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| Tanja Petrović (c) MIS |
The knowledge among
NGOs in Serbia on Natura 2000 is respectable. A good part of the credit for
that belongs to Young Researchers of Serbia, who were the first one in Serbia
to organize workshops and trainings about the importance of Natura 2000. One of
the projects that secured funds for such an education was “Partnership Actionsfor Biodiversity Protection in Western Balkans”. We spoke about it to Tanja
Petrovic, executive director of Young Researchers of Serbia (YRS).
Young Researchers of Serbia have been working on
the preparation of NGOs for Natura 2000 for more than 3 years already. How did
you decide to take the initiative to support the creation of that ecological
network in Serbia?
I must admit that
dealing with Natura 2000 was one of the easiest decisions we have made in the last
few years J. Dealing with
Natura 2000 for us was entirely natural. Since our establishment (this year we
celebrate our 35th anniversary), we have dealt with nature
conservation and biodiversity.
Membership in international networks, such as CEEweb, has enabled us to
understand the importance of Natura 2000
considerably before it became a topic in Serbia. We understood the importance
of establishing the network in Serbia, the benefits, the importance of
implementation and, more important, the need for preparation and training for
organizations dealing with nature protection in order to become an equal and
respectable partner of state institutions for the establishment of Natura 2000
in Serbia.
The project “Partnership Actions for Biodiversity
Protection in Western Balkans” is at the very end. Are you satisfied with its
implementation? What could have been done better? What are the lessons
learned?
In general, we are
satisfied. With our partners we have succeeded in gathering NGOs in two
countries dealing with nature conservation, forming two informal but functional
national networks. This is what I consider to be the biggest value of this
project. Those organizations are now better trained, better prepared… With our
study visits to Brussels and Croatia we gained significant experiences. Some
prejudices about what is and what is not possible in Natura 2000 are outdated
now and nothing is “mission impossible” anymore.
What could have been
done better? There was a lack of concrete field work. Some things were done
through local actions, but not enough. But two years are, in fact, not enough…
So, this still remains for some future projects!
Future
Will YRS work on Natura 2000 in the future? Do
you have some new projects?
The fact that our project
is at the end doesn’t mean we have finished our work. This project gave us an opportunity
to learn. Now we need to implement the knowledge we have obtained. So yes, we
will definitely continue working on Natura 2000. After the establishment of
Natura 2000, which is a very complicated and complex process, a lot of work is
still ahead for the civil sector. The establishment of the network is just the
beginning.
Regarding our
projects, we have just begun implementation of the project “Promoting socio-economic
Benefits of Natura 2000”. We are still waiting to hear from our donors
regarding a few more projects dealing with Natura 2000.
What is the future plan for the Natura 2000
Resource Center of Serbia, a network for which your organization is secretariat?
Our intention is, of
course, to continue working with the network. There are 4 working groups within
the network: communications, research, lobbying and education. Many activities have
already started: promotion of Natura 2000, workshops, participation in
biogeographical seminars for the Emerald network. This year we have secured
funding for regular meetings. The projects we have developed in the meantime
are to provide funds for such activities in the future.
What is the opinion of NGOs in Serbia regarding
the political will for the implementation of EU acquis for nature protection? Is there such a will in Serbia?
Partly. As politicians
would say, I doubt there is any consensus about it. There are institutions in
Serbia that are, together with their leaders, ready and willing to implement EU
acquis, but there are also the others that see the implementation of Natura
2000 only as an imposed obligation. This means that we, as civil society and as
a sector, are facing a lot of work, education and capacity building for the
establishment of an ecological network. Many people see only in-kind
commitments in Natura 2000, they don’t see benefits… So far!
Are you invited to the council or working group
for the Natura 2000 network formed by the Government of the Republic of Serbia?
At this moment we have
only informal information that the representative of the civil sector will be
appointed to the working group on Natura 2000. Nothing official has happened
yet, there is no decision on the appointment. However, I think that’s not
enough – the civil sector should have a representative on the Council as well.
This, of course, wouldn’t be a precedent. Three representatives of civil
society are permanent members of the Council for Sustainable Development of the
Republic of Serbia and it works just fine ... I suppose this is not the only
example.
In my opinion the
cause of frequent misunderstandings and disputes among civil society and
institutions involved in nature protection is the lack of information, lack of
recognition of the potential that lies in the civil sector, misunderstanding of
the nature of civil society on the one hand, and the way in which the state
administration works on the other side... Membership on the Council and in the
Working Group would probably contribute to resolving these problems. It would
also contribute to the more efficient and safe establishment of Natura 2000 in
Serbia.
Cooperation
In your opinion, is the Government of Republic
of Serbia cooperating with NGOs?
This year we made
important progress… the Government office for cooperation with the civil sector
was formed and we already see the benefits of this institution. As for our
relevant ministry (Environment, Mining and Spatial Planning), they are just
designing some institutional mechanisms that should improve this cooperation.
Not to leave this question without a proper answer – yes, the RS government
cooperates with the civil sector. However, it is necessary that they insert
more effort and good will to make this cooperation more efficient.
Do you have a message for institutions working
with nature conservation in Serbia?
“Together we can be stronger!”
Petra Boic Petrac, WWF
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