Organized training for managers of PA in Montenegro

Parks Dinarides organized the training “Basics for the management of protected areas” in the period 04-06 June in Andrijevica (Nature Park Komovi) intended for employees in nature protection in Montenegro. The training program was prepared after reviewing the capacities and needs of managers of protected areas in Montenegro, as well as consultations with the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism.

The event, which brought together managers of protected areas as well as representatives of local governments that are in the process of declaring new protected areas, provided the participants with basic theoretical and practical knowledge for working in protected areas. The training was adopted for new employees in the nature protection system as well as representatives of protected areas established in the last 5 years who are still building their internal capacities.

The state should provide support to protected areas so that we do not permanently lose our most valuable resources.

The two-day training confirmed that there is a great need to strengthen the capacity of the management system of protected areas in Montenegro. There is lack of financial, technical and human capacity to respond to pressures in PA such as: illegal fishing, hunting, illegal construction, sand and gravel exploitation.

The law enforcement system in the field of nature protection proved to be particularly problematic, which is inefficient and unsustainable, and the weight and responsibility has been transferred to the protection services in the parks, while the reactions of the judiciary and prosecution are inadequate and insufficient.

Therefore, it is necessary to systematically work on improving the chain of law enforcement in nature protection and strengthening support for the work and functioning of managers of protected areas.

As a priority, along with the improvement of legal solutions, the establishment and improvement of coordination and cooperation of all subjects in the system of protection and law enforcement in protected areas is set in order to adequately respond to increasing pressures and challenges in these most valuable areas that we have as a country.

In order to ensure the sustainability of resources in protected areas, an important segment of the manager’s work, in addition to physical protection, is cooperation with the local community and education in order to prevent illegal practices and the loss of resources and biodiversity in protected areas.

Therefore, it is necessary to find systemic and permanent solutions in order to support the efforts of managers of protected areas in order to preserve the fundamental values of protected areas.

The training “Basics for the management of protected areas” is part of the Project “Improvement of management protected areas in Montenegro” which Parks Dinarida implements in partnership with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and with the support of the US Forest Service International Programs. With the project, we want to support the strengthening of the system of protected areas in Montenegro, which has grown significantly in the last five years.