Outlook on Climate Change Adaptation in the Western Balkan Mountains

Croatia’s “green tax” is prescribed by the Law on Forests, and is a fee that is charged to all legal and physical persons inCroatia that engage in economic activity as a percentage of all revenues acquired in Croatia and abroad. This fee was set at 0.07% of all revenues in 2005, but was subsequently reduced to 0.0265%. The total funds for 2012 were € 27m. These funds are allocated to the state budget and then transferred to Croatian Forests Ltd., which uses these funds for forests-related activities, including scientific research. In 2011 these funds were allocated to the following activities (in descending monetary value): • Demining of forests and forest land • Forest infrastructure • Forest keeping • Division for private forests • Management of forests on karst terrain A green tax based on the Croatian Law on Forests

The Dinaric Arc Initiative and other nature protection networks in the Western Balkans

The number and size of protected areas in the region has been increasing, although the share of protected land is still low if compared to that of the EU. Protected areas that have been established recently, or are in the process of being included in the transboundary protection system, include Neretva River Delta, Skadar Lake, Ohrid Lake, Prespa Lake, Bjeshkët e Nemuna Mountains, Djerdap National Park, Balkan and Tara Mountains, and Danube River. The Dinaric Arc Initiative (DAI) is a joint effort by international organizations including WWF, IUCN, UNESCO, FAO, UNDP, Council of Europe, UNEP, SNV and EuroNatur. Among its goals, it seeks to preserve the wealth and integrity of the Dinaric Arc eco-region by establishing networks of protected areas and ecological corridors, and providing support to initiatives for the conservation of the eco- region’s biological diversity and the sustainable management of its resources. The Dinaric Arc has proposed the Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of South-Eastern Europe Mountain Regions, which aims at preserving the wealth and integrity of the Dinaric Arc and other mountain regions in South-Eastern Europe. For further information, please visit http://www. dinaricarc.net/dai.html Natura 2000: The south-eastern countries have begun cooperating on conservation through various European and International Conventions.

Energy Emerging policies and actions aim to increase the efficiency of energy production and consumption, and to promote a transition to low or zero-carbon energy sources. These policies, which are clearly relevant to climate change, entail synergies (and trade-offs) between often overlapping mitigation and adaptation strategies. While the introduction of renewable sources For further information, please visit: • Sida’s Helpdesk for Environment and Climate Change (2012). Western Balkan – Environment and Climate Change Policy Brief. Available at: http://sidaenvironmenthelpdesk.se • State institute for nature protection of Croatia. Available at: www.dzzp.hr Two widely known networks are the Emerald Network (working under the Bern Convention) and the Natura 2000 Network (working under the EU Birds and Habitats Directives). As a Member State of the European Union, Croatia greatly contributes to the natural heritage of the EU with 87 bird species and 53 regularly occurring migratory bird species, 135 other species and 74 habitat types on reference list. About 29 per cent of Croatia’s territory is included in Natura 2000 Network. Through its EU accession and technical adaptations of the EUDirectives, Croatia proposed inclusion of 11 species and two habitat types specific to Croatian and Dinaric karst to Natura. This demonstrates Croatia’s strong responsibility for nature conservation policy.

• Forest protection • Forest monitoring • Fire prevention • Pre-commercial thinning • Scientific research

important for climate change adaptation. They play a crucial role in: (i) supporting species to adapt to changing climate patterns and sudden climate events by providing refuges and migration corridors; (ii) protecting humans from sudden climatic events and reducing vulnerability to floods, droughts and other weather-induced problems; and (iii) supporting economies to adapt to climate change by reducing the costs of climate-related negative impacts.

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