Round table about research of the Mountain Prokletije

A round table "Research the Mountain of Prokletije" was held in Plav on 20th July 2010. year. NGO "Triton" from Plav and PSD "Kom" from Andrijevica, with the support of the NGO "Fondation Caritas Luxembourg - Office of Berane, in the area of the Plav and Andrijevica municipality implemented a project "Explore, Store and Experience the Mountain Prokletije" in which they have organized round table .

Lecturers of the round table were: Luka Mitrovic, Director of the Hydrometeorological Service of Montenegro, Milena Markovic, an independent advisor 3, Ministry of Physical Planning and environmental protection - department of community development, Dragana Vukicevic, assistant of the project "Natura 2000 in the MN“, a representative of the NGO"Green Home“. Project aims to educate and raise awareness of the population, especially youth, about the need to protect and preserve nature, and a responsible attitude towards the environment. Also, the objectives are the preservation and promotion Mountain of Prokletije as the fifth national park in Montenegro.

The round tables were very well attended, there were many local officials and volunteers of the NGO "Triton" from the Municipality of Plav.

Okrugli sto na temu : “ISTRAZIVANJE PROKLETIJA”

Plav, 20 Jul 2010. godine, održan je okrugli sto sa početkom u 14h u Centaru za kulturu Plav pod nazivom “ISTRAŽIVANJE PROKLETIJA”

NVO „Triton“ iz Plava i PSD „Kom“ iz Andrijevice, uz podršku NVO „FONDATION CARITAS LUXEMBOURG“ – Kancelarija Berane, na području plavske i andrijevičke opštine realizuju projekat „Istražuj čuvaj i doživi Prokletije“ u okviru koga su i organizovali okrugli sto.

Predavači okruglog stola su bili: Luka Mitrović, direktor Hidrometeorološkog zavoda CG, Milena Marković, samostalna savjetnica 3, Ministarstvo uređenja prostora i zaštite životne sredine - sektor za komunalni razvoj, Dragana Vukićević, asistent projekta “Natura 2000 u CG”, predstavnik NVO “Green Home“ . Projekat ima za cilj edukaciju i podizanje nivoa svijesti stanovništva, posebno mladih, o potrebi zaštite i očuvanja prirode, i odgovornog odnosa prema okolini. Takođe, ciljevi projekta su očuvanje i promocija Prokletija kao petog nacionalnog parka u Crnoj Gori.

Okruglom stolu su prisustvovali brojni službenici lokalne samouprave kao i volonteri NVO „ Triton“ iz Plava. Više informacija: dragana.green@t-com.me

EU foresees take up of 'biodiversity businesses'

Biodiversity and ecosystem conservation offer an array of new opportunities for business, which can either develop green products and services or trade biodiversity 'credits', argues a new European Commission report on the economics of nature.

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) for business report was launched on Tuesday (13 July), setting out the business case for providing green services.

It notes that biodiversity and ecosystem services offer opportunities for all business sectors, mainly because integrating environmental concerns into company management can increase the cost-effectiveness of operations, ensure the sustainability of supply chains and attract new customers.

But nature considerations can also be the basis for new businesses, the report underlines. Conserving biodiversity and using biodiversity and ecosystem services in a sustainable and equitable manner can be the basis for unique business propositions, enabling entrepreneurs and investors to develop and scale up biodiversity businesses, it argues.

The authors note that opportunities for such businesses are growing, particularly due to the expected increased pressure on and more restricted access to natural resources on both land and sea.

Trading biodiversity credits

The report predicts the emergence of biodiversity and ecosystem service (BES) markets, alongside existing ones such as the EU emissions trading scheme for carbon dioxide.

This could create new biodiversity assets with local and international trading opportunities, the report adds, citing Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and related land-based carbon storage and sequestration methods (REDD+) as the first major opportunity for such business.

Another potential market opportunity is the Green Development Mechanism (GDM), a financial mechanism currently discussed under the Convention on Biological Diversity to mobilise private sector funding to mitigate biodiversity loss, particularly in developing countries.

New markets for biodiversity credits and intangible ecosystem services such as watershed protection are also emerging, providing new environmental assets with both local and international trading opportunities, the authors note.

Securing property rights over nature

But before ecosystem markets can be developed, a number of financial, regulatory and market pre-requisites need to be addressed, the report says.

These include securing property rights and insurance over ecosystem assets as well as defining ecosystem credits and debits.

According to the report, fiscal incentives - such as tax credits for conservation and the establishment of a legal authority to trade ecosystem credits and debits - are also necessary.

Natura 2000 is Focus of Many Projects in Serbia and in Montenegro

Representatives of European NGOs say we should be proud! In their countries NGOs started to work on Natura 2000 much later than we are. In Serbia and in Montenegro we have all conditions to prepare ourselves and to achieve good results.
Natura 2000 is sub-targed or one of activities on many projects. What is happening at the moment?
WWF Mediterranean Programme, in partnership with Yound Researchers of Serbia and organization Green Home from Montenegro, is working on the project ''Strengthening the Capacity Of Governments And Civil Sector in Serbia and in Montenegro to Adapt to EU Nature Protection Acquis ‘’ from the beginning of 2009. The same team works on the project ‘’Partnership Actions for Biodiversity Protection in Western Balkan’’.
Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, in partnership with foreign experts, works on the project ’Strengthening Administrative Capacities for Protected Areas in Serbia (NATURA 2000)" from the beginning of 2010.
IUCN will also, durinig the project ‘’EU Environmental Policies and Strategies in South Eastern Europe: Capacity Building for the Implementation of EU Environmental Policies and Strategies in the F.Y.R. of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia’’, work with NGOs in Serbia and in Montenegro. All thet will be fulfilled with the BirdLife International project ‘’Wings across the Balkans: Preparing countries in the Western Balkans for implementing the EU Wild Birds Directive’’.
About the results, activities and recomendations of these projects we will informe you in next issues of the e-newsletter “Natura 2000 in Western Balkans” and on our blog.

Zagrebačka proslava 2010. - Međunarodne godine biološke raznolikosti

Dan 22. svibnja se brojnim svečanostima obilježava kao Međunarodni dan biološke raznolikosti i Dan zaštite prirode u Hrvatskoj. Ovogodišnja proslava u zagrebačkom Maksimiru bila je utoliko posebnija što seobilježavala UN-ova godina biološke raznolikosti.
Stotine ljudi sudjelovalo je u proslavi koju su zajedničkim snagama organizirali magazin Geo, Park Maksimir, Državni zavod za zaštitu prirode, Program ujedinjenih naroda za razvoj (UNDP) i Ministarstvo kulture - sudjelovale su i druge relevantne institucije i organizacije koje se bave zaštitom prorode i bološke raznolikosti , poput studenata i profesora s Prirodoslavno -matematičkog fakulteta, Svjetskog fonda za prirodu (WWF) i udruge Zelena akcija. Program je obuhvaćao vođene ture po parku Maksimir koje su uključivale upoznavanje s pojedinim skupinama biljaka i životinjama; radionice u kojima su najmlađi učili i podučavali odrasle o izradi kućica za ptice i šišmiše; razne igre za djecu te službene konferanse (na fotografiji državni tajnik Ministarstva kulture Zoran Šikić).