SELF-ASSESSMENT OF COUNTRY CAPACITY NEEDS FOR GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT CAPACITY SELF-ASSESSMENT WITHIN THE THEMATIC AREA OF BIODIVERSITY Prepared by Svetozar Petkovski, Ph.D., Museum Advisor – Macedonian Museum of Natural History, Skopje Vlado Matevski, Ph.D., Professor – Institute of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Skopje Ljupco Melovski, Ph.D., Professor – Institute of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Skopje Sreten Andonov, Ph.D., Professor – Faculty of Agriculture, Skopje Zoran Spirkovski, M.Sc., Scientific Collaborator – Institute of Hydrobiology, Ohrid SKOPJE, JANUARY, 2004 CAPACITY SELF ASSESSMENT WITHIN THE THEMATIC AREA 2 OF BIODIVERSITY IN REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA TABLE OF CONTENT Executive Summary 4 Section I. Introduction 10 A. General Aspects....................................................................................................... 10 B. Methodological Approach....................................................................................... 11 Section II. Country Framework 12 A. Natural Geographic Framework.............................................................................. 12 A.1. Location, borders, and land area ............................................................................ 12 A.2. Physical geography and climate............................................................................. 12 A.2.1. Topography and relief ..................................................................................... 12 A.2.2. Surface hydrology ........................................................................................... 13 A.2.3. Climate ............................................................................................................ 14 A.2.4. Soils................................................................................................................. 14 B. Socio-economic Framework ................................................................................... 15 B.1. Population............................................................................................................... 15 B.2. Human settlements ................................................................................................. 15 B.3. Social and economic situation................................................................................ 16 B.4. Land use ................................................................................................................. 16 C. Economic Framework ............................................................................................. 17 C.1. Agriculture.............................................................................................................. 17 C.2. Forestry...................................................................................................................18 C.3. Fisheries..................................................................................................................18 C.4. Industry...................................................................................................................19 C.5. Construction ........................................................................................................... 20 C.6. Mining .................................................................................................................... 20 C.7. Energy .................................................................................................................... 20 C.8. Transport ................................................................................................................ 21 Section III. Status of Biodiversity 22 A. Flora ........................................................................................................................ 22 A.1. Species diversity..................................................................................................... 22 A.2. Endemic species ..................................................................................................... 22 A.3. Habitats and Vegetation ......................................................................................... 22 A.4. Threatened species ................................................................................................. 24 A.5. Threatened habitats ................................................................................................ 24 B. Fauna....................................................................................................................... 26 B.1. Species diversity..................................................................................................... 26 B.2. Endemic species ..................................................................................................... 26 B.3. Threatened species.................................................................................................. 26 C. Agrobiodiversity...................................................................................................... 27 D. Threats to Biodiversity............................................................................................ 27 D.1. Underlying causes of biodiversity loss................................................................... 27 D.2. Analysis of economic sectors................................................................................. 28 D.3. Basic causes for biodiversity loss........................................................................... 28 D.4. Direct causes of biodiversity loss........................................................................... 29 D.5. Other factors........................................................................................................... 30 Section IV. Status of Biodiversity Conservation 31 A. Protected Areas ....................................................................................................... 31 A.1. National Park Management.................................................................................... 31 A.2. Management of Natural Lakes ............................................................................... 32 A.2.1. Lake Ohrid ...................................................................................................... 32 A.2.2. Lake Prespa ..................................................................................................... 34 UNDP, Skopje, 2004 CAPACITY SELF ASSESSMENT WITHIN THE THEMATIC AREA 3 OF BIODIVERSITY IN REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA A.2.3. Lake Dojran..................................................................................................... 35 A.2.4. Measures for protection of the three natural lakes in Macedonia ................... 35 A.3 Management of other protected areas ..................................................................... 36 B. Management Outside Protected Areas .......................................................................... 36 B.1 General Measures .................................................................................................... 36 B.2 Agriculture Management......................................................................................... 36 B.3 Forest Management ................................................................................................. 38 B.4 Fisheries Management............................................................................................. 39 B.5 Hunting Management .............................................................................................. 41 B.5.1. Hunting Grounds and Concessions ................................................................. 41 B.6 In-Situ Conservation................................................................................................ 42 B.7 Ex-Situ Conservation .............................................................................................. 42 Section V. Strategy and Policy Framework 44 A. Policy Framework ................................................................................................... 44 B. Legislation Framework ........................................................................................... 44 B.1. Laws .......................................................................................................................44 B.2. International Conventions and Agreements ........................................................... 47 C. Institutional Framework .......................................................................................... 48 C.1. Government of Macedonia..................................................................................... 49 C.2. Other Institutions.................................................................................................... 50 Section VI. National Priority Issues 52 A. Assessing National Priority Issues .......................................................................... 54 Section VII. Capacity Constraints for National Priority Issues 56 A. Assessing Capacity Constraints at the Systemic Level ........................................... 56 B. Assessing Capacity Constraints At The Institutional Level.................................... 61 C. Assessing Capacity Constraints At The Individual Level....................................... 66 D. Overall Constraints Assessment.............................................................................. 72 E. Capacity Constraints Matrix...................................................................................