Platform news
The platform's most recent meeting took place from 11-13 June 2024 in Sofia, Bulgaria. It focused on large carnivore management, livestock and land use conflicts and the role of hunters in conservation efforts. You can find the meeting outcomes here.
Overview
Platform location:
Region covered by the Dinaric-Balkan-Pindos, bear, wolf and lynx populations:
Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia.
Geographical size: Determined by Large Carnivore populations, no clear boundary
Target species: Bear (Ursus arctos) wolf (Canis lupus), Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), including the endangered subspecies Balkan lynx (Lynx lynx balcanicus)
Large carnivore populations:
- Dinaric Pindos bear population: 4000
- Dinaric Balkan wolf population: 4000
- Dinaric lynx population: 120-130
- Balkan lynx population: 50
Main stakeholders: Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia (Dinaric-Balkan-Pindos Initiative) with a range of supporters (AAP, WWF Adria, regional ministries)
Co-organiser: Dinaric-Balkan-Pindos initiative with a range of supporters (AAP, WWF Adria, regional ministries)
Co-financing: German Federal Environment Ministry’s Advisory Assistance Programme (AAP), supervised by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) and the German Environment Agency (UBA)
*For this initiative, Kosovo is referred to in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence
Context
The Dinaric-Balkan-Pindos (DiBaPi) Platform is the only transnational platform included in the EU regional platforms. It brings together managing authorities from the ministries and stakeholders across ten countries within and outside the EU.
Impact of large carnivores: The Dinaric-Balkan-Pindos region is one of the most biologically diverse regions in Europe. Brown bear (Ursus arctos), wolf (Canis lupus) and Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), including the endangered subspecies Balkan lynx (Lynx lynx balcanicus) can be found there. Unlike in Western Europe, bear and wolf populations never became extinct in the region, so people have many generations experience living with large carnivores. Nonetheless, conflicts exist and there is a need to discuss management with those impacted (e.g. hunters, farmers, conservationists and tourism operators). While some large carnivore populations are doing well in the region, others are highly threatened and additional efforts are needed to maintain populations.
Large carnivores do not respect national borders. Wolves for example, range over vast areas and are not only confined to parks or mountain ranges. Given the extensive ranges of these species, transnational coordination for their management is needed to enable a long-term basis for their conservation.
Work carried out so far: The Dinaric-Balkan-Pindos Large Carnivore Initiative aims to provide a long-term basis for collaboration between the countries involved by establishing an exchange platform; a co-ordinational agreement; a means to exchange information on initiatives and projects in the region; and good practice examples on large carnivore management.
In 2021, a Secretariat was established, supporting the members in organising plenary meetings and a number of bi/ tri-lateral thematic exchanges. They focused for example on establishing Intervention Teams and on genetic monitoring. A number of workstreams have been set up to carry out the platform activities between meetings.
The Dinaric Balkan Pindos Initiative and linked projects can be found here.
Local conflicts associated with large carnivores
- Large-scale cross-border collaboration remains challenging in the Dinaric-Balkan-Pindos region due to its mix of EU and non-EU countries, cultural and linguistic differences and a history of conflict.
- Lack of capacity for biodiversity management since it tends to receive lower attention than more immediate political and social challenges.
- Conflicts related to bear presence and impact on human activities
- Livestock depredation
- Badly planned infrastructure such as roads reduce the movement potential of large carnivores, and also lead to accidents
- Poaching
