News Feature

Croatia signs up to Balkans conservation agreement

30 May 2008

Croatia is set to enhance the management of five marine protected areas in the Balkans as part of an agreement with five neighbouring countries to boost wildlife conservation in the area, it has been revealed.

The Croatian government has agreed with its Albanian, Bosnian, Montenegrin, Serbian and Slovenian counterparts to create 13 protected areas in the Balkans and extend nine others in the Dinartic Arc, Reuters reports.

Stretching from Trieste in Italy to Tirana in Albania, the Arc hosts bear, lynxes and wolves as well as having large areas of forest and a freshwater ecosystem regarded as the richest in the Mediterranean.

Conservation charity WWF, which has been working on the agreement with the six countries, said it will bring them closer together.

"This network will fill a crucial gap in a pan-European network stretching from France to Greece, ensuring shelter for threatened species as well as corridors for species' mobility," WWF Mediterranean director Paolo Lombardi told the news organisation.

Visitors to Croatia could visit Zagreb zoo, which hosts bears, lynxes and wolves among other animals.

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