Dinaric Arc
The full title of the project is the “Protected Areas for a Living Planet – Dinaric Arc Ecoregion” and the shortened title is the “Dinaric Arc Ecoregion”.
“Protected Areas for a Living Planet” (PA4LP) is a programme that was established and is lead by the WWF, with the financial support of the MAVA Foundation, for assisting the countries of the five European and West African Ecoregions, including the Dinaric Arc, to achieve the goals of the Programme of Work on Protected Areas of the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD PoWPA). The goals of the PA4LP project for the Dinaric Arc include the establishment of the database necessary as a support for decision making on planning and management of the protected areas; capacity building of relevant institutions and interest groups; development of the sustainable financing of protected areas and strengthening the political support.
WWF, UNESCO-BRESCE, UNDP, UNEP, IUCN, Council of Europe, FAO, EuroNatur and SNV are partner institutions of the Dinaric Arc Initiative (DAI), which was established in order to strengthen cooperation among partner institutions and improve their contribution to the sustainable development of the dinaric region.
The project is aimed at creating the enabling conditions for the successful implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity Programme of Work on Protected Areas (CBD PoWPA) in the five countries of the Dinaric Arc Ecoregion (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Albania). The project lasts for five years (2007 – 2011).
As part of the project development and implementation, in December 2007 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the WWF Mediterranean Programme Office in Rome (WWF-MedPO) and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia. WWF has appointed a project supervisor and a project administrator and the Ministry of Culture has appointed the national project coordinator.
“Big Win for the Dinaric Arc” is a joint statement of the representatives of the six governments of the dinaric arc region that was published on May 29th 2008 at the 9th Conference of Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 9). The representatives of the governments of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia announced their intention to declare 13 new protected areas and enlarge 9 existing ones. They also committed to implement a set of activities aiming to strengthen the existing protected areas such as evaluating management effectiveness and developing management and business plans. They also committed to strengthen cooperation among them in implementation of these commitments. Each of the six governments prepared a list of national priorities to support the implementation of the objectives of the CBD PoWPA. The ultimate goal is to create a well-managed and representative protected areas network stretching across the six Dinaric Arc countries, and providing a practical basis for lasting cooperation, as well as generating benefits to local and national economies.
Project website: www.cbddinaricarc.com
