Sustainable tourism must become a priority for the Dinaric Arc PA
Brijuni, Croatia – Importance of understanding sustainable tourism and its implementation in the protected areas are the main topics of this year’s Dinaric Arc Parks International Conference, which started today at the Brijuni National Park. This is the third time that the global non-governmental organisation for nature protection WWF gathers directors and staff from the protected areas of the Dinaric Arc Parks network with the objective to learn, network and share experiences.
After last year’s conference in Budva when the Big Win for Dinaric Arc was adopted, in which Republic of Albania, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Republic of Croatia, Kosovo *, FYR Macedonia, Republic of Slovenia and Republic of Serbia have pledged to further cooperate towards the improvement of protected areas, this year’s conference places an emphasis on setting the foundations for the Parks Dinarides Association, which shall continue the initiative of the Dinaric Arc Parks.
“Natural phenomena rarely stop at political borders, therefore their protection cannot stop at the state borders either. The main motives behind the initiative of nature protection and forming parks across national borders are to motivate neighbouring countries to cooperate, enable easier and better management of the protected areas and increase quality of life of the local population in and around protected areas.” stated today the Croatian Minister of Environmental and Nature Protection, Mihael Zmajlović and continued to say: “In Croatia we are proud of our 8 national parks and 11 nature parks, and we are using investments to put this exquisite natural resource in the role of sustainable development in order for the entire regions around the parks to prosper”.
Dinaric Arc region is characterised by the wealth of natural capital and WWF has identified it as the place of global importance for biodiversity. This is the territory most abundant with waters in the Mediterranean, which includes the deepest vertical in the world in the Sjeverni Velebit National Park, the biggest European primeval forest Peručica in Sutjeska National Park, the second deepest canyon in the world – the Tara River Canyon. Region is proud of its healthy populations of large carnivores such as bears, lynx or wolfs, and provides a habitat for more than 5000 unique species.
“WWF believes that protected areas are of fundamental importance for the protection of magical natural heritage in this region, and that people can benefit from them. With the Parks Dinarides Association, the protected areas shall be even more efficient in achieving this important mission.” – stated the Director of WWF Mediterranean Programme, Paolo Lombardi. “We all have to work together – governments, business sector, civil society, local communities – in order to be certain that people who live in or around parks can benefit from these protected areas by bringing together nature protection, economic interests and benefits for the people.”
The director of the Brijuni National Park, Sandro Dujmović, greeted approximately 150 participants from 13 European countries. “Brijuni have rightfully deserved the honour to host recognised experts and awarded speakers, as well as numerous participants of the final Dinaric Arc Parks International Conference. It is well known that many important negotiations and historical agreements were made on Brijuni, and in the same manner this conference gathers leading people from the field of nature protection from all countries in the Dinaric Arc region, explicitly showing the desire to have joint trans-national protection of the Dinaric ecosystem and continuous cooperation of all stakeholders from this area, from Slovenia to Albania. That is why the gathering of Dinaric Arc parks on Brijuni is a significant event, not only for SE Europe, but also for global natural heritage. The topic of the conference is sustainable tourism in protected areas, and Brijuni National Park in this context represent a successful example of harmony between tourism, nature protection, valorisation of natural, geological and cultural heritage”, concluded Mr. Dujmović.
The importance of sustainable tourism in parks shall be discussed during the three-day conference, and the panel will be facilitated by the newly elected President of Europark Federation, Ignace Schops. Results of BAT assessment of parks’ ecosystems shall be presented, as it was carried out by WWF in the past two years in 57 parks of the region. Furthermore, the foundations for the establishment of the official Parks Dinarides Association will be laid in order for it to be officially established by the end of this year. Besides the tour of the Brijuni National Park, the participants shall also be introduced to the Croatian protected areas management system during study tour to Motovun forest.
