Representatives of the governments of eight countries – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia – have endorsed yesterday a key agreement for the protection of the environment in the Adria region in South-Eastern Europe. WWF, the global conservation organisation, supported this historic milestone.

 

This agreement increases the eight countries' protected territory by more than 13 per cent and is endorsing the creation of two new national parks, 10 protected landscapes, and three marine protected areas.

 

The eight countries have committed to assess the economic value of their natural capital, while integrating nature conservation goals into economic development plans for fisheries, forestry, agriculture, energy, spatial planning, and cross-sectoral cooperation.

 

"WWF is proud to have supported the Adria countries in the development of a regional network of almost 80 protected areas, known as the Dinaric Arc parks network," said Paolo Lombardi, Director of WWF Mediterranean. "This transboundary cooperation in the field of nature protection is happening for the first time in the Adria region, and should scale up the development of sustainable tourism in the region."

 

Adria is the most water-rich area in the Mediterranean, and hosts the largest European virgin forest and healthy populations of large carnivores – including bear, lynx, wolf and golden jackal. The region also boasts the second deepest canyon in the world and is home to more than 5,000 unique species.