower. A total of 128 bears were culled in this period, a significant rise from a total of 99 culled in the entire 2020.

In the first six months of 2021, authorities dealt with 120 cases of damage caused by brown bears and 80 cases of damage caused by wolves. Data the STA obtained from the Slovenian Forest Service shows the total damage is estimated at just under EUR 90,000.

In the first six months of last year, there were 86 such events linked to bears and 143 to wolves, with the total damage estimated at EUR 112,000.

Both last year and this year, the most damage was caused in the region of Bela Krajina, south-east, and in the area around Kočevje, south.

128 bears have been culled this year, of which 112 were shot under a permit issued by the Slovenian Environment Agency, seven were shot under individual culling permits, and the rest died in railway or road accidents.

Only four wolves have been culled so far this year - two were shot under individual permits, one was killed on the road, and one is suspected to have been poached. Last year, a total of 99 brown bears and 14 wolves or wolf-dog hybrids were culled, according to the Forest Service data.

The Forest service estimates that more than 1,000 bears live in Slovenia. The number of wolves has been estimated at 113 for the 2019/20 season, and the estimate for the 2020/21 season will be known in the autumn.

STA, 1 June 2021 - Slovenia is among the eleven EU member states where all bathing water sites, on the coast and inland, are suitable for bathing, a report on European bathing water quality for 2020 shows. The group also features Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Croatia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania and Slovakia.

Europe had almost 22,280 bathing sites last year. In 2014-2020, the share of "excellent" bathing sites stood at 85-87% for coastal sites and at 77-81% for inland waters.

Slovenia's Environment Agency (ARSO) said as it presented the data that water quality is always a bit better on the coast due to the sea's greater capacity to self-clean.

ARSO said Slovenia was also one of ten EU member states which provided a sufficient number of water measurements during the bathing season.

Slovenia's bathing waters on the coast had been above EU average for years, because they were all of excellent quality until two years ago.

Following a pollution in 2019, one site, Žusterna, is now rated "satisfactory", lowering the excellence status to 95.2% for 2019 and 2020, ARSO said.

The share of excellent inland bathing sites in Slovenia in 2020 was at 76.9%, on a par with EU levels.

There were meanwhile 296 sites with poor bathing water in Europe in 2020, meaning bathing is not allowed. This is 1.3% of all sites.

The bulk were in Italy (93), followed by France (78), while Italy also led the way in terms of the number of sites where bathing was permanently banned over five years.

ARSO's report for 2020 shows that 85% or 40 of a total of 47 bathing sites in Slovenia were excellent, 8.5% good, 6.4% satisfactory and none poor.

First test results from this year indicate that bathing waters will also be very good this season.

Explore an interactive map of all Slovenia’s bathing water sites, and if you like the look of the bay at the top of the page, learn more about Strunjan here

STA, 25 May 2021 - Slovenians will head to the polls on 11 July to vote on amendments to the water act that have pitted environmentalists, who say the legislation paves the way for the build-up of coastal land, against the government, which says their claims are misguided.

The referendum was supposed to be held on 4 July, but it was pushed forward by a week after it was determined that recent electoral law changes had inadvertently left out a few settlements with roughly 800 inhabitants.

The delay, the coalition argued, is needed so that electoral law can be fixed in time. The opposition countered that this was merely a manoeuvre designed to push the date deeper into the summer season.

"If the [coalition] cannot ban the referendum, at least it will adjust the date so that turnout is minimised, because we know that a quorum is required to vote down a law," LMŠ deputy Tina Heferle said.

The vote will be held after an alliance of green and leftist NGOs gathered well over the 40,000 signatures required to call a referendum.

The NGOs have focused on amendments concerning the development of coastal areas that they say would be a boon to private investors and could jeopardise not just surface waters but also groundwater in the long term.

The government has dismissed the allegations as fabricated, with Environment Minister Andrej Vizjak reiterating today that the legislation would achieve the exact opposite of what the environmentalists claim.

He said it brought more money for maintenance of waterways and narrowed the scope for construction in coastal areas.

Left MP Nataša Sukič wondered whether this means all environmentalists in the country were ignorant and unable to understand the legislative provision.

A law is rejected in a referendum if the majority vote against and the no votes represent at least a fifth of all eligible voters.

The last referendum, held in 2017 and concerning the construction of the Divača-Koper rail track, was unsuccessful.

Waters act referendum proponents convinced voters will say no

STA, 26 May 2021 - The proponents of the referendum on changes to the waters act, scheduled for 11 July, believe that they will be able to convince the voters to reject what they see as controversial legislation despite the unfavourable date. They expect a difficult campaign ahead in which the other side could mislead people and instigate divisions.

The date was set by the National Assembly on Tuesday after the initially proposed date, 4 July, was pushed forward after it was determined that recent electoral law changes had inadvertently left out a few settlements with roughly 800 residents.

The delay, the coalition argued, is needed so that the electoral law can be fixed in time, while the opposition countered that this was merely a manoeuvre designed to push the date deeper into the summer season.

The initiative for the referendum was given by an alliance of green non-governmental organisations who say the legislation paves the way for more construction on coastal land and river banks, against the government, which says their claims are misguided.

Commenting on the date, Uroš Macerl of the Drinking Water Movement told the STA on Wednesday that it was "logical that they wanted to set the most unfavourable date and push it deep into the holiday season. This had in a way been expected."

According to him, the postponement of the date and the "insulting dialogue" in parliament is proof that the proponents of the changes are afraid and aware that "we have managed to bring a large number of people of different views together".

The proponents of the referendum are ready to encourage voters to hit the polls in the largest possible numbers despite the difficult conditions and the unfavourable date. Macerl expects a difficult campaign that would attempt to divide people.

"They believe that we have left and right water, but people are not that stupid," said Macerl, who believes that people of different creeds, including political, will rally around the goal to protect drinking water for all Slovenians.

"We must protect drinking water for future generations as the greatest asset Slovenia has," he said, noting that the changes allowed construction of hotels, shops and shopping malls along the sea coast and river and lake banks.

The new law will be rejected if a majority of those going to the polls vote against it, yet only if at least 20% of all eligible voters go to the polls. The last referendum in 2017, concerning a huge rail project, failed on both counts.

STA, 19 May 2021 - A civil initiative opposing the latest changes to the waters act has submitted almost 50,000 signatures in support of its initiative to hold a referendum on the law, which was passed at the end of March. The National Assembly must now meet to formally call a referendum in seven days.

The opponents associated in the Drinking Water Movement criticise the law for prioritising private capital at the expense of people's health and water ecosystems.

Their representatives said on Wednesday that they had managed to collect almost 48,500 signatures before the 24 May deadline, while 40,000 would suffice.

The changes to the waters law were fast-tracked through parliament despite strong opposition from environmentalists and experts.

While the government says the changes to Article 37 narrow the possibilities for construction on the coast and river banks, the opponents claim the opposite.

Miha Stegel from the Danes civil initiative said today the changes were harmful because they facilitated mass construction of simple buildings on the coast.

The law also expands funds for maintenance of bodies of water from the state budget to also include money from the Water Fund, which Strgel also questioned.

"Cleaning rivers is currently funded from the state budget, the Water Fund is meanwhile meant for research and for ensuring drinking water," he said.

Responding to the delivery of signatures, the Environment and Spatial Planning Ministry said in a written statement that "the signatories were unfortunately misled".

They in fact gave their signatures to oppose drinking water protection, better flood safety and stricter conditions for construction in the mentioned areas.

It pointed out that the changes narrow construction options by eliminating the option of reducing the coastal area from 15 to zero metres.

This means the new law only allows construction of infrastructure that is deemed public good, such as recreation facilities or children's playgrounds.

What is more, such infrastructure can be built only if allowed by individual municipal spacial plans, the ministry said, adding there were several other safety measures to prevent a potentially harmful impact on waters.

The ministry had earlier said that by pooling money from the Water Fund, the funds for the maintenance of bodies of water will increase by EUR 17 million to around EUR 25 million this year.

Once the referendum is formally called, it must be held between 30 days and one year after being called.

The referendum proponents expect the campaign to be tough, said Uroš Macerl from Eko Krog.

"We expect many attempts to make citizens quarrel, divide them among ours and yours, left and right, red and white ... but I'm convinced citizens will prove we understand what a democracy means and what water means. This referendum will be a test of the citizens' maturity."

The new law will be rejected if a majority of those going to the polls vote against it, yet only if at least 20% of Slovenia's voters go to the polls.

STA, 18 May 2021 - The sole national park in Slovenia is celebrating 60 years since the Valley of Triglav Lakes was declared the Triglav National Park (TNP), and 40 years since a key law was passed to protect virtually the entire Julian Alps mountain range in the country.

Spreading on an area of almost 84,000 hectares, the park in the northwestern-most part of the country in the Julian Alps covers around 4% of Slovenia's territory.

It is named after the country's highest mountain, Triglav, a 2,864-metre peak which lies practically at the heart of it.

Enthusiasts recognised the area's beauty and the diversity of its fauna and flora, as well as the need to protect it, more than 100 years ago.

In 1908, before any national park was declared in Europe, scientist Albin Belar came up with the idea to protect the area under Komarča around the Savica Waterfall.

Protection was eventually introduced in 1924 when an 1,400-hectare area of the Valley of Triglav Lakes was declared an Alpine park.

The park ceased to exist after WWII as the relevant contract expired in 1944, but was revived and expanded to 2,000 hectares in 1961, changing its name to today's.

On 27 May 1981, a new law was passed to protect almost the entire Julian Alps, with another law in 2010 expanding the national park to its present boundaries.

Apart from Triglav, the national park boasts a number of natural wonders, such as gorges, waterfalls and lakes, including Lake Bohinj, and several peaks higher than 2,000 metres.

It is a popular tourist and hiking destination, with the first recorded ascent to Triglav in August 1778 credited to four locals upon initiative of Baron Žiga Zois.

But unlike national parks in Europe or the US, there are 34 settlements with some 2,700 residents in the TNP, who initially found the strict conservation regime limiting.

TNP director Janez Rakar says that all stakeholders have now realised protection is needed.

The locals' attitude towards the restrictions started changing when regulations on state co-funding of local projects started to be implemented.

"The state too has realised that the natural park is not just about occasionally bragging about it, but is really needed and shows the country's level of development."

He praised those who wrote the protective law to restrain the appetites for capital investments and restrict construction in the national park.

And although it is hard to precisely assess the effects of the protective law as social and climate change is happening, Rakar says "things would have been different without it".

"If there were no rules written down, the situation in this part of the natural environment would have been definitely different, and I dare say not better."

STA, 13 May 2021 - Slovenia plans to diversify its energy sources after the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for greater resilience. Environment Minister Andrej Vizjak counts in particular on solar and hydro power, and waste incineration.

Then minister noted at an online green energy summit on Thursday that the transition to alternative sources of energy brought certain challenges which were being addressed in the resolution on Slovenia's climate strategy until 2050, which the government confirmed in April.

The primary objective is to invest in renewables, and to utilise the remaining hydroelectric power potential in the country, Vizjak said, adding that there were also many opportunities in solar energy for covering a part of household consumption.

The minister noted that the problem with the latter was that, like wind, it was not always available in a sufficient quantity. This is the weakness of alternative sources of energy that policy makers need to be aware of, he added.

The document thus assesses that strong and reliable sources of electricity are required, and in the long run the state wants to continue investing in nuclear energy and in synthetic gases, including hydrogen.

Also important in the transition to green energy, according to Vizjak, is efficient energy management both in households and industry. Production units in Slovenia urgently need low-carbon transformation, he said.

According to the minister, the key segments of the green transition strategy are transport and consumption by households. As for the former, the goal is to boost public transportation, e-mobility and transfer of cargo from road to rail.

Vizjak noted that an important part of the recovery and resilience plan was waste management, including incineration of sludge from wastewater treatment plants and mixed municipal waste.

This is meant to compensate for the existing production units that use fossil fuel for supplying heat for Ljubljana and Maribor. A transition is planned to mixed municipal waste, he said.

STA, 5 May 2021 - The state-owner power utility Holding Slovenske Elektrarne (HSE) will soon launch construction of what will be the largest solar power plant in the country. The 3.04 MW plant will be built atop a landfill near Hrastnik.

The project was announced on Wednesday as the HSE said it had obtained the building permit. The foundation stone will be laid on 3 July.

"Prapretno is the first megawatt-plus solar power plant in Slovenia. It will cover the annual demand for electricity of around 800 average Slovenian households," the company said in a press release.

The location has a symbolic meaning for the HSE and local community. "In the past, this area was heavily burdened by the electricity production in the Trbovlje thermal power plant and extraction of coal in the nearby mines."

Nenad Trkulja, the head of the project, added that the HSE would revive electricity production in the area, although in a environmentally-friendly way, without greenhouse gas emissions.

The press release adds that the company plans to expand the location for additional power production, as existing infrastructure enabled this.

"In a few months, when Prapretno starts sending electricity to the grid, we will become the largest producer of electricity from that renewable source," the HSE added.

STA, 19 April - Two more Romanian lynxes arrived in Slovenia the past weekend as part of the international Life Lynx project after one arrived in March. The male Zois and female Aida will first spend some time in the adjustment enclosure in Jelovica in the north before being released into the wild.

Five lynxes are to arrive in the Gorenjska and Primorska regions by the end of the year.

The transport of the two wild cats was carried out smoothly, as an experienced team from the Ljubljana Zoo and the Forest Service was in charge of the project, says on the website of the project.

As the two lynxes will be adapting to the new environment in the enclosure, local hunters will look after them. Since lynxes are very timid animals, it is important that they are not disturbed, so the location of the enclosure has not been made public and people are urged not to approach it.

Hunters also picked the name for the male, naming him after one of the most influential figures of the Enlightenment Era in the Slovenian lands, Žiga Zois (1747-1819).

The resettlement of Zois and Aida marks the end of the third successful season for the Romanian ACDB team catching the animals. So far the team has caught eight lynxes as part of the Life Lynx project that will help save the lynx population of the Dinaric Alps and SE Alps from extinction.

According to the partners to the project, this year has been exceptional in terms of catching lynxes for resettlement. Slovakian and Romanian partners activated box traps in January and caught six lynxes for resettlement by the end of the March.

Two males and a female were caught in Romania, and a male and two females in Slovakia.

The first lynx, which was caught in Romania at the end of January, was moved to the adjustment enclosure in Pokljuka in March.

Primary school students from the Community of Schools of the Julian Alps Biosphere Reserve named him Tris, which is a compound of Mt Triglav and the Slovenian world for lynx.

He is to wait for two more females in the enclosure before they are all released into the wild.

The two female lynxes that were caught in Slovakia in March are also to be moved to the Gorenjska region, while the male caught in Slovakia will go to Croatia.

There have been no reports of reproduction of lynxes in the Gorenjska region since early 20th century, so the Life Lynx project aims to create a connective population of the wild cats at the intersection of the Dinaric Alps and SE Alps, which is to improve the natural gene flow and increase the chances for mating with neighbouring lynx populations in the Alps.