Proclamation of nature park "Veliki Jastrebac" as a potential for the development of tourism

Nature protection, which is of essential importance for the preservation of the ecosystem, is especially gaining importance due to the increasing influence of anthropogenic factor on the survival of the living world. In 2024, the Ministry of Environmental Protection informed the public about the procedure for initiating the protection of the 1st category natural area as Nature Park "Veliki Jastrebac". In December of the same year, the Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Decree on the declaration of the Nature Park "Veliki Jastrebac", which protected one of the most forested mountains of the Balkan Peninsula, on an area of 39 175 hectares. The protection of this space will undoubtedly contribute to its better promotion and presentation. The work aims to consider the influence of the declaration of the mentioned protected area on the development of tourism and the possibility of connecting cities (Kruševac and Prokuplje) and municipalities (Blace and Aleksinac) on whose territory the studied area is located, through various forms of cooperation, to improve the economy as a whole. Through the SWOT analysis, an overview of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the development of tourism will be given. In the work, all-natural and anthropogenic peculiarities of Veliki Jastrebac were taken into account in order to obtain a more complete picture of the development of tourism and nature protection.