Biodiversity Task Force WB

📑 NEW BROCHURE | From global commitments to regional action: Biodiversity protection and ecosystem restoration in the Western Balkans 🌿

The Western Balkans is one of Europe's most biodiverse regions, supporting unique species, habitats and ecosystems that are essential for both nature and human well-being. Conserving and restoring this natural heritage requires coordinated action across all levels of governance, translating global commitments into effective regional and national implementation.

📘 The new brochure brings together the key policy frameworks shaping biodiversity conservation and ecosystem restoration across the region. It demonstrates how global commitments, including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, are translated into EU policies and reflected in regional initiatives under the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans, including:
✅ The Western Balkans Six Biodiversity Strategic Plan 2030
✅ The Western Balkans Six Forest Landscape Restoration Plan

By connecting these frameworks in a single resource, the publication serves as a practical reference for policymakers, practitioners, civil society organisations and other stakeholders working to advance coordinated and effective action for nature across the Western Balkans.

📥 Download the publication: https://bit.ly/4izufwF

This publication was developed under the Nature Aligned Western Balkans: Strengthening biodiversity governance and dialogue project, implemented by IUCN with support from the Bundesumweltministerium (German Federal Environment Ministry's Advisory Assistance Programme (AAP)), supervised by Bundesamt für Naturschutz BfN - Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and the Umweltbundesamt - German Environment Agency (UBA).

🐭 Did you know that a species not recorded in the wider Prokletije area for more than 70 years has now been documented there again?

Meet the Balkan Snow Vole (Dinaromys bogdanovi) – a rare mammal endemic to the , recently recorded in Prokletije National Park by experts from the Nacionalni parkovi Crne Gore / National parks of Montenegro.

The species is assessed as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, with a Decreasing population trend. Yet across much of its range, important knowledge gaps remain, highlighting the need for more consistent monitoring and conservation assessment.

🏔️ Protecting the Balkan Snow Vole also means protecting the rocky high-mountain ecosystems that support biodiversity, safeguard water resources, reduce erosion and strengthen resilience to climate change.

Interested in endemic species of the Western Balkans?
Explore the series 👉 https://bit.ly/4ftky1g

| | | Austrian Development Agency

Local species, global signals: what biodiversity in the Western Balkans tells us about climate resilience Across the Western Balkans, wild species are already responding to a changing climate. From mountain meadows and rivers to wetlands, forests and karst landscapes, their decline, recovery and ability to adapt reveal much about the resilience of the ecosystems we all depend on. This World Environment....

🌿 Funding opportunity for biodiversity conservation in the Western Balkans

Across the Mediterranean Basin, traditional land-use practices and the conservation of threatened plant species play a critical role in maintaining biodiversity, ecosystem services and community resilience. To support these efforts, the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) has launched a new Call for Letters of Inquiry for Large Grants under the Mediterranean Basin Biodiversity Hotspot programme. 🌻

Organisations in IUCN ECARO region: Bosnia and Herzegovina, 🇹🇰Montenegro 🇲🇪 and North Macedonia 🇲🇰, are encouraged to apply for funding to develop and scale conservation actions that contribute to safeguarding the region's unique natural heritage.

The call will support projects aligned with:
✅ Strategic Direction 3: Promoting and sustaining traditional land-use practices that deliver biodiversity conservation benefits
✅ Strategic Direction 4: Strengthening the conservation and recovery of threatened plant species

📍 Eligible countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia.

💰 Grant size: USD 50,000–180,000
📅 Application deadline: 18 September 2026 (midnight EDT, Washington, D.C. time)

📄 Applications must be submitted through the ConservationGrants portal!

UICN - Centre de coopération pour la Méditerranée IUCN Regional Office for West Asia

🌿 Tiny plant. Big signal.

Today, our endemic species series takes us to the Dinaric mountains, home to Fiala’s milk-vetch (Astragalus fialae), a rare plant found in alpine and subalpine zones of the southern .

Linked to rocky pastures and open mountain habitats, Fiala’s milk-vetch depends on very specific ecological conditions. Like many local and endemic species, it can act as a signal. Its presence, rarity or decline can help us better understand the changes affecting high-mountain grasslands, rocky pastures and the wider landscapes that support both nature and people.

Protecting this species is therefore not only about safeguarding a rare plant. It is also about protecting mountain habitats that support pollinators, store water, reduce erosion and help landscapes remain resilient in a changing climate.

Listening to these signals means investing in knowledge, monitoring and cooperation, and using this evidence to guide decisions for nature and people across the region.

Explore the series on endemic species in the Western Balkans 👉
https://bit.ly/4ftky1g

With sincere thanks to Džana Bordanić and Sabina Trakić for supporting this feature with their knowledge and materials 🙌

| | | Austrian Development Agency

🐾 Did you know that fewer than 50 Balkan lynx are estimated to remain in the wild?

On , we celebrate one of Europe’s rarest large carnivores, and the people working to safeguard its future.

The Balkan lynx is Critically Endangered (CR), surviving mainly in parts of North Macedonia and Albania, with occasional records from neighbouring areas. With its tufted ears, short black-tipped tail and silent movement through forest landscapes, it is one of the most elusive inhabitants of the .

But its rarity is also a warning signal. The Balkan lynx depends on large, connected forest landscapes, healthy prey populations and long-term conservation action across borders. Its presence, decline or recovery tells us something important about the health of the ecosystems that sustain clean water, livelihoods and climate resilience.

Protecting the Balkan lynx is not only about saving this rare species. It is about keeping the Western Balkans’ forest landscapes connected, resilient and alive.
Explore the first story in our series on endemic species in the Western Balkans, on the Balkan lynx 👉 https://bit.ly/4ftky1g

👏 Special recognition to the Balkan Lynx Recovery Programme, marking 20 years of dedicated efforts to conserve this species! A special shout-out to IUCN Members Македонско еколошко друштво and Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania, whose teams have been leading field activities in North Macedonia and Albania to study, monitor and protect the Balkan lynx and its habitat.

EuroNatur | Stiftung KORA | ERA group | | | | Biodiversity Task Force WB | | |

Today, we open a series of local biodiversity stories, starting with the Balkan lynx and Fiala’s milk-vetch, with more species to follow 👉 https://bit.ly/4ftky1g

Stay tuned! 👇

Local species, global signals 🐾

This , we are looking at what biodiversity in the Western Balkans can tell us about climate resilience.

In mountain meadows, rivers, wetlands, forests, grasslands and karst landscapes, nature is already sending signals. Some can be seen in iconic species like the Balkan lynx. Others are hidden in rare plants, freshwater insects and reptiles found only in some parts of the region.

Their presence, decline or recovery tells us something important about the health of the ecosystems that sustain clean water, food, livelihoods and climate resilience.

Today, we open a series of local biodiversity stories, starting with the Balkan lynx and Fiala’s milk-vetch, with more species to follow 👉 https://bit.ly/4ftky1g

Stay tuned!


| Austrian Development Agency | Balkan Lynx Recovery Programme | Македонско еколошко друштво | Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania