The second Slovenian-Croatian bilateral meeting on management and monitoring of lynx populations was successfully held on 9 December 2020 in the organisation of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Zagreb within the Interreg Slovenia Croatia project “Cross-border cooperation and ecosystem services in long-term conservation of large carnivore populations in northern Dinarides – CARNIVORA DINARICA”.
Namely, one of the specific objectives of the Carnivora Dinarica project is to improve cross-border cooperation on the management of large carnivores in the area of northern Dinarides, with special emphasis on harmonization of monitoring for wolf and lynx.
In addition to representatives of relevant governing bodies and other interest organisations from Slovenia and Croatia, the relevant representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro also participated, as active observers, in the three-hour meeting which was held in the form of a video conference.
Leading lynx experts from the Slovenian Forest Service and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Zagreb presented the current status of lynx management and monitoring in Slovenia and Croatia as well as a joint comparative analysis of existing measures and regimes.
This was followed by a highly engaged discussion of the participants with the objective to identify the challenges and oversights which prevent the cross-border cooperation, and on the proposal for a common protocol. Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro also briefly presented the current state of large carnivores in their regions.
Participants agreed that only coordinated science-based monitoring and cooperation between both countries on all levels will lead to an integrated management and conservation of lynx populations, and also stressed the need to establish a long-term regional platform for cooperation regarding population management of large carnivores.