important plant areas in central and eastern europe - hirc.botanic.hr ...

IPAs in South East EuropeIPAs in south east EuropeSouth east Europe is one of the most diverse regions in Europefor wild plants and their habitats, which occur in a mosaic ofmountains, forest, grasslands, river gorges, lakes and coastlines.TheBalkan and Rhodope Mountains are recognised as Centres ofPlant Diversity.Projects to identify the best plant sites in this region have alreadybegun through pilot work to collate existing data, identifypotential sites, and to assess existing information on land use,threats and plant conservation policy.ReferencesIndividual country report references aregiven adjacent to country accountsVangelis J. et al. 2004, Potential IPAs in SouthEast Europe. (Oral Presentation at SEEside event at the Planta Europa IVConference)(www.nerium.net/plantaeuropa)IUCN & WWF, 1994, Centres of PlantDiversity.Background to the ProjectNational coordinators and teams in Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia (FYR), andSerbia and Montenegro have identified several hundred IPAs and 37 cross-border sites inthe Regional Environmental Centre’s (REC) ‘Plants Along the Borders’ Project, which aimsto enhance the co-operation between south eastern European countries throughundertaking joint actions for plant conservation. In Serbia, the national IPA team,coordinated by the University of Belgrade, have identified many of their IPAs as part ofan ongoing project.ChallengesThe main challenges to the identification of sites were the age of the available data, thelack of national Red Lists, the lack of vegetation mapping in many countries, and theshort time available for the pilot work.ThreatsHabitat loss through human activity in wetland, coastal and marine areas is very high, asare the effects of agricultural intensification.The main threats in the mountains areforestry exploitation, burning, over-grazing and over-exploitation of some of the wildfood and medicinal plants.Recommendations• Further funding is required for field investigation, mapping and to engage morestakeholders• National Red Lists using IUCN criteria need to be completed and integrated intoEuropean and global Red Lists and legal documents• Awareness raising among specialists and the public• Local community involvement in site management and protection• Engage with government agencies, representatives of state-owned economies and theprivate sector to improve strategic planning and conservation action• Use IPA data to engage with Pan-European and global initiatives67