This year's International Conference of Parks of Dinarides will focus on the development of protected areas through the active involvement of local communities into the processes of management of biodiversity preservation, education, tourism, and more. In addition, the conference is an opportunity for members of our network to hear more about European funds as one of the most important instruments for co-financing projects for improvement of protected areas and participate in planning further development of network and joint regional initiatives as well, announced the organizers.
During the Conference, a session of the IV General Assembly of the Park will be held. The Network members will have a chance to be acquainted in detail with implemented activities and participate in the preparation of new Strategic Plan of Work for the period 2019-2021.
The Parks of Dinarides network consists of 90 protected areas from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia. The Parks of Dinarides members are also natural persons, nature lovers and friends of the network since its establishment. The official association "Parks of Dinarides – network of protected areas of Dinarides" was established at the end of 2014 in Podgorica where the seat of the network resides.
The initiative to form a regional alliance of protected areas in the territory of the Dinaric Arc countries is one of the results arising from the project "Dinaric Arc Parks", implemented by WWF. Also, in December 2013, the countries of the Dinaric Arc signed an agreement called the Big Win II, in Budva, which is a continuation of the previous Big Win agreement that was reached in 2008, at the ninth CBD Conference in Bonn (Germany). By the official adoption of the document in Budva on 2 December 2013, the country's signatories and their relevant ministries committed themselves to working together to strengthen the planning process in the protection of nature, and on valorization of the economic value of their natural resources, and based on these values, work to strengthen models for sustainable financing of protected areas in the region and joint work on the overall improvement of protected areas in the Dinaric Arc region. This document was signed, with the mediation of the WWF and IUCN, by ministers and representatives of ministries in charge of the area of the environment of the following countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Slovenia, and Serbia.
Source: parksdinarides.org
