MED Project

The Osogovo Mountains in the Balkan Green Belt

The Macedonian Ecologists’ Association (MED) started the realization of the project “The Osogovo Mountains in the Balkan Green Belt in January this year. Their project-partner is the Bulgarian Foundation on Biodiversity (BFB), and the project is financed by the Frankfurt Zoological Society – FZS – help for threatened wildlife.

The green belt is the initiative of the German Government, supported and coordinated by the organizations such as IUCN, BFN, BUND Bayern and EURONATOUR, and is so-called European Green Belt.

The main goal of the project is providing more efficient protection of the biodiversity and sustainable use of the natural resources in the region of Osogovo Mountains by establishing a cross-border protected area with support from the local authorities. Within the activities of the Balkan Green Belt, MED participates in the realization of two projects: “The Mountain of Jablanica as an environmental corridor for the bear, the wolf ad the lynx” and “The programme for recovering the Balkan lynx”, with special focus on the protected areas of Sara Mountain and the bio-corridor Plakenska Mountain. “In the first year, we will valorize the natural values of the Osogovo Mountains, for which we would include experts in different fields. As a result of these researches, we will prepare preliminary lists of species, stations and territories with a high value of protection. We will design basic topographic maps with a GIS-software and insert the processed data on biodiversity”, says Despina Kitanovska, project-coordinator.

 

K.B.