Key message: Nature conservation financing increased

Assessment: The indicator shows the trend of revenues from fees for use of natural resources, as well as its structure and distribution. Total revenues from environmental fees are presented in the Annual  Reports on the State of Environment in Serbia and on Economic Instruments for environmental protection produced by the Serbian Environmental Protection Agency. Revenues from fees for use of natural resources are calculated for the purposes of this Report. Fees are an environmental economic instrument, aim of which is to promote reduction of environmental pressures by applying the “polluter pays” and “user pays” principles. This indicator helps to answer a question about how much financial resources are obtained from the natural resources use, according to the “user pays” principle.

In  2018, revenues from fees for the use of natural resources amounted to RSD 7,038 million (0.14%  of GDP). Revenues are, in accordance with relevant regulations, distributed in the following way: the state budget is RSD 4,337 million (0.09% of GDP), the budget of the AP Vojvodina is RSD 178 million (0.004% GDP), and the total LSG’ budgets are RSD 2,523 million (0.05% GDP). In the structure of total fees for 2018, fees for the use of resources and mineral raw materials dominate, and their share is 85.7%. In the period of 2006-2018, the increase in these fees indicated an increase in the use of mineral resources.

The share fees for changing the purpose of forest and forest land is 7.9%, and fees for changing the purpose of arable agricultural land 3.9%. The increase in these fees in the reporting period means that  forest land and arable agricultural land have now become urban or industrial land. Fees for the collection, use and trade in protected species of wild flora, fauna and fungi, fees for the use of wild animals, and fees for the use of fishery districts are in the function of direct protection of biodiversity. Their share in the structure of total fees of 2018 is respectively 0.6%, 1.3% and 0.6%.

Indicator Name: Revenues from fees for use of natural resources

Institution/Author: Environmental Protection Agency/Maja Krunić-Lazić, Slaviša Popović

Use and interpretation:

Key question(s) which indicator helps to answer

The indicator shows the amount of funds collecting from fees for the use of protected areas where are managers PE “Srbijašume”.

Use of indicator

The funds from the fees for the use of the protected area are used for the protection, development and improvement of the protected area, respectively for implementation of the management plan and programme, in accordance with the Law on Nature Protection. Larger amount of funds means greater investment by the managers in preserving and improving the status of protected areas. The feepayer is a user of a protected area, person, an entrepreneur, a company and another legal entity that carries out business or disposes of immovables and other activities in the protected area, visits the protected area for rest, sport, recreation and similar purposes, and otherwise uses protected area and its benefits.

Potential for aggregation:

Meaning of upward or downward trends (“good or bad”)

The managers of protected area determines the subject of fees, the base and the corresponding charges for the use of the protected area, depending on the type of use and its benefits. Depending on the activity of the manager and the ability to determine users of the protected area, as well as to make the payment, the amount of compensation funds can be increased. In the period since 2009, there has been a clear trend of increasing the amount of funds generated from the collection of the fee for use of protected areas by the manager, the PE “Srbijašume”.

Possible reasons for upward or downward trends:
Changes in the amount of fees on an annual basis can be a result of the change in number of users of protected area, i.e. due to a change in the amount of the fee, which can be modified and adjusted with the annual consumer price index published by the republic authority responsible for statistics, based on the act of the Government of the Republic of Serbia. Specifically, PE “Srbijašume” clearly shows the trend of increasing the income from the fee for using the protected area.

Implications for biodiversity management of change in the indicator:
The amount of fees charged directly affects the Implementation Plan and Management Programme for protected areas.

Units in which it is expressed: RSD/ha

Description of source data: On the basis of a monthly report submitted by PE “Srbijašume” to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, i.e. the Semi-annual Report on collected fees for the use of the protected area, which the Manager submits to the Ministry of Finance of the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

Calculation procedure: The total collected funds on behalf of fees for the use of protected area in relation to the surface of protected areas in which are managers PE “Srbijašume”.

Most effective forms of presentation: Graph

Limits to usefulness and accuracy: Some protected area, managed by PE “Srbijašume” do not have users of protected area.

Updating the indicator: monthly

Closely related indicators:

Change in the amount of funds allocated from the Budget to Protected Areas
Monitoring and improving the status of protected areas
Additional information and comments
The funds from the fees for use of the protected area are used for the protection, development and improvement of protected area, respectively for implementation of the management plan and program, in accordance with the Law on Nature Protection. The feepayer is a user of a protected area, person, an entrepreneur, a company and another legal entity that carries out business or disposes of immovables and other activities in the protected area, visits the protected area for rest, sport, recreation and similar purposes, and otherwise uses protected area and its benefits. The managers of protected area determines the subject of fees, the base and the corresponding charges for the use of protected area, depending on the type of use and its benefits. Depending on the activity of the manager and the ability to determine users of the protected area, as well as to make the payment, the amount of compensation funds can be increased. In the period since 2009, there has been a clear trend of increasing the amount of funds generated from the collection of the fee for use of protected areas by the manager, the PE “Srbijašume”.

Table 1: Distribution of revenue from natural resources use fees (in millions)

Table 2: Trend in revenues from natural resources use fees (in millions)

Serbia