What’s next for nature after the Dubrovnik Declaration?

By adopting the Declaration, economies endorsed four key regional documents: the Revised Green Agenda Action Plan 2025–2030, the WB6 Climate Adaptation Roadmap, the Regional Action Plan on Plastic Pollution Prevention, and the Outline of the WB6 Biodiversity Strategic Plan. Together, these commitments set measurable goals, including protecting 30% of land and marine areas, with 10% under strict protection, by 2030; developing a regional Biodiversity Strategy aligned with EU Chapter 27; and embedding biodiversity into sectoral agendas, to name a few. Collectively, they align the region with the European Green Deal and the Global Biodiversity Framework, signalling a growing determination to turn shared ambition into concrete action.

The Dubrovnik Declaration underscores that the region’s green transition is gaining momentum and that nature protection lies at its heart. With renewed political will, measurable goals, and strengthened dialogue, the Western Balkans are poised to move from declaration to action.

Restoring balance with nature

Pillar 5 of the Green Agenda, coordinated by IUCN, focuses on the Protection of Nature and Biodiversity, aiming to halt biodiversity loss, restore degraded ecosystems, and place natural capital at the centre of economic and social development. In practice, this means expanding and better managing protected areas, strengthening ecological connectivity, restoring rivers and forests, and integrating biodiversity across policies, from agriculture and energy to infrastructure and tourism.

This is more than a technical shift, it is a change in mindset. It requires governments, businesses, and communities to view nature not as a cost, but as an ally in achieving resilience, prosperity, and well-being.

A region rich in nature, and in challenges

The Western Balkans is home to some of Europe’s richest ecosystems, from the primaeval forests of the Dinaric Arc, the karst landscapes of Herzegovina, to the wetlands of Skadar Lake and the mountain ranges of Šar Planina and Prokletije. Yet, this natural wealth is under mounting pressure. Habitat loss, pollution, illegal logging, and unregulated tourism continue to erode biodiversity, while climate change, through droughts, floods, and wildfires, amplifies the strain.

Encouragingly, several economies are expanding networks of protected areas, advancing Natura 2000 preparations, and building cross-border conservation partnerships, from the Prespa-Ohrid transboundary region to the Dinaric-Balkan-Pindos Large Carnivore Initiative. These efforts show that collaboration delivers real results.

Nature protection is still too often seen as a barrier to growth, yet the opposite is true: healthy ecosystems underpin economies. Restoring forests, wetlands, and soils creates jobs, strengthens water and food security, and builds resilience to climate impacts. In a region where livelihoods depend heavily on natural resources, investing in nature means investing in people.

GIZ / Aleksandar Kebara

Partnerships that connect nature and people

The implementation of the Green Agenda relies on regional cooperation. When it comes to the Pillar 5, the Biodiversity Task Force for the Western Balkans (BDTF WB), established under the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and coordinated by IUCN, provides a unique platform for aligning national efforts, exchanging knowledge, and engaging with European and global processes.

As the Global Biodiversity Framework calls for whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches, the BDTF WB offers a model of how regional collaboration can translate global goals into national and local action. By recognising the economic and social value of nature, Pillar 5 turns conservation into an engine of inclusive growth, benefiting both people and ecosystems.

From commitment to implementation

The path ahead is ambitious. To make the Green Agenda’s nature goals a reality, economies will need to mobilise financing, strengthen governance, and embed biodiversity across all sectors. This includes aligning national biodiversity strategies with the Global Biodiversity Framework, improving data and monitoring, and ensuring that communities are active partners in implementation.

As the region moves from political commitment to practical action, the Dubrovnik Declaration provides renewed momentum and a shared vision for the protection of nature and biodiversity. Guided by science, partnerships, and the collective voice of the Biodiversity Task Force for the Western Balkans, IUCN stands ready to support governments and stakeholders in transforming this momentum into measurable progress, for nature, for people, and for the shared future of the Western Balkans.

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IUCN’s work on the Green Agenda of the Western Balkans is supported through two projects: 

• Greening the Western Balkans, financially supported by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA); and 
• The ADAPT 2.0: Nature-based Solutions for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in the Western Balkans, funded by Sweden.