The land use and soil protection: Planning and legal regulations in Serbia

Abstract

Land, as one of the basic environmental factors, is under large impact by intensive agricultural production, urbanisation, mining activities, erosion caused by anthropogenic factors, etc., which can easily result in its degradation. The unplanned land use increases the risks of degradation and reduction of the land resource. Chemical pollution, unfavourable physical and mechanical characteristics, disruption and accumulation processes, infrastructural occupancy of land represent only few forms of the land degradation. The largest portion of the land in the Republic of Serbia is covered by forests, and only then agricultural, water and construction land. The land use, management and protection is regulated by legislation and planning documents, which are the object of this paper. In the first part of the document analysis, the focus is on the review of the relevant laws adopted in Serbia, such as the Law on Forests, the Law on Spatial Planning and Construction, the Law on Environmental Protection, the Law on Land Protection, and the Law on Agricultural Land, bearing in mind the fact that the legislation forms a basis for further implementation of the planning management and supervision of the land use of all types and purposes. The other part of the review deals with the planning acts as pioneering documents in the integral overview of space, and/or all the activities in it. To that purpose, several spatial plans for different types of areas and different primary functions of land use have been chosen. In its conclusion, this paper explains the symbiosis of legislation and planning documents, and/or their implementation, as well as the significance of such symbiosis for the land function and its sustainable utilisation in the Republic of Serbia.

Agricultural and Forest Land-Use Impact on Soil Properties in Zagreb Periurban Area (Croatia)

“…For instance, the management applied in ORCH land use is a good example of how to preserve soil quality. The preservation of soil quality should be a national priority [91,92]. Therefore, it is key to maintain forests in urban areas.…”

Saving the ground beneath our feet: Establishing priorities and criteria for governing soil use and protection

“…Developers and officials or agents may benefit from these transactions [ 143 ], but the cumulative negative impacts are felt by the whole community. Those highlighting these issues include local academics [ 120 , 139 , 144 ], journalists and blighted farmers taking their grievances to the courts, if they can [ 143 , 145 ]. Social inequalities drive many to facilitate the very land use changes from which they gain the least, sometimes converting natural ecosystems to replace what they have lost.…”

“…Economic benefits also accrue unevenly and not necessarily in the national interest. The escalating profits from development can foster an ‘unholy alliance’ between the public and private sector that rewards elaborate circumvention of the law [ 105 , 153 ] or outright infringements [ 66 , 75 – 77 , 112 , 144 ]. However, it is also important to appreciate that what may appear to outside observers to be infringements may, in some cases, simply be the result of longstanding traditions of informal governance or customary tenure [ 143 , 154 ], or simply a lack of institutional capacity [ 123 ].…”

“…Lack of enforcement and governance on the ground remain serious obstacles throughout much of the world. See, for example, the studies referenced at [ 66 , 89 , 92 , 112 , 114 , 120 , 144 , 153 , 239 , 240 ]. Those ten studies cited, merely a subset of many more, draw on a range of data for their evidence, in addition to literature reviews, including land use and land evaluation records, census and demographic statistics, case studies, planning and legal decisions, stakeholder interviews and, perhaps most telling of all, spatial remote sensing of land use change, using GIS software tools such as CORINE.…”

Tendencies in Land Use and Land Cover in Serbia Towards Sustainable Development in 1990-2018

“…Serbia is ready to employ land-use change as a tool for financial and economic progress, nevertheless, like many other EU countries. Therefore, it is clear that we are promoting a strong relationship between land use management and development [2][3][4]. Hence, it is clear to see how our societies are dependent on the land to provide and ensure the resources needed for growth.…”