Foreword This report provides an assessment of biodiv ersity and socio-economic features of the Durmitor/Tara/Prokletije landscape and its surrounding area, as a basis for development of the Conservation Action Plan (CAP) and for sustainable development. A joint project team from NGO Green Home, Podgorica, Montenegro, and World Wide Fund for Nature Mediterranean Programme (WWF MedPO) coordinated the development of this report. We w ould like to thank the project sponsor Margarethe und Rudolf Gsell Foundation. The project team hopes that this report w ill be a base for future cooperation with numerous stakeholders in the Northern Montenegro Green Belt area in achiev ing biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. Northern Montenegro Green Belt Team - 2006 Acknowledgements: This report is a result of cooperativ e work of project partners and consultants. We would like to thank the WWF MedPO staff for providing support through the whole process of the report dev elopment, especially to Marco Pagliani, Cristoph Stein and Francesca Antonelli. Thanks to our consultants for CAP Pedro Regato and Serena Arduino, and to Mileta Bojovic, our GIS consultant. We also thank USAID/CHF Department for providing Biodiversity maps of Montenegro, Maja Zitkovic for editing and revising the report, and Stev an Nelevic for the cover page design. The last, but not the least, w e would like to thank all the consultants who were engaged in development of the report, and who are mentioned below. Project team: WWF MedPO: Marco Pagliani, Pedro Regato, Serena Arduino, Cristoph Stein, Francesca Antonelli NGO Green Home: Natasa Durakovic, Darko Pajovic, Gorana Miskovic, Svjetlana Mujovic Consultants and Report Authors: Danilo Mrdak, Department of Biology, University of Podgorica – fish, high mountain lakes Danka Petrovic, Department of Biology, University of Podgorica – vascular plants Vladimir Pesic, Department of Biology, University of Podgorica – butterflies Biljana Gligorovic, NGO Green Home – agriculture Dejan Iv anovic, Organisation for protection, treating and hunting – big mammals Dragan Roganovic, The Republic Institute for the Nature Protection, Podgorica –- forests Branislav Peric, Mycological Society of Montenegro, Podgorica – fungi Jelena Perunicic, Centre for Entrepreneurship and Economical Development, Podgorica – socio-economic analyses Jelena Martinovic, NGO Green Home – stakeholder and development plans CONTENT List of abbreviations and acronyms CAP Conservation Action Plan CEESP Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy CEL Commission on Environmental Law CHF Community, Habitat and Finance CITES Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species EAP Ecoregional Action Plan ERC Ecoregional Conservation EU European Union FLU Functional Landscape Unit GB Green Belt GEF Global Environmental Facility GIS Geographic Information System GTZ German Technical Cooperation IBA Important Bird Area IUCN The World Conservation Union NGO Non-governmental organisation NMGB Northern Montenegro Green Belt NP National Park MAB Man and Biosphere Programme M&E Monitoring and evaluation OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development PPNDP Programme for the Protection ad Development of National Parks PPNP Physical Plan for National Parks PSR Pressure-State-Response ROSTE Regional Bureau for Science and Technology in Europe SNV Netherlands Development Organisation UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNESCO United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization USAID United States Agency for International Development WHS World Heritage Site WWF MedPO World Wide Fund for Nature Mediterranean Programme 1. Introduction 2. Project background 2.1. International background: The Global 200 2.1.1. The Global 200 map 2.1.2. WWF’s new strategic approach: Ecoregional Conservation 2.1.3. Adapting the strategy to the Mediterranean: The Mediterranean Ecoregions 2.1.4. Addressing the root causes of desertification: The Green Belt Programme 2.2. Regional background 3. Green Belt objectives 4. The Green Belt zone 4.1. The ecoregional context 4.2. Boundaries and natural units of the Green Belt zone 5. Green Belt socio-economic analysis 5.1. Introductory notes 5.2. Macro-economical settings in Montenegro 5.3. Development trends 5.3.2. Socio-demographic profile 5.3.3. Education level 5.3.4. National structure 5.4. Socio-economic profile 5.4.1. Forest exploitation 5.4.1.1. Timber production 5.4.1.2. Aromatic and medicinal plants 5.4.1.3. Bee-keeping 5.4.1.4. Hunting 5.4.1.5. Cattle breeding 5.4.2. Agriculture 5.4.3. Tourism 5.4.4. Mining industry 5.4.5. Handicrafts 5.4.6. Traffic 5.4.7. Water resource management 5.4.7.1. Rivers and lakes 5.4.7.2. Water supply 5.4.7.3. Sewage system and wastewater treatment 5.4.7.4. Hydro energy 5.4.7.5. Fishing 5.4.7.6. Bottling plants for drinking water 5.4.8. Waste disposal 6. Green Belt biodiversity analysis 6.1. Introductory notes 6.2. Biodiversity assessment methodology and criteria 6.2.1. Target species 6.2.2. Target habitats 6.2.3. Mapping and evaluation of biodiversity 6.3. Priority conservation targets 6.3.1. Target habitats 6.3.2. Target species 7. Priority Areas identification for Green Belt conservation 7.1. Biodiversity assessment results 7.2. Biodiversity scoring methodology 7.3. Priority areas identification 7.4. Priority areas and legal protection 7.5. Core zones 7.6. Ecological corridors 7.7. Transboundary issues 8. Green Belt threats assessment 8.1. Unsustainable use of natural resources by local people 8.2. Illegal hunting 8.3. Tourism pressure 8.4. Illegal construction 8.5. Air pollution 8.6. Threats emanating in the wider watershed of the Tara River basin 8.7. Waste 8.8. Soil 8.9. Forest 8.10. Species 9. Root causes of biodiversity loss 10. Strategic guidelines 10.1. Introduction 10.2. Strategic guidelines for the Green Belt Action Plan 11. A conceptual model for monitoring and evaluation 11.1. Introduction 11.2. Monitoring and evaluation of the ecoregional conservation 12. Stakeholders and opportunities 12.1. National and local public institutions 12.2. Legislation 12.3. Development plans by economic sectors 12.4. International organisations 13. Green Belt partners’ vision 13.1. Joint vision 13.2. Priority conservation landscapes in bio-geographical context ANNEXES 1. Introduction 1. Introduction The Durmitor Massif/Tara River/Prokletije Mountains is one of the most important landscapes in Montenegro in terms of its biological diversity. The significance of this area has been recognized globally, as well as at the national level by designation of protected area statuses. Durmitor National Park was declared as the UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) in 1980, while the larger area of Durmitor including the Tara Riv er Basin carries the designation of a Biosphere Reserve under the UNESCO Man and Biosphere Programme (MAB). The whole area has also been identified by the WWF's Forest Hot Spot Initiative as one of the 10 most important forest areas in the Mediterranean region. The landscape of Durmitor Massif/Tara River/Prokletije Mountains is part of the Dinaric Mountain range and spreads from western Montenegro to northern Albania. It is a land of mountains shaped by glaciers - the massif of Durmitor alone has 18 glacial lakes above 1,500m, and karstic phenomena, cut by deep and narrow rivers, including Europe’s longest (82 km) and deepest canyon (1,300 m) formed by the Tara River. With more than a hundred w aterfalls, springs and deep caves, the Tara River represents a natural treasure on a global scale. The region includes some of the best-preserv ed forests in south-eastern Europe. The Durmitor massif hosts one of the last virgin black pine forests in Europe - with trees 50m high and over 400 years old. Durmitor is also home to more than 1,500 plants - one third of the Montenegrin flora - many of which are rare and endemic. Further, the 255 endemic plant species of Prokletije Mountains makes this region outstanding at the European level. The whole region is a haven for large carnivores such as wolf, brown bear and lynx. Durmitor hosts 37 mammal and 163 bird species, while the presence of more than 200 bird species makes Prokletije one of the most significant ornithological areas in Europe. Moreover, the Prokletije is recognized as an Important Bird Area (IBA) at the global level. At the national lev el, this unique landscape includes several protected areas: • Durmitor National Park (32,100 ha) established in 1952; and • Biogradska Gora National Park (5,650 ha) established in 1952. The Tara River Basin in its entirety carries no designation as a protected area at the national lev el, except its outstanding canyon, the second largest canyon in the world after Colorado. The segment of the Tara canyon is included within the Durmitor National Park – meaning it is also part of the UNESCO WHS. The Biosphere Reserve includes larger Tara River Basin area with a surface of 1,823,000 ha. These globally recognized biodiversity values are subject to many threats, such as forest fires, hydro-electric power plants, excessive road construction, unsustainable tourism and ov erexploitation of natural resources (i.e. logging). Massive abandonment of pastures, agricultural lands and small villages in the mountains is in high progress since no income generating activities are motivating young generations to stay in this region. The land abandonment is resulting with the disappearance of traditional livestock grazing and cultiv ation of land. 1 - 1 1. Introduction Local environmental and development organisations and WWF MedPO have joined forces and reacted to this critical situation, setting up the Durmitor/Tara/Prokletije Green Belt (GB). The project The project “Conserving the Biological Diversity of South-western Balkans: Transboundary Nature Conservation in the Landscape of the Durmitor Massif/Tara River/Prokletije Mountains (Montenegro and Albania)”, implemented by WWF MedPO and its local partner, Green Home NGO, is part of a larger Mediterranean ecoregional conservation initiative, called “Addressing the Root Causes of Desertification: The Green Belt Programme”.