Measuring progress in nature conservation against the CBD and PEBLDS

Makmontana advocates for greater care to the CBD decisions in the Macedonian Forestry Strategy

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy of the Republic of Macedonia in February this year undertook a project financed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to formulate the first National Forest Policy and Strategy. Recently, on the 25th October 2005, the first draft National Forest Development Policy was distributed and a National Consultative Meeting was held on which Makmontana participated with a representative.

Makmontana, being already part of the ongoing process as member of the project Steering Committee and through some of its members who are in the Working Group, had already influenced the formulation of the draft National Forest Development Strategy. For example: the Sustainable Forest Management definition was accepted and implemented in the strategy paper and the Ecosystem Approach of the Convention of the Biological Diversity was accepted to apply for the Sustainable Forest Management in the Republic of Macedonia in compliment of Decision V/6 article 2 and Decision III/12: Programme of work for terrestrial biological diversity: Forest biological diversity, Annex: Input to the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests, Related recommendation (b).

In continuum with the aim of Makmontana to have a Forest Strategy that will be more in balance with the needs of the nature conservancy and the international treaties and conventions that apply to forests and nature, on the National Consultative Meeting submitted several propositions to be taken into consideration.
The propositions submitted were:

1. The name of the strategy to be changed to "National Strategy for Sustainable Development of Forestry".

In the section 5 Biological aspects, sub section 5.2 Protection of the Biological Diversity, Makmontana proposes the following measures to be taken into account, that are in correlation to the Decision VI/22: Forest biological diversity and the Programme elements of the Annex: Expanded programme of work on forest biological diversity of the Convention of Biological diversity.

1. To conserve and restore plant and animal diversity and to protect rare and endangered species and ecosystems;
2. To conserve and establish a suitable living environment for all indigenous species;
3. To designate the habitats of particular importance for plants and animals and the areas important for protection of forest biological diversity;
4. To guarantee the conservation and development of aquatic ecosystems in the forest environment;
5. To ensure complete protection of forests in the IUCN Protected Areas I and II.
6. To establish a network of forest gene reserves of forest areas and individual trees in order to conserve and increase biological diversity of forests, based on expert criteria and on appropriate characterization and documentation on indigenous populations of forest genetic resources.