Starting today, citizens of Montenegro will be able to report environmental issues and cases of illegal exploitation of natural resources through a new digital platform, Čuvaj.me.This platform is one of the first results of the National Environmental Campaign “Čuvaj da te čuva” (Protect it, so it protects you).
The platform, developed by the coalition of non-governmental organisations “Ozelenimo Crnu Goru”, in partnership with the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property, the Environmental Protection Agency, and with the support of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Montenegro, was presented in Podgorica.
Through the platform, citizens will be able to report environmental issues and track the status of their submissions. They will be able to see which institutions and inspectors are handling the case and receive information on the outcome – including whether those responsible have been prosecuted and in what way.
During the press conference, the Ambassador of the EU to Montenegro, Johann Sattler, stated that the platform is user-friendly and allows citizens to report environmental problems anonymously and, most importantly, to track the progress of their reports.
“Whenever you notice an environmental issue or some form of pollution, report it!” urged Sattler.
He stated that police and law enforcement agencies are crucial for this type of action but also called on citizens and activists to join in, creating a broad coalition capable of delivering a change.
Deputy Prime Minister Aleksa Bečić stated that the platform represents a major step forward, laying the foundation for strengthening trust and partnership with citizens, as well as increasing transparency, which is essential in the fight against environmental crime.
He emphasised that citizens are given the opportunity to be active participants in the process and to promote the spirit of true patriotism.
“This is what patriotism looks like. Whenever you, as a citizen, recognise an issue, report it, place your trust in the institutions and receive feedback. For every step taken by each individual and every institution throughout the process, monitoring must be clear and transparent. This is not the battle of a single person but a collective challenge and responsibility,” stated Bečić.
He added that Montenegro’s long-term future and the lives of future generations depend on the way natural resources are treated.
“This is our call to citizens to help us protect and defend our rivers, lakes, forests, coasts and entire ecosystems together,” stated Bečić.
Director of the Environmental Protection Agency, Milan Gazdić, stated that the platform will enable improved coordination between institutions and facilitate more efficient monitoring of their ongoing work. As he stated, this has been significantly more difficult until now.
He appealed to the Ministry of Finance to support this initiative and to strengthen the human resources of institutions involved in combating environmental crime – particularly within inspection bodies such as environmental and mining inspection.
“In the environmental inspectorate, we have only six inspectors and only one mining inspector for the entire country. There are many organised crime groups and illegal quarries in Montenegro. Current resources cannot cover the whole country, and the Ministry of Finance must understand this,” stated Gazdić.