Nature Conservation Act (2004).

This Act regulates nature conservation. It establishes the purposes of protecting the natural environment through the preservation of biodiversity, ensuring natural habitats and populations of species of wild fauna, flora and fungi at a favourable conservation status, preserving natural environments of cultural or esthetical value, and promoting the sustainable use of natural resources. It provides that nature conservation is carried out by restricting the use of areas important for the preservation of the natural environment, by regulating acts involving specimens of species of wild fauna, flora and fungi and fossils, and by promoting nature education and scientific research.
The Act defines protected natural objects and identifies categories including protected areas, limited-conservation areas, protected species and fossils, species protection sites, individual protected natural objects, and natural objects protected at the local government level. It sets out the conditions and procedures for placing natural objects under protection, including requirements for proposals, proceedings, and decisions, and provides for the establishment of protection rules.
The Act establishes restrictions and requirements for activities within protected natural objects and provides rules on their administration. It includes provisions on protected areas and their zones, limited-conservation areas and related procedures, and shores and banks of bodies of water, including zones and restrictions on use.
The Act provides for protected categories of species and sets rules on acts involving specimens, including prohibitions and permits in specified cases. It includes provisions on transactions involving specimens and on non-native species. It further provides for compensation for damage caused by animals and for the acquisition of immovables containing protected natural objects.
The Act also includes provisions on fossils and natural monuments, and on the implementation of rules relating to genetic resources and Natura 2000 areas. It provides for supervision, offences and penalties, and the collection of damages caused to natural objects.