New Progress Report: Strengthening Transnational Collaboration for Large Carnivores in the Dinaric-Balkan-Pindos Region

The Dinaric-Balkan-Pindos region is one of Europe’s biodiversity hotspots. It is home to four species of large carnivore: the brown bear, wolf, lynx (including the critically endangered Balkan lynx) and golden jackal. These species have extensive ranges that span several EU and non-EU member states, necessitating transnational coordination of management and monitoring. However, cooperation between the region's governments remains challenging due to political tensions.

For this reason, the Dinaric-Balkan-Pindos initiative was established in 2020, with representatives from eight countries in the region. In 2021 a first background report on large carnivore management, monitoring, threats and conflicts in the region was produced. Since then, the initiative has developed further and has welcomed two new countries: Bulgaria and Greece. 

The progress report provides an updated overview of the status of large carnivores in the region, highlighting changes since 2021. It was developed with input from government representatives, the Initiative’s Advisory Board, including experts from each country, and in close collaboration with the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe and the Bern Convention Secretariat. It includes updated data on population status and trends, legislation, management practices, threats, and conflicts, as well as ongoing efforts in capacity building and the development of joint principles for future cooperation. 

The findings, especially on livestock protection, are of direct relevance to the CoCo project. CoCo project partner adelphi is involved in both projects, and the CoCo project partners University of Ljubljana, Slovenia and Callisto, Greece have been directly involved in supporting data collection for the report.