The sixth conference of the Parks Dinarides and the regional conference of the civil society organizations, organised by the Parks Dinarides I and WWF Adria, was held in Sarajevo in 2022.

The conference goal was to explore how to strengthen regional cooperation, improve coordination for the biodiversity conservation in Western Balkan, for the protected areas’ sustainability and to identify how various actors can contribute to and improve nature conservation through the implementation of the Green Agenda for the Western Balkan.

The joint Declaration by civil society organizations for better implementation of the Green Agenda in the Western Balkan region was adopted at the conference. The Declaration is addressed to the European Commission and asks the EU and governments to ensure inclusive, transparent and meaningful involvement of the civil sector in the Green Agenda plans and projects.

“We appeal on the European Commission not to leave out key actors to the process that can ensure the protected areas shall not stay a dead letter,” the WWF Adria Executive Director Nataša Kalauz pointed out.

“This conference confirmed that the Parks Dinarides regional network is a good platform for connecting all parks in the region, and some of its benefits are sharing good examples and practices, as well as planning joint projects. The managers pointed out that they wanted to be more actively involved in the processes of the western Balkan green transition that would result in sustainable and more functional protected areas in our region,” Zoran Mrdak, President of the Parks Dinarides pointed out.

The conference closed with the panel dedicated to the role of women in the nature conservation. There, female representatives of civil sector, managers and politicians discussed about the challenges and experience in their work.