The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), through its Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Europe have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen cooperation on sustainable financing for protected areas across the Western Balkans. The partnership aims to develop long-term financial mechanisms that can improve conservation efforts in a region widely recognised as a global biodiversity hotspot.
Despite its rich biodiversity, the Western Balkans continues to face major challenges in protecting natural ecosystems due to limited funding and weak institutional capacity. Many protected areas struggle to maintain basic operations, highlighting the need for more stable and structured financing solutions that can support long-term environmental management and conservation outcomes.
Through this collaboration, IUCN and TNC plan to design financing models tailored to the specific needs of protected areas. These models are intended to not only address immediate funding gaps but also strengthen institutional capacity and improve the financial sustainability of conservation systems over time, ensuring more effective protection of biodiversity.
Representatives from both organisations emphasised that the initiative is based on long-standing conservation work in the region. TNC highlighted its experience in river protection and the establishment of new protected areas, noting that limited funding and capacity constraints often reinforce each other and require more flexible and adaptive solutions.
IUCN underlined its two decades of engagement in the Western Balkans, focusing on strengthening protected area management and regional cooperation. The organisation stressed that stable financing is essential not only for effective conservation but also for enhancing climate resilience, safeguarding cultural heritage, and supporting sustainable local development.
The partnership also aligns with broader regional and European environmental priorities, including the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans and the EU accession process. Both organisations have called for wider collaboration from additional partners to help scale up efforts and ensure long-term success in protecting the region’s natural ecosystems.
