The Regional Environmental Reconstruction Programme for South Eastern Europe REReP Record

Bridging the border between nature and economy Transboundary park seeks way to create jobs while preserving natural treasure and folk traditions Imagine a rural family estate where the house is in one country, the stable and hayloft in another. This can be seen in Zumberak — a natural park on the border between Croatia and Slovenia. Visionary local decision makers hope to develop the region sustainably by promoting traditional viniculture, fruit-growing, cattle breeding and organic farming — all of which could be resources for rural tourism. The Zumberak-Samobor Mountains Nature Park was established in 1999 to protect and promote the natural and cultural heritage of this picturesque corner of South Eastern Europe. Zumberak is divided between Croatia’s Zagrebacka and Karlovacka counties. The park covers 333 square kilometres, and is bordered by the Sava, Kupa and Krka rivers. Although its landscape is partly karstic, the area is not protected under the Karst Ecosystems Conservation project (KEC), a Global Environment Fund initiative that helps protect similar landscapes elsewhere in Croatia. With its proximity to Slovenia, the Croatian capital of Zagreb and the cities of Karlovac and Samobor, there is good potential for economic development. But to date, a lack of industry has left the area around the park largely unpopulated. Insufficient transport infrastructure, scarce state subsidies in agriculture, and a lack of follow-through on rural tourism proposals have driven people away. Without adequate relavent knowledge, local people “can hardly think about sustainable development,” said Kresimir Vrbanac, an expert adviser at the park’s administration. Human smuggling Owing to its dereliction, Zumberak during the past decade has been an attractive area for the illegal transport of people from the Middle East and Eastern Europe to the EU countries. But there are local decision makers who think Zumberak deserves much more. Biserka Vranic is the mayor of Ozalj, a town west of Karlovac that lies partly within the park’s boundaries. A forwardthinking politician, Vranic has pushed through various ideas to get the park on the road to sustainable development based on local natural resources and folk culture. She started tourism and promotion projects with neighbouring communities in Slovenia. To her, the main benefit of these transboundary efforts is in building public awareness about the park’s value. “Unfortunately, local politicians in Croatia often expect direct subsidies, and very soon become disappointed when they realise that the main purpose of these programmes and workshops is awareness raising and a change in point of view,” Vranic said. “But that’s the only way for us to solve the problems as soon as possible — not for the EU but for our own good.” One year ago, a plan for local development of the Zumberak micro-region was compiled as part of an Italian- Croatian bilateral cooperation project on local development policies in Croatia. The plan involved various stakeholders, including the Croatian ministries for tourism and European integration, the national fund for regional development, local governments, and the Italian Ministry of Economy. A partner on the Italian side was the region of Abruzzo. After being harmonised with EU standards, the plan could serve as a basis for implementation of sustainable development in the area, the population of which is about 70,000. As part of another Italian-funded project, five administrators from of the Zumberak-Samobor Mountains Nature Park visited Italy’s National Park Abruzzo in October to receive training in the recruitment and use of park volunteers. Italy has considerable experience developing programmes for involving local volunteers in the management of national parks and reserves, as in the Abruzzo. According to Vrbanac, who participated in the training, Zumberak-Samobor has a tradition of employing volunteer help, including civil service workers who serve in the park in lieu of military conscription. But the training in Abruzzo provided the Croatian park managers with broader experience in dealing with other groups of volunteers, such as unemployed people, students and those with minor disabilities. The training was organised by the REC and L’Umana Dimora Onlus as part of a project to strengthen the capacity of staff members of protected areas in implementing volunteer programmes at parks in Central and Eastern Europe. The project covers Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Turkey and ran from 2005 to 2006. The Italian Trust Fund sponsored the activities with EUR 192,000, allocated through the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land and the Sea. “The experience in Abruzzo proved that we should think seriously about the future of our park,” Vrbanic explained. The primary challenge, though, is to change people’s distrust of voluntary work, Vrbanac pointed out. “As long as people keep seeing non-paid work as shameful and a waste of time, our efforts will be in vain.”

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