IUCN South-Eastern European e-Bulletin

Issue 10 • October 2006

Editorial

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the 10th issue of the IUCN South-Eastern European e-Bulletin. While we are as always presenting many new activities and projects implemented in the region, as well as updates on some topics we introduced in the recent issues, we also have a few announcements to make on our own behalf in this issue, not always happy ones.

This summer brought us a lot of changes, not least in personnel, but also the sad and sudden loss of David Reeder - a friend and colleague in many of the SEE Projects in nature conservation.

The news and events cover a broad variety of themes and topics - as always. Many thanks to all of you who have contri-buted with articles and pictures. The guidelines for submitting articles for the IUCN SEE e-bulletin can be found on the last page of this issue.

With best wishes,

IUCN Programme Office for South-Eastern Europe

Programme Office for South Eastern Europe

David Reader - In memoriam

David Reeder, Senior Technical Advisor for the WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme, passed away on September 15 at the age of 61 after a brief and unexpected illness.

David joined WWF in 2001, thereupon he became well known and acknow-ledged amongst numerous environmental NGOs in South-Eastern Europe. Being involved in various projects and on-ground activities, he dealt with freshwater conservation, floodplain management, ecotourism and sustai-nable local development.

Establishing the Drava League, a network of NGOs aimed at protecting the Drava River, as well as promoting sustainable management in the trans-boundary Middle Danube Floodplains, were two of his affairs of the heart.

His great ability to listen closely and to give advice at the same time enab-led him to build bridges between conservation objectives and the people‘s needs.

It was a great pleasure working with him, being honored to share the same ideas and visions how to contribute to the people‘s live.

Gabriel Simcic - End of Internship

Gabriel Simcic joined the IUCN Programme Office for South Eastern Europe on the 1st of May 2006 to complete a five months internship Which now comes to its end. This internship was offered him some valuable professional experience and provided IUCN with an additional helping hand.

Gabriel has undertaken a wide range of tasks, among which the most interesting ones included: representing IUCN at an intergovernmental consultation; carrying out research work on Transboundary Protected Areas in South Eastern Europe; working on IUCN’s strengthening of regional membership; and assisting in the preparation of a project proposal concerning sustainable rural development in Vojvodina (Serbia). He was also involved in many day to day office activities (administra-tion, logistics support for preparing events etc.) ensuring that he was never out of work (one of the advantages of doing an internship with a small working team).

Gabriel also had the chance to visit a number of regional sites within the frame of IUCN’s field projects implementation, and will remember this as a very pleasant aspect of working for a projects-driven office.

At the personal level, Gabriel learned about the structure and the functioning of a large network organisation; he also gained insight on integrated biodiversity conservation and contextual awareness of South Eastern Europe regarding natural and cultural assets, as well as on the regional challenges for nature conservation. He could also gain some knowledge of project design, project implementation and fundraising while learning about the challenges of making partnerships work in nature conservation.

Gabriel was the first intern at IUCN’s SEE office and the positive outcome of this experience is likely to encourage the office to welcome other interns in the future. For his future we wish him all the best.

Maja Zitkovic and Tamara Kutonova

Tamara Kutonova finished her contract with the IUCN Programme Office for South Eastern Europe in June this year and decided to move to her home country of Ukraine. One of her last projects was the research and compilation of the ECONET database and website.

Maja Zitkovic decided to move to Zagreb due to personal plans after working for the IUCN SEE Office for 2,5 years. She had joined the office coming from headquarters, and she contributed most of all to capacity building project coordination and project development.

For both we wish all the best in their personal and professional life!

IUCN SEE Office recently announced a vacancy for the position of a Project Manager. the application process is now closed and the selection procedure is currently ongoing.

Content

NEWS1 Training Courses for the Mediterranean2 The Green Pack3 ANTIKYTHIRA Bird Observatory4 The Romanian Ornithological Society (SOR) 5 DESIRE to stop desertification6 Endemic fish and conservation in the Transboundary Prespa Park7 Improving understanding between nations through management of shared natural resources8 Protecting Wetlands in SEE Danube Waters9 Balkan Peace Park Project10 Bodrum Türkbükü Conservation Project11 Quebec-Labrador Foundation (QLF) Atlantic Center for the Environment

EVENTS1 International Graduate School of Conservation Biology 2 Trainees for Nature – the NatuRegio project 3 Ever more Junior Rangers in action for the sake of Europe’s protected areas 4 Good cooperation on research camps5 Continued efforts to support conservation and ecotourism 6 Little Tern Festival on River Drava7 European Bat Night in Croatia8 Success in the Experimental Territorial Lab! 9 Second Preparatory meeting for the COP1 to the Carpathian Convention10 Bulgarian Foundation Annual Award11 3rd Meeting of Regional Theme Group on Transboundary Protected Areas12 Car Free Day13 IUCN pan-European Members meet in Barcelona 14 Balancing regional planning and ecological networks15 International Training for MAB Biosphere Reserve Stakeholder in SEE

FUNDING1 Call for Projects: Support to Civil Society in Montenegro2 Call for Projects: Economic Support for Tourism and SMES in Bosnia and Herzegovina3 Melina Mercouri International Prize for Safeguarding and Management of Cultural Landscapes

PUBLICATIONS1 IUCN Species Programme and IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation2 Towards European Biodiversity Monitoring3 Economic Instruments in Biodiversity-related Multilateral Environmental Agreements4 The Green Buck5 Leaflet for Awareness of Shkodra Basin6 Final Report of the Workshop on High Nature Value Farming in the Western Balkans

1 Training Courses for the Mediterranean

A two-year cooperation agreement was signed on 12 May 2006 with the support of the Consejeria de Medio Ambiente (Junta de Andalucia - regional government) between the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation and the International Univer-sity of Andalucia to organise specialised training courses of relevance to the Mediterranean region.

The first one-week course is scheduled to take place in Malaga (Parque Tecnológico de Andalucía) during the last three months of 2006, co-ordinated by IUCN-Med and Consejería de Medio Ambiente, under the title of “The Management of Mediterranean Protected Areas from IUCN’s perspective”. The course is aimed at environmental science graduates and pro-tected area managers from the Mediterranean region.

For more information, contact Andrés Alcántara at andres.alcantara@iucn.org

2 The Green Pack

Albania: Starting in the academic year 2006-2007, Albania will intro-duce Environmental Education into the formal education system. REC produced the Green Pack - a multi-medium environmental education curriculum kit. It includes a variety of educational materials such as a teacher’s handbook, fact sheets for students, video-clips and edu-cational films, an interactive CD-ROM with extensive information on various environmental topics and a dilemma game.

The Green Pack emphasises the formation of new values in students setting new models for behaviour at school, at home and in society rather than simply accumulating information on particular environ-mental areas. The Green Pack includes 22 topics related to environ-ment protection, divided into five chapters. One of the most important issues is biodiversity - this topic covering more than 30 percent of the kit. In the teacher handbook you can find more than 10 lessons dedi-cated to nature conservation such as: “Need for nature”, “Biodiversity on river”, “Nature monuments of Albania” etc. The main message of these lessons is that we borrowed the nature from future generations, so we must to handle the planet earth with care. In that context, green messages can be distributed from students to their families and from there to the society.

The development of the Albanian Green Pack was made possible by the cooperation and good will of many individuals and organisations. Training of guides will be organized for more than 100 teachers that will be followed by other trainings in dif-ferent regions of Albania. Thanks to the generosity of the Dutch government, thousands of teachers, educators and environ-mentalists in Albania will this year receive the Green Pack free of charge. For more information please contact Daniela Tola, Program Manager for Environmental Education daniela@albania.rec.org or the REC Albania website http://albania.rec.org.

3 ANTIKYTHIRA Bird Observatory

Greece: In 2003 the Hellenic Ornithological Society, Partner of BirdLife International in Greece, established a Bird Observato-ry on the small Island of Antikythira, situated between the Peloponnese and Crete, in the Eastern Mediterranean. The island is characterised by a flow of migratory birds in spring and autumn, it lies on a major migration route of raptors and it hosts one of the largest colonies of Eleonora’s Falcon in the world. The focus of this observatory is to study the migration of smaller birds by mist-netting and ringing, to monitor the raptor migration, to train ringers and to study and safeguard the falcon colony.

One of the main activities is the realization of a ringing scheme every autumn and spring. Between spring 2003 and spring 2006, a total of 158 days of ringing were realized, resulting in 9393 ringed birds from 76 different species. Another important activity is the monitoring of the raptor migration. 29 species were recorded and the main species are Circus aeruginosus, Circus cyaneus, Circus py-gargus, Circus macrourus, Hieraaetus pennatus, Buteo buteo vulpi-nus, Falco vespertinus, Milvus migrans, Pernis apivorus and Accipiter brevipes. Results of monitoring Eleonora’s falcon colony - 1040 indi-viduals counted in 2004, 1410 in 2005 - show that this colony is one of the most important in the world.

To realize these activities, the Hellenic Ornithological society relies on the work of volunteers. Information about the project and the volunteer work is available on http://www.ornithologiki.gr/en/hos/envol.htm or from Marilia Kalouli, Project Coordinator, mkalouli@ornithologiki.gr.

News

5 DESIRE to stop desertification

Turkey: The TEMA Foundation (Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion, for Reforestation and the Protection of Natu-ral Habitats) has started a two year project called Drylands Environmental Sustainability Integrated Research Areas (DESIRE) supported by Mitsui corp. in September 2006. DESIRE aims to contribute to the improvement of livelihoods in arid ecosys-tem, which are fragile to population increase and unsustainable landuse.

The project site, Karapınar, is in the extremely arid part of Central Turkey which was prone to wind erosion in the 60s after a long period of overgrazing. Since 1962 the Ministry of Agriculture has run a successful programme to combat desertification - however, scientific outcomes such as those in respect to soil improvement are not yet documented. During the DESIRE project, field surveys will be conducted to measure the total amount of carbon sequestration in the last 40 years. The impacts on the endemic plant and local bird populations will also be monitored. The findings will be applied in 2 neighboring villages through introduction of rain-fed crop and fodder production, and pasture rehabilitation activities will be undertaken with the participation of local people.

The successful outcomes of DESIRE will be disseminated worldwide, in order to be used in similar arid ecosystem areas, eg. the issue of how sustainable land management can help prevent desertification and also help sequester carbon against global warming. The results will be shared with stakeholders on a workshop in Turkey. The workshop proceedings, the data, the lessons learnt and the methods articulated will be communicated through the DESIRE website. For more information please contact: sureyya@tema.org.tr.

4 The Romanian Ornithological Society (SOR)

Romania: Before accession to the EU, the first priority for nature conservation in Romania was to complete the identification and de-signation of Natura 2000 sites. Together with other NGOs, the SOR assisted the Romanian government in SPA designation. About 138 sites were identified, covering about 17 % of the national territory. In summer 2006 data was still collected with the significant help of volunteers. It is expected that most of the sites submitted by NGOs will be designated as SPAs before the end of the year.

Regarding threatened species, SOR is currently working in partner-ship with two LIFE Natura projects with the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Authority and the National Water Authority. The first project covers the entire area of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, aiming to improve nesting conditions for the Dalmatian pelican (Pelecanus crispus) on five locations. Studies have been carried out for the evaluation of the mortality of birds outside the breeding period and for the displacement effectuated by these indi-viduals through satellite transmitters. A training course for fish farmers and hunters will be held in October. For the second project which aims to improve the wintering conditions for one of the rarest goose species in the world, the Red-breasted Goose (Branta ruficollis), SOR completed and submitted the documents and managed to have Lake Techirghiol designated as a Ramsar site. Recently, two barriers were built to restrict access on the main dam of the lake and to reduce disturbance in the area. For further information please contact Alida Barbu, Communication Officer, alida.barbu@sor.ro.

6 Endemic fish and conservation in the Transboundary Prespa Park

Prespa Lake: According to the recent IUCN report on “The Status and Distribution of Freshwater Fish Endemic to the Medi-terranean Basin”, the Prespa catchment basin, shared by Greece, Albania and the FYR of Macedonia is among the ten most important areas of the Mediterranean; with 8 endemic fish species out of the 11 autochthonous ones. Unfortunately, this high score in endemism coincides with a high score in threat status. With one exception, all endemic fish species of Prespa are within the categories of “Endangered” and “Vulnerable”, requiring immediate action for their conservation.

The endangered endemic trout species “Salmo peristericus”, one of the oldest trout species in the Mediterranean, has long occupied a priority position on the conservation actions of the So-ciety for the Protection of Prespa (SPP), a local Greek NGO. Re-search, previously focused on Aghios Germanos stream in Greece, has now expanded to the FYR of Macedonia, in an attempt to tackle the threats faced by species in the entire catchment basin and to strengthen the transboundary cooperation on conservation actions. Sampling for 2006 was carried out last August. The pro-ject is jointly run by SPP, Tour du Valat Biological Station (France) and BIOECO - Skopje (FYR of Macedonia). The outcome of this cooperation will be a Species Action Plan for both countries, pro-viding a basis for joint conservation action. The project objectives are also supported by small scale public awareness activities on the local level. More information is available from Irene Koutseri, Project Coordinator, SPP, i.koutseri@spp.gr

9 Balkan Peace Park Project (BPPP)

One of the most beautiful and untouched areas of mountain wilderness in Europe is the contiguous range on the borders of Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro. In June a conference in Podgorica, sponsored by the UN Environment Programme and the Austrian Development Cooperation „Enhancing Transboundary Biodiversity Management in South Eastern Europe“, brought together our working partners from the three re-gions, which increased coordination among local organizations and NGOs, thus supporting the BPPP. Later in June, further work was carried out on the Shala Valley Project within the BPPP, including the administering of questionnaires to ascertain local needs in order to further sustai-nable living in remote valleys.

Two short treks were undertaken to investigate cultural sites, including a KULLA (tower traditio-nally used as a refuge for those in bloodfeud), and the state of footbridges (with a view to helping in reconstruc-tion). Further activity will be generated from the BPPP Annual General Meeting in London on 30th September. Please see our recently updated website www.balkanspeacepark.org.

Postcards are available of the „borders“ view, contact: a.t.i.young@bradford.ac.uk.

7 Improving understanding between nations through management of shared natural resources

ENVSEC is an initiative of six organizations – UNEP, UNDP, OSCE, NATO, UNECE and the REC. It is aimed at providing a framework for dealing with environmental issues across borders and promoting peace and stability through environmental cooperation and sustainable development. Apart from South Eastern Europe the initiative focuses on Central Asia, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe. The UNEP office in Vienna covers the SEE region within the Environment and Security Initiative.

Biodiversity loss was recognized as posing a security risk in the SEE region. Based on this understanding, ENVSEC designed the programme “Enhancing Transboundary Biodiversity Management in South Eastern Europe”, which is currently being implemented with the funding of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA). A first step was the rapid assessment of manage-ment problems experienced by the administrative bodies responsible for protected areas in a transboundary context with a focus on mountain ecosystems situated in border areas. In order to share and discuss the results of the assessment, UNEP organised a workshop on the subject in Podgorica, Montenegro, June 13-14, 2006. The principal goal of the workshop was to further design the ENVSEC programme for capacity building in transboundary management of mountain biodiversity.

The participants - 39 representatives of SEE countries (Ministries of Environment, Institutes for Nature Protection and indi-vidual experts) and international organisations - have identified eight priority mountain areas where possibilities for trans-boundary biodiversity protection exist. These are: Sharr/Sara Mountains and Korabi (Serbia (Kosovo)/Albania/Macedonia), Bjeshket e Nemuna/Prokletije Mountains (Albania/Serbia (Kosovo)/Montenegro), Orjen – Snjeznica (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Croatia/Montenegro), Vlahina – Malesevska – Belasica (Macedonia/Greece/Bulgaria), Sutjeska – Durmitor – Tara river valley (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Montenegro), West Stara Planina (Serbia/Bulgaria), Tara Planina – Drina (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Serbia), Osogovsky Planine/Ossogovo (Macedonia/Bulgaria).

For further information contact Jelena Beronja at jelena.beronja@unvienna.org, Project Manager for SEE, ENVSEC Regional Desk Officer, UNEP Vienna, Austria.

8 Protecting Wetlands in SEE Danube Waters

Wetlands throughout the Danube River Basin, including areas in South Eastern Europe, are getting significant help from the UNDP-GEF Danube Regional Project (DRP). A key goal is to target Danube water managers to better incorporate wetland conservation into their river basin planning, especially to help them fulfill the EU Water Framework Directive. Wetlands have numerous functions including pollution reduction and habitat provision.

Partners include Danube NGOs, especially those in the Danube Environment Forum (DEF) with 170 NGO members, scientific experts and the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River.

One DRP activity is testing the ability of wetlands to absorb nutrient pollution. Information outputs will present literature, pro-jects and case studies on the subject, as well as promotional materials and a Guide Book for water managers. Additionally, NGO wetland-related projects are receiving financial support throughout the basin. Also, the DRP supports the activities of four DEF NGOs as part of the DEF international campaign to protect Danube wetlands.

DRP and DEF activities were launched World Wetland Day 2006 with prominent coverage on the Ramsar Convention website. Results will be presented on World Wetland Day 2007. For more information, please contact Paul Csagoly, Communications Specialist, UNDP-GEF DRP, Paul.csagoly@unvienna.org, www.undp-drp.org.

Tom Nicholson

10 Bodrum Türkbükü Conservation Project

Bodrum is a peninsula located in the southwest corner of Turkey by the Aegean Sea. The area is very rich in biodiversity, but it is also one of the most popular holiday destinations. The number of summerhouses and the demand on them keeps rising each year in the peninsula. Due to these developments, the natural habitats are extremely vulnerable.

After a fire in 2001 had burned the forests in the area, TEMA Foundation started the Bodrum Türkbükü project to consecu-tively restore and to conserve the plant species. As the project started, TEMA Botanists worked in an area of 130 hectares and they detected 155 plant species such as 5 East Mediterranean endemics (Campanula lyrata, Myosotis ramosissimum, Picris olimpica, Poa Bulbosa, Quercus aucheri) and the restricted range Verbascum lydium. Distribution maps of all plant species were then produced. Afterwards the area was surrounded by a fence and a guard was employed.

The reforestation activities have been undertaken for six years and grazing in the whole area was therefore prohibited. Alt-hough six years isn’t a long period, the non-woody plants have successfully recovered in the whole area and the bulbous plants have extended their occupancy areas. Additional plant species have also recovered from the seeds in the soil, as 174 plant species are identified in the monitoring surveys in 2006. The red pine Pinus brutia forests and maquis are restored in their former locations. Contact: mehmet.bal@tema.org.tr

11 Quebec-Labrador Foundation (QLF) Atlantic Center for the Environment

Quebec-Labrador Foundation (QLF) Atlantic Center for the Environment is working in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, and has been focusing on Central and Eastern Europe since early 1989.

The QLF main goal is to: • Support the rural communities and the environment of eastern Canada and nort-hern New England, and • Create models for stewardship of natural resources and cultural heritage that can be applied worldwide.

Conservation professionals from across Europe have participated in an annual, month-long fellowship program on land conservation and stewardship.

In July-August 2006, fellows from Central and South-Eastern Europe attended a fellowship in New England, USA, organized by QLF.

Keyword of the fellowship was stewardship, defined as „efforts to create, nurture and enable responsibility in landowners and resource users to manage and protect land and natural resources.“ Originating from Presbyterian Protestantism, a religion that has been one of the foundation of work and life ethics of the inhabitants of the earliest English colonies on Eastern Coast of the United States, stewardship de-notes the communities’ assumption of responsibility for their resources. There are many commonalities between stewardship and sustainable development, but also at least one major difference: the notion that even without developing and changing an area, it still has to be managed in a way that best protects its natural, cultural and human resources.

New England is a region of extreme diversity, encompassing habitats from Atlantic coastal wetlands to high mountainous coniferous and oak forests. Population di-versity is also marked, with northern rural areas inhabited almost exclusively by the traditional white Anglo-Saxon Protestant population suddenly exploding into areas of utmost racial, cultural, ethnic and religious diversity on the fringes of New York City suburban belt.

Stewardship indeed permeates community life in New England, allowing for the preservation of habitats, culture and traditional values are preserved with caring dedication of many volunteers and professionals. There is a marked difference in income levels between noticeably prosperous seaboard cities and their much high-er than average income levels stemming from high-end industries (services, higher education, banking and consulting) and the hinterland where many counties are on the lowest-income end. However, the idea of joint responsibility as one of the pillars of stewardship assures that substantial funds, efforts and know-how are di-rected into the protection of traditional farming, fishing and logging methods that help preserve natural and cultural diversity of the region without creating an obvious boundary between development and conservation areas. The fellowship provided a most useful insight into this valuable concept and is strongly recommended to par-ticipate. More information available from: Duska Dimovic duska@natureprotection.org.yu and http://www.qlf.org.

Events

1 International Graduate School of Conservation Biology

Rovinj, Croatia, 21-29 June 2006: In order to continually promote education and capacity building in the field of scientifically sound biodiversity conservation, the Croatian Biological Society organises an annual international graduate School of Conservation Biology (SCB) since 2005. The goal is to introduce MSc and PhD students to the scientific discipline of conservation biology, through an intensive 7-day course held in the historic city of Rovinj and hosted by the Centre for Marine Research, “Ruðer Bošković” Institute. The course is followed by a 2-day field course to the islands of Cres and Lošinj.

The english language lessons are given by an international team of lecturers and guest speakers from Europe and USA, lead by Prof. Dr. Selina Heppell (Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, and adjunct faculty at Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, USA). Each day is supplemented with modules in the computer labs, discussions and problem solving exercises, student projects and a special evening lecture. The two best applicants are awarded a grant to cover the tuition costs. Students receive a certificate and 7 ECTS credits towards their university degree.

Detailed information on SCB program, instructors, course and lab topics, including on-line registration, may be found at SCB web www.hbd1885.hr/scb. Please, note that the registration deadline for 2007 is the 1st February. For additional information please contact Bojan Lazar, president of SCB Organizing Committee, Department of Zoology, Croatian Natural History Museum; phone: + 385 1 4851700; fax: +385 1 4851644; e-mail: bojan.lazar@hpm.hr.

2 Trainees for Nature – the NatuRegio project

Germany, 17July-17 September 2006: Two months of an exciting stay in Germany now lie behind the ten Romanian and Bulgarian participants of the trainee programme “NatuRegio – Nature Conservation and Regional Development in south-east Europe” - a project developed and run by the Alfred Toepfer Academy (D) in partnership with the EUROPARC Federation. Funding comes from the Alfred Toepfer Foundation F.V.S. and the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU).

Participating organisations include the Berchtesgaden and Sächsische Schweiz National Parks, the NABU Waterfowl Reserve Wallnau and the Saar-Hunsrück Nature Reserve. A second training period is planned from 15 October to 15 December. During these periods the trainees will gain practical experiences in protected area management and develop a project idea to implement in their home countries after completion of the programme.

The trainees also participated in two seminars in Schneverdingen and Siggen (D) on technical language and project management, to examine the topics of conflict mediation, sustainable tourism and methods in environmental education. Two further seminars and two workshops are scheduled. These will focus on nature conservation and regional development in the European Union and South Eastern Europe as well as on the projects the trainees are expected to develop. The EUROPARC Federation will organise one seminar and one workshop, to be held from 9 – 14 October 2006 in Brasov, Romania, and from 5 – 10 March 2007 in Bulgaria. For further information on the project please view www.naturegio-bg-ro.de.

3 Ever more Junior Rangers in action for the sake of Europe’s protected areas

Tara National Park, Serbia, 26 July-27 August 2006: The Tara National Park in Serbia organised a junior ranger camp for the first time this year. 65 children aged between 8 and 15 participated in the one week programme which drew children not only from the local community but also from other parts of Serbia including Belgrade and Trstenik. Several groups went through a one week programme learning about the cultural and natural values of the park, rangers’ responsibilities and tasks, and the importance of nature conservation and protected areas.

Tatra National Park, Slovakia, 21 August-25 August 2006: The Tatra National Park organised its second junior ranger camp with the aim of creating a network of young people who will actively contribute to nature protection work in their park. One highlighted aspects was international cooperation. Junior rangers learnt more about international cooperation with the Polish Tatra National Park and Biosphere Reserve from where young rangers came to join the event.

For further information on the EUROPARC Junior Ranger programme please contact Claudia Klampfl on c.klampfl@europarc.org or view www.europarc.org.

4 Good cooperation on research camps

Novi Sad, 31 July-06 August 2006: A research camp was organised by the members of the Biology Student Science Research Society (BSSRS) „Josif Pancic” from the Faculty of sciences in Novi Sad, in cooperation with the Scouts‘ Ecology Movement from Sremska Mitrovica and the manager of the Special Nature Reserve Zasavica. 15 activists attended the camp and worked within several sections (botanical, mycolo-gical, herpetological, ornithological, terriological, fotographic ...). Similar camps were also organised during 2003 and 2004, with the goal to further explore and present natural resources of this unique diamond of Macva.

During the research, a large collection of information and materials was gathered, which will now be processed and published. Besides field research, the members of „Josif Pancic” society were also ringing birds and making bird-boxes for cavity-nes-ting birds (owls, song birds). The campaign was well covered by local media.

An exceptional cooperation was established with the reserve manager, and ano-ther camp will be held in September this year focusing on bird ringing during the autumn migration. More information from Milan Ružić, Board member of BSSRS „Josif Pancic”, email: milruzic@yahoo.com. Foto: Katarina Paunovi

5 Continued efforts to support conservation and ecotourism

Gornje Podunavlje, 05 August-20 August 2006: In order to approach and integrate nature conservation needs and ecotourism in the Gornje Podunav-lje Special Nature Reserve, WWF has supported the International Working Camp, which took place from 5 to 20 August under the organisation of the Volunteer’s Centre of Vojvodina. The camp was aimed at habitat restoration - 4 ha of valuable and endangered alkaline meadows were cleaned up from the invasive bushes by cutting and removing them from the meadows.

19 volunteers that participated in the camp were engaged in helping the protected area‘s authority to arrange the first educational walking trail in the reserve. The walking trail was set up in Strbac, an area situated between Backi Monostor and Bezdan village, and it was designed to connect and present the major habitats in this area. The trail is equipped with an ob-servation tower and several information signs providing basic information about the habitats and the species in the area.

At the same time, WWF, IUCN and VCV have supported Backi Monostor local community in organizing the Bodrog fest, local festival of food, heritage and handicrafts, held on August 12. One of the main events was the official opening of an informa-tion board in the village centre entitled “Backi Monostor - the gate of Gornje Podunavlje”, performed by Mr. David Reeder, WWF DCP and Mr. Jovan Slavkovic, the Mayor of Sombor Municipality. It may be mentioned, that one of the most frequently visited stands at the festival was the „Green Belt Stand“, a joint effort of WWF, IUCN and the VCV. More information: Marko Tucakov mtucakov@eunet.yu and Boris Erg boris.erg@iucn.org.

6 Little Tern Festival on River Drava

Koprivnica, 19 August 2006: For the second time the Little Tern Festival was or-ganised on the 19th of August 2006. Again, it was organized in partnership with the Ecological society Koprivnica and the Municipality of Molve. It is a part of “Save the Drava” international campaign of Drava League, WWF Austria, Euronatur, DOPPS, Drava Federation and Green Action. The campaign is against river deterioration by sediment extraction and river canalisation.

The Festival started at Town Koprivnica with a bicycle tour to Molve near River Drava, where the official opening and short presentations about the little tern in Croatia and Drava took place, as well as a presentation of the campaign. An idea brought up was to open little tern villages, similar to the activities carried out for white storks. The unofficial part of the festival took place at Seline, in the friendly athmosphere of the Drava riverbank. The little tern was chosen for a mascot, because its life depends on the gravel banks of dynamic and alive rivers - only few pairs nest on the Drava today.

The Drava is still threatened by current water management practices and policies, but natural and ecological values are recognized and the area is now listed in Croatian

National Ecological Network in order to be proposed for Natura 2000. There is a plan to protect it as a Regional Park, and on international level, as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Calls for immediate action and a change of attitude is needed, to keep this bird nesting on River Drava. For more information please contact Irma Popovic, Green Action www.zelena-akcija.hr.

8 Success in the Experimental Territorial Lab!

REIC International Summer School, 28 August-12 September 2006: The second edition of REIC International Summer School ‘Environmental Inte-gration in Territorial Management and Planning’ held from 28 August to 10 September 2006 in Sarajevo (BiH) and Nature Park ‘Lonjsko Polje’, (HR) has recently been finalised.

The School, conceptualised as a ‘territorial laboratory’, gathered 24 young professionals from the SEE region, enabling them to go through real-time terri-torial management and planning experience. The groups worked on the tack-ling of core issues related to natural resource management, tourism and pro-tection of cultural heritage within the Nature Park ‘Lonjsko Polje’ in Croatia.

REIC, UNESCO-BRESCE and Management of Nature Park ‘Lonjsko Polje’ offered the participants two experimental weeks of a theoretical and in situ management journey. This journey, aimed at providing knowledge applicable to all areas in the SEE, practically gave the chance to foster links between people in the region and outside. For more details about the Inter-national Summer School Programme and results consult REIC Office in Sarajevo on info@reic.org.ba or www.reic.org.ba

7 European Bat Night in Croatia

Croatia, 25-29 August 2006: On the 10th Anniversary of the European Bat Night, the Croatian Ministry of Culture, Nature Protection Directorate, City Park Maksimir and Nature Park Medvednica organised a celebration in Zagreb on the 25/26 August. A few hundred visitors in Park Maksimir and representatives of the media had the opportunity to listen to bat sounds with bat-detectors, learn about their lives from bat experts, drink Bad Bat cocktails and eat bat-shaped cookies. Nature Park Medvednica promoted the campaign „Adopt a Bat“ in which people can get actively involved in protecting bats in Veternica cave, a habitat of 14 bat species.

On the 26th August, the Nature Park staff organised a free tour to Veternica cave, so visitors had a chance to see bats in their natural surroundings. With 35 species of bats, all of which are strictly protected by law, Croatia is one of Europe‘s richest bat countries. To raise awareness on the impor-tance of bats in the ecosystem and to promote conservation, the Minister of Culture, Mr. B. Biskupić, „adopted“ a bat and named him Maksimirko.

The celebration continued to the 29th of August when Nature Park Kopa-cki Rit in cooperation with Nature Park Papuk and NGO „Green Osijek“ organised a presentation and lectures on bats in the eastern part of Croatia. Contact: Andrea Ṧtefan in the Ministry of Culture, Nature Conservation Directorate, andrea.stefan@min-kulture.hr

9 Second Preparatory meeting for the COP1 to the Carpathian Convention

Vienna, 11-12 September 2006: IUCN Programme Office for SEE attended the Second Preparatory Meeting for the First Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Carpathian Convention at the UNEP Regional Office for Europe in Vienna.

UNEP Vienna, functioning as Interim Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention (ISCC), wel-comed representatives of ministries from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovak Republic and Ukraine, the member countries of the Carpathian Convention, which entered into force on January 4th, 2006. An overview was given on history and ratifi-cation status, during which delegates from Romania and Serbia informed that the process of ratification in their countries shall be finished until the end of the year.

The next topic was dedicated to the First Conference of the Parties to the Carpathian Con-vention (COP 1), which needs to be held within one year after Entry into Force of the Con-vention and thus, has been scheduled for December 11th - 13th 2006. The location, ho-wever, is still matter of negotiations between the neighbouring countries Romania and Ukraine. UNEP Vienna / ISCC shall submit a request to both governments asking for bilateral negotiations and a decision about the venue of the COP 1. The preliminary agenda as well as background documents were discussed as well as further development of the Carpathian process and the potential input to the Belgrade Conference.

Several observer organisations presented their own related project activities such as the Permanent Secretary of he Alpine Convention (ALPARC), ANPED, Central and East European Working Group for the Enhancement of Biodiversity (CEE-WEB), Central European Initiative (CEI), CERI, DAPHNE, EURAC, Intercooperation Switzerland, LEAD International, The Regional Environmental Centre (REC), WWF Danube Carpathian Programme and IUCN. For more information, please see www.carpathianconvention.org/framework/11.09.2006.htm or contact Joerg.Lohmann@iucn.org.

10 Bulgarian Foundation Annual Award

Sofia, 12 September 2006: The Central Balkan National Park won this ye-ars Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation annual award for the best manage-ment of protected territories. At the official ceremony the National Park directorate received the Green Band award handed to him for successful management of the park, popularizing the protected territories system, cre-ating favorable information and tourist infrastructure and developing stable partnerships with local communities around the park.

The award was handed over in the Botanical Garden of the St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia. Mrs. Nela Ratchevitz, Director of the Central Balkan National Park Directorate accepted the Green Certificate. This is yet another acknowledgment of a protected territory managment policy during the year. In May, the National Park became the first Bulgarian park and it is still the only one that joined EUROPARC- the European Parks Federation.

11 3rd Meeting of Regional Theme Group on Transboundary Protected Areas

Venice, Lido, 15-18 September 2006: IUCN WCPA Europe organised the third Meeting of Regional Theme Group on Trans-boundary Protected Areas (TBPAs). The venue was an opportunity for colleagues and organisations to meet each other, exchange information about current developments in different sub-regions of Europe, jointly work on future planning, initiate cooperation and complementary action, and learn more about Transboundary Biosphere Reserves initiatives in SEE.

The recently generated high geo-political fragmentation in SEE calls for more intensive implementation of transboundary co-operation and cross-sectoral approaches, as possible territorial compensation mechanisms. This meeting offered a platform to discuss the ongoing activities carried out by the various partners (IUCN, UNESCO BRESCE, WWF, EUROPARC, UNEP, EURONATURE, etc.). Special attention was given to SEE – sub-region case-studies: “Skadar Lake” (Albania and Montene-gro), “Prespa Park” (Albania, Greece and Macedonia) and “Stara Planina” (Bulgaria and Serbia).

Appointed focal points reported on TBPA activities in northern, southern, western and central Europe. Furthermore, the ne-cessity and feasibility to elaborate a TBPA Regional Action-Plan for Europe was further discussed.

The meeting’s outcomes aim at:‣ the promotion of TBPA initiatives in all sub-regions of Europe‣ the identification of examples of good practice and “lessons learned”‣ the increased involvement of existing partners and the welcoming of new partners‣ the sharing of knowledge and expertise with all interested individuals and organisations‣ serving as the European hub of the IUCN WCPA Global Task Force on TBPAs

More information from: Roland Stein, Chair, WCPA Europe Theme Group on TBPAs, R.Stein.Nothweiler@t-online.de.

12 Car Free Day

Bosnia and Herzegovina, 22 September 2006: Within the scope of the Project „Development of B&H Civil Society Envi-ronmental Initiative on the Local Level“ (SEAL) the Action for a Car free Day was organised and realised by the Center for Environment in partnership with Ekotim Sarajeveo and the Center for Ecology and Energy Tuzla. The event was sponsored by the EU. The theme of the European mobility Week this year was «Transport and climate changes». The campaign named „You Control Climate Change“ was realised with the European Commission and it aimed at helping interested individuals make a contribution to the fight against climate change by making small changes to their daily routine.

Every year, more and more cities and local communities join in the Mobility Week campaigns and the Car Free Day. Last year, 950 cities participated in the mobility week and more than 1450 cities organised actions in more than 30 states. The initiative, which was European in the beginning, is getting more and more popular in other states, which are slowly realising the need to change the ways of transport in urban areas.

The Center for Environment has organised actions on the Car Free Day for the past three years, aiming to promote sustai-nable transport in urban areas and to address traffic safety as another issue. This year, the Center for Environment joined the campaigns with the slogan «You control climate change». More information on the Car Free Day can be obtained the Center for Environment info@czzs.org.

13 IUCN pan-European Members meet in Barcelona

Barcelona, 18-21 October: The pan-European Members of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) will meet in Bar-celona on 18-21 October. The meeting will comprise gathering of the IUCN Commissions (WCPA and Chairs of other Commissions), as well as the European Members meeting, which will be followed by an excursion. It is funded by the Spanish Federal and Catalan Regional Ministries of the Environment. A formal invitation and more details will follow shortly. More information is available from Joerg Lohmann, Director, IUCN SEE, joerg.lohmann@iucn.org or on www.iucneurope.org.

14 Balancing regional planning and ecological networks

Strasbourg, 9-12 October 2006: The European seminar “Balancing Regional Plan-ning and Ecological Networks in the South East European and Black Sea Region” will be held in Strasbourg (France). This seminar, which is organized by ECNC, EUCC-the Coastal Union and Eurosite, as part of the SEENET programme will take place back to back with the joint meeting of the Emerald Group of Experts and the Expert Committee of the Pan-European Ecological Network (taking place on 9 and 10 October 2006). The following issues will receive due attention at the seminar:

• why is regional development important for establishing ecological networks, and what are the problems and opportunities? • how can we ensure that regional and physical planners include territorial requirements for the functioning of ecological networks? • how could landscape planning further the establishment of ecological networks?• how can the importance of the establishment of the Pan-European Ecological Network in the Southern East European and Black Sea region in the framework of CEMAT and the European Landscape Convention be promoted?• how are we to deal with coastal and marine planning in the framework of ecological networks?

The target group of the seminar is people working in the field of biodiversity and landscape conservation and manage-ment, also within the framework of regional planning in countries of the South East Europe and the Black Sea area. A number of regional planners working with biodiversity and landscape issues will also be invited, to allow the direct interactions of views.

For more information on the SEENET training seminar, contact Ms Agnes Bruszik bruszik@ecn.org or Ana Nieto nieto@ecnc.org and visit www.seenet.info.

15 International Training for MAB Biosphere Reserve Stakeholder in SEE

Virpazar, Montenegro / Shkodra, Albania, 15-21 October 2006: UNESCO-BRESCE in cooperation with the Regional Educational Information Centre (REIC) organizes the International Training for MAB Biosphere Reserve Stakeholders in SEE from 15-21 of October, 2006, in Virpazar, Montenegro and Shkodra, Albania.

The UNESCO Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme has been, since its origins, a conceptual incubator for most of the currently well established practices in local development and protected areas management. Biosphere Reserves (BRs), thanks to their flexible zoning system and not legally binding framework, could better serve the purpose of ac-commodation various land use patterns in the changing resource planning scenarios of the economies in transition. Currently, the situation is the SEE countries is stil geographically unbalanced (few countries have no BRs in their ter-ritories) and functionally not fully operative (e.g. lack of operational MAB Committees and their coordination with the other stakeholders).

By bringing together representatives of the main stakeholders groups related to the MAB Programme (namely, the BRs coordinators and MAB Committee members, the ministerial officers and the scientists) from the various SEE countries, the training will be mostly focused on the analyses of the trans-scale relationships between the various actors offi-cially involved in the BR designation and functioning, in order to improve the strategic positioning of the Programme’s initiatives. Related to the designation and management of the BRs, participants will be guided through the analyses and discussion of a concrete case of a possible Trans-Boundary Biosphere Reserve designation: the Skadar/Shkodra Lake, shared by Montenegro and Albania. The training session will be located on both the shores of the lake, in order to make participants fully involved into the local territorial dynamics. By adopting a research action approach, they’ll be given chances to confront directly with the local stakeholders during specific panels to be organised every second day. Possible scenarios will be discussed and the concluding outputs presented during a final plenary session.

Contacts: training coordinator Mr. Giorgio Andrian g.andrian@unesco.org and logistic coordinator Ms. Vera Cvejic verac@eunet.yu.

Funding

1 Call for Projects: Support to Civil Society in Montenegro

• Title of the Call : CARDS - Support to civil society in Montenegro• Funds : CARDS• Areas : Public management, Local development, Social Affairs

Call to support the civil society organisations in Montenegro in implementing partnerships that best address the priority actions in the social and economic sectors defined in the Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy Action Plan for Montenegro

Deadlines for submission: 08 November 2006

Application by: Development NGOs, Development NGOs, Federations, Unions, Associations. Regions concerned: EU Member States, CARDS countries, Mon-tenegro. More information can be found on http://ec.europa.eu/comm/euro-peaid/tender/data/d90/AOF69290.htm

Contacting details: European Agency for Reconstruction, Marjana MANOJLOVIC, Procurement Unit, European Agency for Reconstruction, Atinska 5, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro. Email: marjana.manojlovic@ear.europa.eu

2 Call for Projects: Economic Support for Tourism and SMES in Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Title of the Call : Economic support for tourism and SMES in Bosnia and Herzegovina• Funds : CARDS• Areas : Tourism, Local development, Co-op & Development

Call distributing 3.8 million euro in support of development of tourism and SMEs in BiH

Deadlines for submission: 06 November 2006 Who can apply: Universities, Federations, Unions, Training centres, Local and Regional authorities, Associations, Agencies, Chambers, Administrations, Sta-tes Regions concerned: Bosnia and Herzegovina, EU Member States, EEA, Candidate countries, Balkans. More information can be found on www.delbih.ec.europa.eu/en/tandv/tender-cfp-06-003/cfp_06_003.zip

Contacting details: European Commission Delegation, Delegation of the European Commission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Procurement, Dubrovacka 6, 2nd floor, 71 000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

3 Melina Mercouri International Prize for Safeguarding and Management of Cultural Landscapes

The Melina Mercouri International Prize (UNESCO-Greece) rewards outstanding examples of action to safeguard and enhance the world‘s major cultural land-scapes by either individuals or groups working in a personal capacity or as staff member(s) of a private or public institution with a certificate and the sum of US$20,000 U (for 2007).

The landscapes proposed must fit the definition of at least one of the three ca-tegories of cultural landscapes decided on by the World Heritage Committee at its sixteenth session (Santa Fe, 1992). Candidates for the prize may be nomi-nated either by the governments of Member States, preferably in consultation with their National Commissions, or by relevant NGOs having official relations with UNESCO. Only one candidate may be nominated in each case.

The nomination papers shall include a biographical statement for each candidate in the case of private individuals, or a description of the organization responsib-le in the case of a legal entity. They shall also include a detailed and illustrated statement justifying the proposal of the cultural landscape in respect of which the candidate is being nominated, and an assessment of achievements. For more invitation please visit http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/282 or contact melinamercouriprize@unesco.org

Publications

1 IUCN Species Programme and IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation

The Mediterranean basin is characterized by its climate, where cool wet winters alternate with long hot dry summers. The Mediterranean basin has been designated a biodiversity hotspot since it has very high levels of plant endemism. The conservation status of plants and animals is one of the most widely used indicators for assessing the condition of ecosystems and their biodiversity. It also provides an important tool in priority-setting exer-cises for species conservation.

Five orders of reptiles occur in the Mediterranean basin. This assessment of reptiles and amphibians in the Mediterranean basin has two main objec-tives: To assist in regional conservation planning by assessing the status and distribution of all species occurring within the region; and to develop a network of regional experts to support future assessments and the updating of the information on these species within the context of the IUCN Global Reptile Assessment and the IUCN Global Amphibian Assessment.

The assessment provides two main direct outputs: ‣ A report on the status of the reptiles and amphibians of the Mediterranean basin, including a Red List assessment of all the species, an identification of the main threats for each species, and a spatial representation of the centres of diversity and threats; ‣ A database that provides a baseline for monitoring the status of Mediterranean reptiles and amphibians.

The report can be downloaded on http://app.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/EPLP-065.pdf.

2 Towards European Biodiversity Monitoring

IUCN Regional Office for Europe has published an assessment and monitoring report of the conservation status of European habitats and species in June 2006. Europe en-compasses a great diversity of habitats and species. Despite the value of this natural heritage and many efforts to protect it, recent reports show that the diversity of our flora and fauna continues to decline at a dramatic rate. Given this situation, Europe has a tremendous responsibility to halt the loss of its biodiversity, and to take all necessary action to protect its remaining natural heritage.

The report can be downloaded on http://app.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/2006-029.pdf

3 Economic Instruments in Biodiversity-related Multilateral Environmental Agreements

This report was prepared for the Economics and Trade Branch of the United Nations En-vironment Programme (UNEP-ETB) under the auspices of the UNEP Working Group on Eco-nomic Instruments for Environmental Policy-making.

Economic instruments are increasingly recognized as having an important role to play in the implementation of many multila-teral environmental agreements (MEAs), including those that protect biological diversity. To complement existing cooperative efforts and efforts involving other actors regarding economic instruments and related incentives, this paper:

‣ Summarizes the main types of economic instruments relevant to biodiversity protection;

‣ Identifies the three MEAs principal obligations and discussions regarding economic instruments and incentives;

‣ Explores existing and potential synergies between these conventions and identifies cross-cutting thematic areas where the use of economic instruments can be explored in further detail;

‣ Discusses some of the conditions, such as valuation, stakeholder participation and capacity building, for the successful use of economic instruments; and

‣ Offers preliminary suggestions for future work, both at the multilateral level within and between the MEAs, and at the na tional level in designing and implementing economic instruments.

The paper does not offer a definitive treatment of this complex subject, but rather seeks to contribute to the ongoing discus-sions on ways to encourage and improve the use of economic instruments to support the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. Download the report on: http://www.unep.ch/etb/publications/EconInst/ecoInstBioMea.pdf

4 The Green Buck

The WWF Sustainable Economics Network has published „The Green Buck“ - an approach to innovative methods to tackle the root causes of biodiversity loss.

Conservation science increasingly teaches us that ecosys-tems cannot be conserved in protected areas alone. Instead, we must work on bigger scales, across whole landscapes and eco-regions. This means that we must actively engage with people and companies, we must understand what influences the choices they make, and we must provide solutions that encourage them to conserve and protect ecosystems. At the same time, we must demonstrate how the sustainable use of ecosystems can benefit people, leading to poverty alleviation more effectively than alternative, environmentally destructive

approaches. This guide demonstrates some of the ways in which WWF has developed economic approaches to the achie-vement of conservation success around the world, and some of the lessons learnt in the process.

Download the report on www.wwf.org.uk/greenbuck

5 Leaflet for Awareness of Shkodra Basin

CSDC (Civil Society Development Center), Network member from Albania, published a leaflet to raise awareness on the eco-logical and socio-economic value of the Shkodra basin and the need to align Albanian legislation to the EU Water Framework Directive. This activity was in the framework of the project grant awarded to CSDC by WWF-Across the Waters. For more information please contact Zamira Pode, Executive Director of SHkodra Civil Society Development Center CSDC Shkodra, zamirapoda@hotmail.com.

6 Final Report of the Workshop on High Nature Value Farming in the Western Balkans

The final report of the Workshop on High Nature Value (HNV) farming in the Western Balkans held in Belgrade 2-3 February 2006 is now available. The workshop was organised by the WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme-Regional Office for Europe and the European Forum for Nature Conservation and Pastoralism, and with financial support from the governments of Switzerland and Norway.

The final report introduces the concept of HNV farming as well as trends, the political context and the status of identification and protection of HNV farmland in the Western Balkans. It will be useful, hopefully, in increasing awareness of the importance of HNV farmland in the pan-European region, especially in the Western Balkans region, and the need for further work to con-serve it. Special thanks to Norway and Switzerland, the organisers and the participants in the workshop.

For more information please contact Jörg Lohmann at the IUCN - The World Conservation Union, Programme Office for South-Eastern Europe, Email jörg.lohmann@iucn.org or Ivonne Higuero, Coordinator (UNEP/ROE), Joint Secretariat for the Pan- European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (PEBLDS), Email: ivonne.higuero@unep.ch.

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 report 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.

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. Therefore, please be short. The editor keeps the right to shorten and modify the text if necessary.

Please send a photo to accompany your article if appropriate and indicate your email and/or web-link for further reference.

Thanks for taking these guidelines into consideration!

All contributions should be sent to Aleksandra Nesic, aleksandra.nesic@iucn.org.

ROfE‘s Structure

Regional Office for Europe (ROfE) is a branch of The World Conservation Union (IUCN) global network. We along with offices and commissions around the world link back to the President, Director General and Council of IUCN.

For a history of IUCN and an explanation of the global structure please visit www.iucn.org. ROfE is compri-sed of four IUCN offices located in Brussels, Warsaw, Belgrade and Moscow. The head officein Brussels, is a meeting point where the IUCN Programme Office for Central Europe in Warsaw, The IUCN Programme Office for the Commonwealth of Independent States in Mos-cow and the IUCN Programme Office for South-Eas-tern Europe in Belgrade can disseminate information and strategies. Together as ROfE we strive to meet our goals for a sustainable Europe by utilizing local experti-se and the strength of the global IUCN network.

ROfE in Belgrade

Programme Office for South-Eastern Europe

Dr. Ivana Ribara 9111070 BelgradeSerbia and MontenegroTel: +381 11 2272-411Fax: +381 11 2272-531Email: aleksandra.nesic@iucn.org Edited by Katharina DiehlEmail: katharina.diehl@iucn.org