E-Bulletin Issue 21 · June/September 2009

IUCN SEE e-Bulletin Issue 21 · June/September 2009

IUCN South-Eastern European e-Bulletin

NP Una, BiH - IUCN archive Dear Readers,

Welcome to the 21st issue of the IUCN South-Eastern European e-Bulletin, the double issue that we prepared for the first time. This is why activities and projects related to SEE region this time cover the period June – September. We still hope you will find the reading interesting and informative. As always, you sent us a lot of news articles and updates on passed and future events, and we are thanking you for your continuous interest in the IUCN SEE e-bulletin.

The guidelines for submitting articles for the IUCN SEE e-bulletin can be found at the last page of this issue, while all issues of this publication are available under www.iucn.org/southeasterneurope.

With best regards, IUCN Programme Office for South-Eastern Europe New Regional Director for Pan-Europe (a.i.)

IUCN SEE welcomes new Interim Regional Director Hans Friederich

Hans Friederich is the former Head of Strategic Partnerships at IUCN Headquarters. A Dutch ge- ographer by training, Hans obtained his PhD at the University of Bristol, UK in groundwater hydro- chemistry. After seven years in Botswana, Hans joined IUCN in 1989, as Head of Project Manage- ment in the Eastern Africa Regional Office. In 1994, he moved to Asia, as Senior Technical Advisor in the National Environment Agency of Vietnam, and three years later Hans became the first IUCN Country Representative in Vietnam. From 1999 to 2004 Hans worked in the Asia Regional Office of IUCN in Bangkok as Regional Coordinator of IUCN’s Wetlands and Water Programme. Since January 2004, Hans has been Head of Strategic Partnerships at IUCN Headquarters in Switzerland, responsible for fundraising and donor relations.

“I am very excited about this new assignment and truly committed to strengthening IUCN’s presence in Pan-Europe” says Hans Friederich “I will do my best to live up to the expectations in the region”.

IUCN SEE staff news

Katharina Lindenmann joined IUCN SEE as an Intern for the next six months. She will be in charge of social aspects and stakeholders relations working on projects’ implementation, following her background of a joint masters degree in social anthropology and biology. Before she was working for the Swiss Nature Conservation Organization Pro Natura.

Welcome!

IUCN SEE office has the pleasure to introduce IUCN members from South Eastern Europe. By answering specific questions representatives of the member organizations will have possibility to introduce themselves, their activities and express personal experience being a part of the unique IUCN family.

Center for Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development ECOLIBRI-BIONET, Serbia

IUCN’s member since 2000 Represented by Mr Aleksandar Vlajic e: [email protected] MEMBERSHIP CORNER

2 IUCN SEE e-Bulletin Issue 21 · June/September 2009

When did your organization join IUCN and what is your organization’s mission? Center for Bio- diversity Conservation and Sustainable Development ECOLIBRI-BIONET is an independent, non- governmental, non-political, non-profit organization, the first NGO in Serbia that is the member of IUCN since 2000. Our mission is to support local communities in Serbia to accept and apply con- cept of socio-economic development, respecting the sustainable development principles and wise use of the natural resources, which is minimizing negative influence on the environment. Ecolibri – Bionet is engaged in socio-economic development and biodiversity conservation in Serbia through different programmes of educational and promotional character. principle issues that Ecolibri – Bionet focuses on are: Biodiversity conservation and protection; Restoration and revitalization of wetlands; Protection and conservation of the nature and cultural heritage of the Carpaths in Serbia; Sus- tainable rural development; Ecological education of the youth through film and TV production; Making biodiversity data base; Waste management and re-cycling; Sustainable tourism development.

Which projects or joint activities between Ecolibri-Bionet, IUCN and other members would you stress out? We have signed cooperation agreement with the Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia, IUCN’s GO member. Based on this document we have worked together on the project Adaptive Management Planning of Riverrine Wetlands along the Danube in Serbia, 2005. – 2008., focusing on the protected area Bukinski rit (between Backa Palanka, SRB and Ilok, CRO) and was funded by the Wageningen UR, The Netherlands.

What is, to your opinion, the benefit of being the IUCN member? Does it help to improve your position at the regional/national/international level? IUCN membership helps us to establish con- tacts with international organisations and donors. Being member of IUCN is some kind of social recognition and it is something that we are all proud of.

How does IUCN contribute to the sustainable development and biodiversity conservation in the region? IUCN’s contribution in this sense is mainly related to organization and implementation of regional projects on one hand, and on the other hand I’d stress out its function as a tool for communication between regional and national organizations. What should IUCN change or do better in terms of communication with members in the region? First of all I think that you can improve IUCN’s capacity on the national level. You can start with organizing regular meetings (for example twice a year) for national members to improve communication and to try to start some joint projects. Then you can organize some events or workshops for all environmental NGOs and maybe institutes, universities and even corporations in order to promote IUCN as organization and as a brand, with main idea to rise up number of national members. On the regional level, our suggestion is to improve communication between regional members – meetings, networking, workshops.

What are the 3 most valuable events you personally have experienced with IUCN? • Strengthening the Capacity of Governments to Implement Priority Activities of the CBD PoWPA, Isle of Vilm, June 2007 • IUCN Mediterranean Members Meeting, Malaga, September 2007 • The IUCN World Conservation Congress. Barcelona, October 2008

3 IUCN SEE e-Bulletin Issue 21 · June/September 2009 NEWS & EVENTS

NEWS & EVENTS content 1. Spread your European Green Belt news online 2. Second Annual Summer Programme in Thethi 3.SpeoTourism in the Green Belt of South-East Europe 4.The “Ulcinj Declaration” 5.Invasive alien species in Nature Park Goricko 6.UNESCO World Heritage Convention - Network Meeting for East and South-East Europe 7.Management objectives change for NP Galicica 8.SEE Regional CITES workshop held in Croatia 9.“Trough Waste to Flowers” in Montenegro 10.Climate Change and Energy Conservation Campaign 11.More Dalmatian Pelicans Pelecanus crispus than ever in Prespa 12. Central Balkan NP Supports the Use of Renewable Energy Sources 13. Discussion Support Tools for ex ante Impact Assessment 14. Best of the Best LIFE-Nature project award for Mikri Prespa 15. FairWild Standard implementation 16. SavaLIFE – NatureCommunicationDesign exhibition 17. Transboundary Cooperation of Mountain Protected Areas in SE Europe 18. Towards the Wise Use of Resources along the Sava River 19. Transboundary Ramsar sites to be considered in the second Assessment the UNECE-region 20. ELBARN - European Livestock Breeds Arc and Rescue Net 21. River Una – unique river in need of protection 22. Prespa in focus for outdoor activities 23. Communicating values and benefits of protected areas in Europe 24. Assessing and Valuing Benefits of Protected Areas

4 1. Spread your European Green Belt news online

Germany: The recently launched Baltic Green Belt project has established a website at www.balticgreenbelt.net. The coordinators are currently assessing the need for a public news section which allows for news input by registered website visitors themselves to be immediately displayed. If you are interested in getting an account to post and edit news, please send us a short message. Next to the news section, the website will be used to document the activities planned and carried out during the project period lasting until January 2012. The project community comprises 22 partners from Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Russia and is funded with 2,1 Mio. Euro by the EU’s Baltic Sea Region Programme. The project’s goals are on the one hand to function as a platform for Green Belt stakeholders in the Baltic Sea region to develop new projects together. On the other hand the project wants to support the flow of information between the Baltic Green Belt and the other European Green Belt regions and vice versa. For more information, please contact Michael Schultz at [email protected] or Ste- fanie Maack at [email protected] or visit www.balticgreenbelt.net.

2. Second Annual Summer Programme in Thethi

Albania: There have regularly been problems in recent years to keep the school in Thethi open during the winter. Many children have thus missed school- ing. To compensate this shortcomings a lively Sum- mer Programme from 22nd June until Graduation on 22nd August has been held. Also Additional Weekend Workshops for adults were offered, to promote the development of sustainable tourism. Programme insight: In the morning, the children were Balkans Peace Park Archive taught Basic English and Environmental Awareness by international volunteers and local teachers. Mornings usually ended with homemade biscuits and a volleyball game in the yard. After lunch, the young people went to the fields to rake hay. Volunteer teachers were free, to make siesta, then walk up to the stunning waterfall or plunge in the `swim- ming hole`, a freezing water hollow in a nearby stream. In the cool of the late afternoon, most of the young people gathered by the huge chestnut tree to play football. The day usually closed with more fantastic food, a glass of local Raki, and a cup of delicious `caj malle`, or mountain tea, made with dried oregano gathered in the hills by Thethi schoolgirls.

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The Balkans Peace Park (B3P) aims to run similar programmes in villages all over the region. For more information, please contact Antonia Young, Former Chair - Balkans Peace Park Project Committee UK at [email protected] or visit www.balkanspeacepark.org

3. SpeoTourism in the Green Belt of South-East Europe

Serbia: Members of the speleological association “Ex- ploratorii“ from Resita (Romania), visited Djerdap Na- NEWS & EVENTS tional Park in May, marking the start of the joint project implementation. Representatives of the NP Djerdap, Mr Milovanovic and Mr Pavlovic organized a few fieldtrips and visits to Rajkova, Disina, Velika Gradasnica, Mala Gradasnica caves, as well as Rakin Ponor and Buronov Ponor, vertical caves. Guests, young speleologists had

NP Djerdap Archive the opportunity to explore mentioned caves. In June, young representatives of NP Djerdap will visit Romanian region around Resita, in order to explore caves and continue the project implementation. One of positive results of this project is a posible follow up project, where the exploration will consist of arranging one attractive cave in Serbia and one in Romania for safe tourist visits.

For more information please contact Dejan Pavlovic, NP Djerdap at: [email protected]

4. The “Ulcinj Declaration”

Montenegro. More than 100 experts from 15 European countries came together to develop concrete approaches to the protection of migratory birds in South East Europe. “Just a few years ago, the Balkans were un- charted territory on the migration map. But within the framework of the conference, experts clearly confirmed the existence and importance of the Adriatic Flyway”, says Dr. Martin Schneider-Jacoby, EuroNatur project manager. The wetlands along the Eastern Closing ceremony, EURONATUR Archive Adriatic coast provide internationally important resting areas for more than 20 waterbird species and more than 15,000 cranes and 10,000 honey buzzards cross the Adriatic Sea every year. The participants of the conference outlined the most important results in the “Ulcinj Declaration”. This declaration was passed EuroNatur and other

6 representatives of important agreements for the protection of migratory birds in Europe like the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA), BirdLife International, the Council of Europe, the Ramsar Convention, and Wetlands International. The Ulcinj Declaration demands the adjustment of national legislations on bird hunting and nature protection to the European standard and the control of these laws. Experts on bird protection underline the urgency of a better protection of wetlands and resting sites on the Balkans by the creation of hunting-free areas. The conference took place 14-18 April 2009 in Ulcinjl, Montenegro, and was organised by EuroNatur in collaboration with various partners.

For more information, contact M.Schneider-Jacoby, EURONATUR Martin.Schneider-Jacoby@euronatur.org or visit http://www.euronatur.org/Adriatic-Flyway-Conference.934.0.html

5. Invasive alien species in Nature Park Goricko

Slovenia: Members of Institute Symbiosis and Bo- tanical Society of Slovenia organised in September in NP Goricko a training workshop for park rangers, foresters, fishermen, beekeepers, farmers, teachers and inspectors. This was a part of Education project Thuja and the main objective were methods of identification methods and methods of eradication of invasive alien species (IAS). IAS already affected some ecosystems, habitats Photo: Gregor Domanjko and native species in Slovenia and Goricko area; many of them are causing economical damage and pose a threat to human health. Although production of some alien species in Slovenia like maize, potato and barley brings great economic benefit, unintentionally with the transport of these cultures or their seeds we transmit other organisms. The general public recognises the destructive agricultural pest species like the Corn rootworms Dia- brotica virgifera and the Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata. Many plants and animals are partially or totally toxic like the Ragweed Ambrosia artemisifolia, or carry diseases that may harm to native animals like the Signal crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus, which is acting as a carrier of crayfish plague Aphanomyces astaci. On the abandoned agricultural lands, along the degraded areas, roads and railways in NP Goricko, we can find the Japanese knotweed Fallopia japonica, the Goldenrod Solidago canadensis and Solidago gigantea, the False acacia Robinia pseudaccacia and others, which had all been brought in the past by beekeepers. All these alien species are changing the community structure of native ecosystems directly by out-competing indigenous species for resources. What should we do and how should we fight back?

For more information please contact [email protected] or visit www.park-goricko.org and www.tujerodne-vrste.info.

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6. UNESCO World Heritage Convention - Network Meeting for East and South-East Europe

Germany: Representatives of World Heritage sites and World Heritage Focal Points from the region met with experts from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and from IUCN WCPA at the International Nature Conservation Academy on the Isle of Vilm/Germany, in September 17-20. The network meeting discussed the recent developments in the framework of the World

Heritage Convention and its implementation in the respective NEWS & EVENTS BfN Archive countries and World Heritage sites. The meeting focussed on three main topics: 1) selection of potential new nominations of World Heritage sites, 2) monitoring of inscribed World Heritage properties and 3) linkages between cultural and natural heritage. The outcomes of the workshop include a comprehensive project idea to develop, test and implement an effective monitoring scheme for World Heritage properties in the region and the design of a 2010 workshop on the topic of linking the management of natural and cultural values in World Heritage properties. Next steps are the identification of funding opportunities for the monitoring project and the identification of World Heritage properties (natural and cultural) that are interested in participating in the project.

The workshop was hosted by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation with funding from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

For more information please contact Barbara Engels, BfN at [email protected]

7. Management objectives change for NP Galicica

Germany: Representatives of World Heritage sites and World Heritage Focal Points from the region met with experts from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and from IUCN WCPA at the International Nature Conservation Academy on the Isle of Vilm/Germany, in September 17-20. The network meeting discussed the recent developments in the framework of the World Heritage Convention and Photo: T.Dieterich its implementation in the respective countries and World Heritage sites. The meeting focussed on three main topics: 1) selection of potential new nominations of World Heritage sites, 2) monitoring of inscribed World Heritage properties and 3) linkages between cultural and natural heritage. The outcomes of the workshop include a comprehensive project idea to develop, test and implement an effective monitoring scheme for World Heritage properties in the region and the design of a 2010 workshop on the topic of linking the management of natural and cultural values in World Heritage properties.

8 Next steps are the identification of funding opportunities for the monitoring project and the identification of World Heritage properties (natural and cultural) that are interested in participating in the project.

The workshop was hosted by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation with funding from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

For more information please contact Barbara Engels, BfN at [email protected]

8. SEE Regional CITES workshop held in Croatia

Croatia: 53 participants from 6 countries in South-Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia) took part in their first ever regional CITES workshop this May. They included officers from a variety of CITES enforcement authorities, such as Management Authorities, Scientific Authorities, Customs, police, and environmental phytosanitary and veterinary inspectorates, who discussed important issues relating to wildlife trade in the region. They were joined by colleagues from the UK Border Agency and the Management Authority of Slovenia. The meeting concluded that better co-ordination and sharing of information between countries would strength- en regional enforcement of CITES (The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), especially through increased use of the EU- TWIX (EU Trade in Wildlife Information eXchange) e-mail list server. Issues covered during the meeting included the illegal trade in caviar and tortoises, and the illegal hunting of TRAFFIC Archive small songbirds to supply Italian restaurants. The workshop was organized as part of a ‘Strengthening capacities of European law enforcement officers and judicial authorities in the fight against wildlife crime’ project and was financed by the European Commis- sion, DG Justice, Freedom and Security. For more information please contact Kecse-Nagy Katalin, TRAFFIC Europe - Central Eastern Office at [email protected].

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9. “Trough Waste to Flowers” in Montenegro

Montenegro: The NGO Green Home has started the implementation of its project “Trough Waste to Flowers”, aiming at improving education of young people in the field of environmental protection, regular waste disposing and recycling. In the framework of this project a first workshop was held for teachers in the kinder garden of Tuzi near Podgorica in May 2009. During the workshop teachers were made acquainted with the basic concepts in ecology: defini-

tions, object, research, environment, sources of pollution and the consequences of environmental pol- NEWS & EVENTS lution: such as climate change, global warming and greenhouse gases. For this workshop also a guide book was prepared on the topic of “ecology”, to give the future trainers some advise and assistance for their work with the children. The second part of the lecture focused on the concepts of waste separation, recycling and composting, with special focus on Separation of waste; Water pollution and Transfer and dispersion of energy. The project is supported by the Regional Environmental Center (REC), SECTOR Program, which is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). For further information please contact Jovana Ostojic, Green Home at [email protected] or Bar- bara Lohmann, Green Home at [email protected].

10. Climate Change and Energy Conservation Campaign

Global warming is now the greatest threat the world has ever faced. Human-made CO2 is responsible for the vast majority of the warming. Concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere are now almost 40 per cent above those of 200 years ago. A dra- matic increase in the Earth’s temperature, will result in massive changes to the environments we all rely on to survive. WWF will organize the Climate Change and Energy Conserva- tion Campaign, as a part of international project implemented in Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Serbia. The main goal of this campaign is to increase the awareness on each per- son’s influence to climate change. The activities are focus to promote energy efficient ways of living for households and individuals through promoting a wide range of climate friendly solutions and technologies for households.

Climate change road shows in Serbia are organized with support of several partner organizations OM Ogilvy, Voluntary Centre of Vojvodina, Young Researchers of Serbia and Friends of the Nature in the following sequence: 09.-10. July- Novi Sad, 11. July- Belgrade and 12. July- Nis.

For further information, please contact Duska Dimovic, WWF at [email protected] or visit www. panda.org/serbia

10 11. More Dalmatian Pelicans Pelecanus crispus than ever in Prespa

The Prespa lakes, shared between Greece, Albania and FYROM, have long been considered one of the key nature conservation areas in the Balkans, partly because of their pelican colonies – they are therefore recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) in all three countries. This year, more than 1400 pairs of Dal- matian Pelicans bred on the colonies on the Greek side of the lakes, a N2000 site. “This is an historical maximum for this globally threatened species, and it represents more than 20% of it’s world population”, says Myrsini Malakou, the director of the Society for the Protection of Prespa (SPP) The SPP, a local conservation organisation that has as founding and supporting members both the Hel- lenic Ornithological Society (HOS, Birdlife in Greece) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB, BirdLife in the UK), has finished recently a EU-funded LIFE project that aimed to manage the water levels of the Mikri Prespa lake, and to implement active habitat management measures, to maxi- mise their benefit for breeding birds. Partly as a result, the significant wetland birds breeding colonies in Prespa have prospered. – This proves that by managing the habitats for birds, we can increase their populations”, continued Malakou.

For further information please contact José Pedro Tavares, The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds at [email protected].

12. Central Balkan NP Supports the Use of Renewable Energy Sources

Bulgaria. Pilot demonstration model for the application of hybrid systems for lighting and solar systems for hot water for sites in the Central Balkan National Park Project started, implemented by the Central Balkan NP, the Cooperative of Shepherds Bazov dyal - town of Apriltsi and the civil society Central Balkan – Apriltsi. The project is financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) implementation period is 12 months. The project aims to contribute to the promotion of use of CBNPD Archive renewable energy sources (RES) for producing hot water and electricity systems through demonstration sites located in Central Balkan NP and demonstrate the effectiveness of their work in that altitude and weather conditions. The main activity would be the instal- lation of hybrid systems for the production of electric energy through the sun and wind and systems for solar water heating. Pilot sites are areas in Gorni Polenitsi and Bazov Dyal and Smesite and Sladkata Voda check-points.

For further information please contact Diana Terzieva, Central Balkan NP Directorate at did@centralbal- kan.bg

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13. Discussion Support Tools for ex ante Impact Assessment

The potential for conflict between land use and sustainable development can be greatly influenced by changes in EU policies, yet the evidence available to decision makers is far from complete. To address this prob- lem, substantial effort was invested in the development of a suite of com- puter-based models to support policy making for different sectors and at different strategic levels and spatial scales. One integrated research project was ‘SENSOR’ (‘Tools for Environmental,

Social and Economic Effects of Multifunctional Land Use in European Re- NEWS & EVENTS gions’) - a four year project, which brought together researchers from various areas of expertise, such as land use, environmental economics, socio-economics and landscape research. The aim was to support ex ante assessment of new policies on six land use sectors: agriculture, forestry, nature conservation, transport infrastructure, energy and tourism. SENSOR undertook the development of science based tools to support decision making on policies related to land use in European regions. The results now show an extremely broad range of data and a wide variety of potential applications, especially in the field of regional development in rural areas. Selected results are now published in a brochure that can be downloaded at http://www.zalf.de/home_ip-sensor/ products/SENSOR_ToolsforImpactAssessment.pdf SENSOR was financed by the 6th Framework Research Programme of the European Commission and was coordinated by the Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) in Müncheberg, Germany.

For further information please contact Katharina Diehl, ZALF at [email protected] or visit www.sensor-ip.eu or www.zalf.de.

14. Best of the Best LIFE-Nature project award for Mikri Prespa

Greece: The Society for the Protection of Prespa was honored with a “Best of the Best” LIFE-Nature award for implementing the project “Conservation of Priority Bird Species in Lake Mikri Prespa, Greece”. This is a new award that aims to recognize some of the best projects On the European level. The Prespa LIFE-Nature project (2002-2007) had pivotal importance for the area since for the first time an integrated and efficient management scheme of Lake Mikri Prespa was implemented, aiming at the conservation of two priority species, the Dalmatian Pelican and the Pygmy Cormorant. The methods used for the protection of the 2 species had many direct and indirect positive results, which in many ways contributed to the social and economic development of the area (e.g. sluice reconstruction, wet meadows restoration, promotion of eco-touristic activities). One of the most important outcomes of the project is the production of a management plan which includes all management and monitoring activities for the wetland’s conservation, within the next five years. This management plan has been approved by the Management Body of Prespa National Park and is currently implemented in collaboration with the Society for the Protection of Prespa and other local and national stakeholders. For further information please contact Marianna Vlassi, Society for the Protection of Prespa at [email protected].

12 15. FairWild Standard implementation

Bosnia and Herzegovina: TRAFFIC, IUCN and WWF, with partners from government and the private sector, implement sustainable wild harvesting practices in South East Europe within the international ’Saving Plants that Save Lives and Livelihoods’ project financed by the German Federal Minis- try for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Within the project, the FairWild Standard (Comprising: ‘fair- trade’ and ecological components (formerly known as In- ternational Standard for Sustainable Collection of Medici- Photo: S.Bundalo. nal and Aromatic Plants (ISSC-MAP), is being implemented in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At a regional level WWF Hungary and the TRAFFIC Europe Central European Project Office are also developing a broader medicinal plant network, which shall support and promote FairWild implementation in other Southeast European countries. The FairWild implementation project is in a final phase in Vlasenica Region, located in the eastern part of Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The FairWild implementation project in Bosnia and Herze- govina will serve as a model approach that can be replicated in the region. We welcome partners from government, industry, communities and NGOs for applications of FairWild in new or existing collection operations, and joint fundraising for sustainable wild collection of medicinal and aromatic plants in SEE.

For further information please contact Anastasiya Timoshyna, WWF and TRAFFIC Hungary at anastasiya. [email protected] or visit www.fairwild.org.

16. SavaLIFE – NatureCommunicationDesign exhibition

Serbia: The SavaLIFE – NatureCommunicationDesign exhibition was opened in July 2009 at the Gallery of Science and Technology of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade, as the result of the cooperation between partners of the LIFE Sava biodiversity protection project led by IUCN. It presented the results of the scientific work experts from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia have undertaken in the past two years along the Sava River, and the work of fifteen art students of the Faculty of Applied Arts under the mentorship of Professor Zoran Blažina, who provided their personal contribution to this campaign. The SavaLIFE project addresses the issue of biodiversity conservation of the Sava River basin by finding a form of visual communication to promote action and to make the idea of conserving the Sava’s biodiversity generally known and accepted.

For further information please contact Lubomira Vavrova, IUCN SEE at [email protected] or visit www.savariver.com or www.savariver.com/exhibition.

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17. Transboundary Cooperation of Mountain Protected Areas in SE Europe

Montenegro: The 2nd sub-regional meeting on “Transboundary Cooperation of Mountain Protected Areas in South Eastern Europe” took place in Podgor- ica in June 2009. within the framework of the Environ- ment and Security (ENVSEC) Initiative. Hosts of the meeting were the new Minister for Spa-

tial Planning and Environmental Protection of Mon- NEWS & EVENTS tenegro, Mr. Branimir Gvozdenovic, and the UNEP Director for Europe, Mr. Christophe Bouvier. Further participants comprised ENVSEC and Dinaric Arc Ini- tiative partners (IUCN, UNESCO, UNDP, REC, SNV, WWF et al.) NGOS as well as representatives from regional park management, authorities and research institutions. The meeting informed about existing and planned “Mountain Protected Area Networks”. It gave an update on proposed transboundary protected areas including Durmitor NP, planned Bioc-Maglic- Volujak Regional Park, and Tara River region in Montenegro, and Sutjeska NP in Bosnia and Herze- govina. Other proposed transboundary “areas in focus” were briefly presented as well, comprising: Prokletije Mountains / Bjeshkët e Nemuna; Šar Planina / Deshat / Sharr / Korabi; Tara Mountains / Drina gorge; West Stara Planina; Orjen / Sniježnica; Vlahina / Maleševska / Belasica; Osogovska Planina. During a first workshop the priorities for common actions were elaborated and ways of establishing partnerships were discussed. Workshop 2 focussed on a Mountain Protected Area Network in the Balkans and the Dinaric Arc with the objective to discuss priorities for sub-regional cooperation in biodiversity conservation. For further information, please contact Tomasz Pezold, IUCN-SEE at [email protected], or Joerg Lohmann, Ministry of Spatial Planning and Environmental Protection of Montenegro at [email protected].

18. Towards the Wise Use of Resources along the Sava River

Croatia: Two workshops were held in June in Krapje: (1) Land Use Practices along the Sava; and (2) Toward a Coherent Ecological Network. The event was organized by the live along the Sava project management team with support from local partners, namely the Lonjsko Polje Na- ture Park in Croatia. More than 25 participants from all the Sava countries: Bosnia and Herze- govina, Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia attended IUCN Archive

14 workshops. Their focus was land use practices existing in the Sava River Basin, local products branding and potentials for the development of an eco-tourism along the river. These workshops provided a unique opportunity for stakeholders to meet and find a common approach in their efforts to protect ecosystems of the Sava River Basin. Staying overnight in traditional wooden houses and tasting local food combined with getting really close to autochtonous podolian cattle, was also a first hand experience in eco-tourism.

For further information, please contact Lubomira Vavrova, IUCN SEE at [email protected] or visit www.savariver.com.

19. Transboundary Ramsar sites to be considered in the second Assessment the UNECE-region

The first Assessment of transboundary rivers, lakes and groundwaters, elaborated under the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Trans- boundary Watercourses and In- ternational Lakes (UNECE Water Convention) and presented to the sixth Ministerial conference “Environment for Europe” in Bel- grade 2007, was the first ever in- depth report produced on transboundary waters in the UNECE Skadar lake, Photo by T.Salathé region. The second Assessment will be a main input to the next Ministerial Conference in Astana (Kazakhstan) in 2011. Several transboundary Ramsar sites will be considered in the Assessment. The first step in the preparation of the Assessment was the International Workshop on Integrated Transboundary Water Resources Management in South-Eastern Europe held in May 2009 in Sara- jevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and jointly organized by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in cooperation with the Global Water Partnership Mediterranean and the International Sava River Basin Commission. In South-Eastern Europe the following transboundary Ramsar sites will be described: 1) Nature Park Kopacki rit (Kopacki rit) (Croatia), Béda-Karapancsa (Hungary) and Gornje Podunavlje (Serbia) located at the confluence of Drava and Danube Rivers; 2) Lake Shkodra and River Buna (Albania) and Skadarsko Jezero (Montenegro); 3) Lake Prespa (The F.Y.R. of Macedonia) and Lake Mikri Prespa (Greece), where the Albanian part of the transboundary Prespa Lake will be also considered. For further information, please contact Nadezhda Alexeeva, Ramsar Secretariat at europe@ramsar. org.

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20. ELBARN - European Livestock Breeds Arc and Rescue Net

Bulgaria: Many species of domestic animals are endangered or already rare. Breeds of cows, goats, donkeys and horses are often lost due to epidem- ics or for other reasons. Some of these endangered breeds in Bulgaria are for example the Kalofer goat and Karakatchan Sheep. The objective of the pan-European project ELBARN

is to create a network of establishments, active in NEWS & EVENTS the in-situ conservation of autochthonous breeds.

Photo by: M.Schneider-Jacoby The South East Europe Area Workshop, which took place in Blagoevgrad May 7th – 10th 2009, was an important step for the conservation of old breeds and the dissemination of information about EU regulations and best practise. 35 experts from 10 countries participated in the workshop. It was organised by the local partner the Bulgarian Biodi- versity Foundation (BBF). The ELBARN project aims to prepare in every European country the required infrastructure and logistics for the worst-case scenario. EuroNatur, the European SAVE Foundation and partners in South, Central and West Europe are running this project as a concerted action with financial support of the European Union. For further information, please contact Markus Dressnandt, EURONATUR at markus.dressnandt@ euronatur.org or visit www.elbarn.net.

21. River Una – unique river in need of protection

Croatia: Green Action / Friends of the Earth Croatia organized a multistakeholder workshop “River Una – unique river in need of protection” in Dvor, Croatia, 29 May 2009. It was the last in a series of workshops of EU CARDS 2004 project Promoting conservation of border river ecosystems and sustainable use of resources in border area of Croatia and Bosnia and Hercegovina. The workshop marked also the end of the two year

Photo by: M.Schneider-Jacoby project to increase awareness, knowledge and cross border cooperation in environmental protection. Conservation of river ecosystems biodiversity was taken as a core of sustainable development, and the sustainable use of natural resources. The workshop hosted more than 20 participants from Public Institution for Management of Protected Areas in Sisak-Moslavina County, regional municipalities, Sisak-Moslavina County, Croatian Waters, development agencies, Faculty of Science, utilities services, Croatian Forests, local population and NGOs from both Croatia and B&H. Participants worked on the vision for Una River basin and discussed existing problems and possible solutions. Among other conclusions, participants decided that

16 a coordination body for Una River Basin should be formed in order to facilitate the implementation of the conclusions, proposed activities and possible projects envisioned on this workshop.

For further information, please contact Irma Popovic, Water Protection Program, Green Action / FoE Croatia at [email protected].

22. Prespa in focus for outdoor activities

Albania: The Prespa Park hosted various awareness activities with teachers and students this spring, organized by -May 2009, REC Albania. The Interna- tional day of biodiversity was the base for three village schools: Proger, Bilisht and Liqenas to organize outdoor activities and rise environmental awareness. The Festival of Nature was an artistic program of songs, poems and role-paying, all dealing with the Prespa Lakes and prepared by the school children

REC Archive themselves. The children of Bilisht village prepared a role-play dealing with the Invasive alien species (IAS). Drawings related to nature, environmental protection and endemic species of Prespa Park were exhibited in the competition-event “Prespa in my eyes”. A jury of 9 children (three from each school) decided then on the best pictures. All activities were very proactive, a combination of lessons and outdoor activities for school children. The activities were designed and implemented based on the education/awareness plan, agreed with the school managers and in line with the international environmental agenda.

For further information, please contact Daniela Tola, REC Albania at [email protected].

23. Communicating values and benefits of protected areas in Europe

Germany: The workshop served to enable Protected Ar- eas’ managers and agencies to better identify, assess and communicate values and benefits of their protected areas to various stakeholders in order to generate political will, create public awareness, and mobilize an increased funding for protected areas. It was organized by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) together with Europarc Federation and took place in April 2009. at the International BfN Archive Academy for Nature Conservation Isle of Vilm. It was funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. Participants from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Poland, Schot- tland, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Wales all over Europe and from various NGOs worked through the

17 IUCN SEE e-Bulletin Issue 21 · June/September 2009

range of values and benefits protected areas can have, learned how to identify them using the WWF Protected Area Benefits Assessment Tool (PA-BAT) and eventually, how to best communicate these values and benefits. They gave a series of recommendations to help protected areas in promoting their wide range of values and benefits for human welfare; they are addressed to different organizations engaged in this aim, such as WWF International, BfN, EUROPARC Federation, IUCN-WCPA and also committed themselves to use the lessons learnt in their respective work, giving feedback on their success within six months. They expressed that the workshop was very useful for their work.

For further information please contact Judith Jabs, BfN at [email protected]. NEWS & EVENTS 24. Assessing and Valuing Benefits of Protected Areas

As part of a series of workshops to support the implementation of the CBD Programme of Work on Protected Areas (PoWPA), this workshop had the objective to better communicate the values and benefits of Protected Areas (PAs) for various strategic target groups. The interest among the countries invited (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakh- stan, Mongolia, Romania, Russian Federation, Ukraine and Turkey) was very high; participants from the ministerial level,

BfN Archive protected area agencies as well as representatives from the according WWF regional offices and other NGOs took part. It was the starting point for national and regional processes to promote the values and benefits of PAs, which is being coordinated by WWF. The workshop showed the range of values and benefits of PAs, indicated a method on how to assess them using the WWF PA-BAT (Protected Area Benefits Assessment Tool) and gave PA representatives the opportunity to share their experiences on assessing and communicating the values and benefits. These values were then linked with possible sustainable finance mechanisms. At the end, national communications strategies were developed and appropriate follow-up measures decided, which the group intends to implement in the near future.

The workshop took place at the International Academy for Nature Conservation Isle of Vilm in April this year. It was organized by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) together with WWF, being funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. For further information please contact Judith Jabs, BfN at [email protected].

18 19 IUCN SEE e-Bulletin Issue 21 · June/September 2009 PUBLICATIONS & COMMUNICATION PUBLICATIONS

PUBLICATIONS & COMMUNICATION content 1. Promotion of the book Birds of Bardaca 2. All Along the Watchtowers 3. National parks Magazine 4. Building Bridges E-Newsletter

20 1. Promotion of the book Birds of Bardaca

The promotion of the book Birds of Bardaca marked the 22 May, the International Biodiversity Day at the Institute for the Protection of Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage of the Republic of Srpska. Authors of this monography, Branislav Gasic and Goran Dujaković, documented the Bardaca region during all periods of the year and the accompanying texts emphasize some of their characteristic inhabitants. The book was published by the Institute and Prof. Dragan Mikavica from the Faculty of Agriculture in Banja Luka said that it represents an outstanding contribution to the completion of data on species diversity of the Bardaca wetland ecosystem, in the Banja Luka region. For more information please contact Goran Panic, Institute for the Protection of Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage of the Republic of Srpska, at: goran- [email protected]

2. All Along the Watchtowers

The publication All Along the Watch- towers released by IUCN provides a field guide for the border region Al- bania, Kosovo (UNSCR 1244) and FYR Macedonia. The guide is designed for border police who prob- ably encounter animals during their work. In some parts of the border region they are even the only people with access to their habitats. Authors hope the border police will use the

Photo: T.Pezold/IUCN field guide to report on the species occurring in the border region and monitor illegal activities, such as logging and fires, which may threaten them. The publication is the outcome of a project Civil-military Cooperation for the Promotion of Trans- boundary Nature Conservation along the European Green Belt (South Eastern Europe) run by IUCN and the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) within the European Green Belt Initiative. For more information please contact Tomasz Pezold, IUCN SEE at: [email protected] and to download full report please visit: http://www.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/2009-008.pdf

21 IUCN SEE e-Bulletin Issue 21 · June/September 2009

3. National parks Magazine

As of March, Public Enterprise for Na- tional Parks of Montenegro is publish- ing National Parks magazine. Its aim is to present all the segments of protected areas like NPs Durmitor, Biograd- ska Gora, Lovcen and Skadar Lake. We would like to inform the public on our activities related to the protection and development of parks and to contribute to increase of consciousness on conservation and protection of the environment. Published bi-monthly, the first issue introduced protected areas in general while the second one described rich ichthyofauna and ornithofauna of the Skadar Lake. These were followed by the issue on National Park Durmitor under UNESCO’s protection and the last fourth publishes texts about Biogradska Gora relief and its hidrographic pearls. We would like to cooperate with environmental experts and nature lovers across Europe. So if You would like to share Your experiences with us, please write and send us Your favourite photos of nature. PUBLICATIONS & COMMUNICATION PUBLICATIONS

For more information please contact Marijana Dzakovic, Editor of the National Parks Magazine at [email protected].

4. Building Bridges E-Newsletter

IUCN is working with the private sector in various ways. Through constructive interaction with the private sector, IUCN seeks to help society as a whole in making better-informed choices. It is important that the conservation and business communities work with each other. This E-News- letter, as of May 2009, aims to improve the communication on IUCN’s private sector engagement. It also aims to share the lessons learned, disseminate information about the ongoing activities and to build bridges between the conservation community and the private sector.

The first edition of “Building Bridges” you can find here: http://webe.emv3.com/iucn/Business%20 and%20Biodiversity%20newsletter/May_en.htm

22 23 IUCN SEE e-Bulletin Issue 21 · June/September 2009 TRAININGS & SEMINARS – ANNOUNCEMENTS

TRAININGS & SEMINARS – ANNOUNCEMENTS content 1. EuroBirdwatch2009 2. International Conference on Sustainable Hydropower in the Western Balkans 3. International Conference for a Shared Vision for Sava River 4. Bohinj International Wild Flower Festival 2010 5. WFI International Fellowship Program 6. Xth Zoological Conference

24 1. EuroBirdwatch2009

Organised for the fifth year in Serbia, the Euro- Birdwatch will be held od 3-4 October 2009. just timing up with the bird migrations: south (e.g. swallows), southwest (e.g. ducks), southeast (mostly large birds such as eagles and storks) and north, to the Baltic (some cormorants). The aim of the EBW is to focus the public attention on birds, problems they face and promotion of the protection of endangered species and their habitats. In previous years, 450 birders joined 40 events to see 140,000 birds of 111 species. Photo: K. Paunovic

Common Birds Monitoring workshop will be held on 3 October when the guest lecturer Iordan Hris- tov, Bulgarian Society for Protection of Birds, will give a series of lectures on monitoring purpose and methodolgy at Belgrade’s Faculty for Applied Ecology „Futura“. On 4 October, the knowledge will be put in practice at Zvezdarska Forest in Belgrade. The whole project is led by the League for Ornithological Action of Serbia, in partnership with Bulgarian Society for Protection of Birds, Faculty for Applied Ecology „Futura“ and the Belgrade Park Meintenance public enterprise. The finnancial support for the project comes from the City of Belgrade’s Environmental Secretariate.

League for Ornithological Action of Serbia and Bird Protection and Study Society of Vojvodina are inviting everyone to take part in the EBW. Common Bird Guide is available for download at the http://www.ptica.org/newsletter/Ptice%20i%20IBA%20podrucja%20Srbije%20(LOA).pdf.

For more information, please contact Dragan Simic at [email protected] or visit www.ptica.org.

25 IUCN SEE e-Bulletin Issue 21 · June/September 2009

2. International Conference on Sustainable Hydropower in the Western Balkans

Conference organized by WWF, to be held on 7-8 October 2009 in Dubrovnik, Croatia will focus on Needs of freshwater ecosystems with regard to flows, con- nectivity and sediment transfer; Best practices and environmental standards in the hydropower sector; EU accession requirements and International Financial institutions’ sustainability policies and principles.

For more information, please contact Angela Klauschen, WWF MedPOat ak- [email protected]

3. International Conference for a Shared Vision for Sava River

Zagreb will host an international conference ‘Towards a Shared Vision for the Integrated Management of the Sava River’, on 4-5 November 2009. Organized by IUCN, with endorsement by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia, this conference is supported by a broad network of partners: Wageningen Interna- tional, Orbicon, State Institute for Nature Protection of Croatia, Center for Ecology and Natural Resources Photo V.Dobretic of the University of Sarajevo, Agricultural Institute of the Republic of Srpska, Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia, and Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for Nature Conservation. All of these institutions were key partners in the implementation of TRAININGS & SEMINARS – ANNOUNCEMENTS the LIFE III framework project Protection of Biodiversity of the Sava River Basin Floodplains, funded by the European Commission. The goal of the conference is to develop a vision for elaboration of an Action Plan for Sava River Basin management. Key objectives of the conference are to: 1) Present findings and share achieve- ments of the Sava LIFE III project. 2) Discuss the status and future protection of biodiversity along the Sava River, taking into regards requirements from sectors such as agriculture, navigation, flood protection, tourism. 3) Develop a shared vision for the future of the Sava River and its floodplains, as a basis for elaboration of the Sava River Basin’s Management Plan. The conference will gather around 100 delegates from the South-Eastern European region, especially the four Sava countries (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia), as well as international experts interested in the future of the Sava River and its floodplains.

For more information, please contact Maja Vasiljevic, IUCN Coordinator, Sava International Confer- ence at [email protected]

26 4. Bohinj International Wild Flower Festival 2010

Slovenia: In celebration of the “International Year of Biodiversity” the 2010 Conference theme will be ‘Culture, Nature and Biodiver- sity as the Foundation for Rural Development’. The linked Heritage Workshop is tentatively entitled “Using our Cultural and Natural Heritage to Develop New Products”. This theme will look at creating modern commercial products for domestic and visitor audiences based on our rich heritage. This workshop will focus on rural development opportunities and in addition to discussing technical aspects of heritage protection, it will bring in business expertise to show participants all the stages of taking a project from creative ideas to production, marketing and selling. The 2010 Interpretation Workshop will be developing the idea of Festival Bohinj Archive Bohinj as the starting point for “The Sava Trail” - from the source of the River Sava, Savica Waterfall, in the centre of the Triglav National Park and within the legend- ary ‘Kingdom of the Zlatorog’ to where it meets the Black Sea at the Danube delta, the second larg- est and best preserved delta in Europe.

For more information, please contact Klemen Langus, Festival director, at [email protected] or visit www.bohinj.si.

5. WFI International Fellowship Program

The WFI Fellowship brings professionals in natural resources to conduct a practical research project at the World Forestry Center. In addition to projects, Fellows participate in weekly field trips, interviews and site visits to Northwest forestry organizations, research labs, universities, public and private timberlands, trade associations, mills, and corporations. The Fellowship is a unique opportunity to learn about sustainable forestry from the Pacific Northwest forestry sector, and to work with colleagues from around the world. Fellowships are open to any country, and there is a matching grant from the Harry A. Merlo Foundation. Over 75 Fellows from 24 countries have participated to date. Applications are accepted year-round. For details, visit: http://wfi.worldforestry.org/index/ international-fellowship.html

27 IUCN SEE e-Bulletin Issue 21 · June/September 2009

6. Xth Zoological Conference

International Scientific and Practical Conference «Problems of Biodiversity Conservation and Management of Biological Resources, Current state and development prospects of zool- ogy, protection and sustainable management of fauna» will be held in Minsk, Belarus, 18 – 20 November 2009 and organized by the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Scientific and Practical Center for Biological Resources, V.F.Kuprevich Institute of Experimental Botany, Central Botanical Garden and the Institute of Forestry. Some of the main themes that this conference will assess are 1. Diversity and current state of flora and fauna, 2. Natural resources – flora and fauna, 3. Plant and animal introduction and Ac-

climatisation problems, 4. Current approaches and technologies of sustainable management of MEMBERSHIP CORNER biological resources.

For more information, please contact [email protected] (reports on fauna) or konf.bota- [email protected] (reports on flora).

28 Guidelines for contributing to the IUCN SEE e-bulletin

IUCN welcomes articles in which you report on the activities related to transboundary cooperation in protected areas and biodiversity conservation. Please inform the public on the status of your projects and actions, as well as events that you attended. You are welcome to announce new meetings and workshops and briefly report on new publications and announce funding opportunities. Please send a photo to accompany your article if appropriate and indicate your email and/or weblink for further reference.

The articles should be 150-250 words in length. Please note this as the interest to distribute news articles through the bulletin is extremely high and we are trying to secure space for all of you to contribute. You are responsible for any content that you post or transmit. The editors reserve the right to short- en and modify the text if necessary.

Thanks for taking these guidelines into consideration!

All contributions should be sent to Aleksandra Nesic, [email protected].

ROfE‘s Structure

Regional Office for Pan-Europe (ROfE) is a Regional Office of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). Along with offices and commissions around the world, it links back to the President, Director General and Council of IUCN. For IUCN a history of IUCN and an explanation of the global structure please visit www.iucn.org. Programme Office for South-Eastern Europe ROfE is comprised of four IUCN offices located in Brussels, Belgrade, Tbilisi and Moscow. The head office in Brussels, is Dr. Ivana Ribara 91 a meeting point where the Programme Office for the South- 11070 Belgrade ern Caucasus, The IUCN Programme Office for the Com- Serbia monwealth of Independent States in Moscow and the IUCN Tel: +381 11 2272-411 Programme Office for South-Eastern Europe in Belgrade Fax: +381 11 2272-531 can disseminate information and strategies. Together as Email: [email protected] ROfE we strive to meet our goals for a sustainable Europe www.iucn.org/southeasterneurope by utilizing local expertise and the strength of the global IUCN network. Edited by IUCN SEE

The IUCN SEE Bulletin contains third party articles. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of IUCN and the responsibility of the content of the published articles is held by the authors.

Whilst the IUCN Programme Office for South-Eastern Europe has used reasonable endeavours to ensure that the information provided in the newsletter is accurate, it reserves the right to make corrections and does not warrant that it is accurate or complete. The IUCN Programme Office for South-Eastern Europe accepts no liability for any errors, misprints or omissions herein (whether negligent or otherwise). The designation of geographical entities in this newsletter, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IUCN concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the definition of its frontiers or boundaries.

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Published by: IUCN Programme Office for South-Eastern Europe, Belgrade