From endorsement to action for nature in the Western Balkans

The discussion followed the endorsement of the 2026 Green Agenda Ministerial Declaration, which references the Western Balkans Six Biodiversity Strategic Plan 2030 and the Western Balkans Six Forest Landscape Restoration Plan. Together, the two frameworks provide a regional pathway for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem restoration and form core elements of Pillar 5 – Protection of Nature and Biodiversity of the Green Agenda, coordinated by IUCN. Both were developed with strong input and ownership from the Western Balkans Six. 

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"The challenge before us today is no longer defining the direction, but ensuring effective implementation, coordination and long-term delivery of these commitments,” said Erinda Toska, Programme Manager at the Austrian Development Agency. “Projects can provide expertise, financing and technical assistance, but sustainable change can only be achieved when institutions have the capacity, mandate and resources to lead and sustain the process themselves.” 

Bringing together representatives of Germany, Croatia, the European Commission, Sweden and Austria, followed by an exchange with Western Balkans representatives and regional partners, the session examined what implementation will require in practice. 

From regional targets to action on the ground

A central message from the discussion was that conservation and restoration cannot be implemented in isolation from climate resilience, disaster-risk reduction or land-use planning. Panellists highlighted ecological connectivity and intra-regional networks as essential to conservation and restoration, while stressing that these considerations need to become part of decision-making across sectors, including agriculture and land use. 

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“The next step is to turn the two regional frameworks into practical systems for delivery at landscape level. That means linking protected-area planning, Natura 2000 alignment, rural-development instruments, land-user cooperation, monitoring and long-term financing. The challenge is not only to restore more hectares, but to build systems that can maintain them,” said Jure Čuš, Programme Manager for EU Policies at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture. 

This means identifying landscapes, habitats and species where action is most urgent; strengthening the ecological and management basis of protected and conserved areas; improving cooperation among authorities, municipalities, farmers, land users and communities; and using monitoring not simply for reporting, but to guide management and future investment. 

Croatia’s experience provided another perspective on the importance of regional cooperation and ecological connectivity, particularly as the Western Balkans move closer to the European Union. State Secretary Tanja Radić Lakoš was invited to reflect on the mechanisms of intra-regional cooperation that proved most durable through Croatia’s own transition to EU membership, and on how cooperation around connected ecosystems can support the Western Balkans today. 

Restoration that lasts

Moving from targets to successful restoration will also require a change in how projects are designed. Panellists stressed that interventions need sound ecological preparation, long-term maintenance and strong local ownership rather than ending when individual project funding expires.  

“Successful implementation of the Forest Landscape Restoration Plan will combine strong science, local ownership and regional cooperation. When those elements come together, restoration becomes both more effective and more sustainable,” stressed Linn Jansson, Programme Manager at the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency - Sida, while also highlighting Nature-based Solutions that can deliver simultaneously for biodiversity, water security, climate adaptation, disaster-risk reduction and livelihoods. 

Sida’s experience in the region points to several practical lessons: restoration should start from robust evidence and local ecological conditions; communities and local actors need to have a meaningful role and the capacity to lead implementation; and regional learning can help the Western Balkans avoid repeating mistakes and accelerate successful approaches. 

Financing biodiversity through the transition

Implementation will also depend on whether biodiversity becomes part of wider investment and policy decisions rather than remaining confined to the environmental sector.

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“Biodiversity and climate protection must also be taken into account in other areas of the EU alignment process, such as infrastructure and financial flows,” said Bettina Hagedorn, Parliamentary State Secretary at Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. “Now it is important to put this into practice.” 

She pointed to the Biodiversity Strategic Plan 2030 as a framework for mainstreaming biodiversity into policy and investment decisions and for using EU funding, partnerships and domestic green investment to advance biodiversity and climate objectives. At the same time, participants noted that current financing for biodiversity remains insufficient and that available EU financing instruments need to be used more strategically and for clearly defined purposes. 

Institutions, data and cooperation will determine delivery

The discussion repeatedly returned to the institutions expected to deliver these commitments. Governance, institutional coordination and capacity development were identified not as supporting issues, but as prerequisites for successful implementation.

Erinda Toska pointed to the need for stronger biodiversity monitoring and reporting systems, regional peer learning, technical expertise, and institutional capacity to access and manage financing. She also argued for strengthening existing coordination structures rather than creating new ones. 

The Biodiversity Task Force for the Western Balkans was highlighted as one such existing mechanism. By bringing together the Task Force, academia, civil society and technical experts, the regional platform has supported dialogue, knowledge exchange and consensus-building, including around the strategic documents now endorsed in Žabljak. The next challenge is to use that regional cooperation to support implementation and scale up biodiversity action. 

Effective data and monitoring will be equally important. Participants stressed the need for systems capable of showing the state of biodiversity and tracking progress both domestically and across the Western Balkans Six. Two practical questions remain particularly important: how regional commitments will be translated into domestic policy and legislation, and how progress against those commitments will be monitored and reported at regional level. 

The Žabljak endorsement has therefore established a shared direction. The next phase will depend on whether that direction can be translated into connected landscapes, better-managed conservation areas, sustained restoration, stronger institutions, credible monitoring and financing that lasts beyond individual projects. For the Western Balkans, the task now is to move from regional agreement to measurable results for nature and people.

Relevant links:

• Western Balkans Six endorse the 2026 Green Agenda Ministerial Declaration in Žabljak 
• Western Balkans Six Biodiversity Strategic Plan 2023
• Western Balkans Six Forest Landscape Restoration Plan 
• From global commitments to regional action – policy framework 

IUCN ECARO related projects:

• Greening the Western Balkans  
• Nature Aligned Western Balkans