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Overview
The Balkans is a region of southeastern Europe named after the Balkan Mountains, a range running through the center of Bulgaria into eastern Serbia. The region is approximately 550,000 square kilometers (212,000 square miles) in size with a population of approximately 55 million. The area consists of numerous countries including Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria. Mountains occupy a significant portion of the landscape. The climate of the Balkans ranges from moderate continental inland to Mediterranean on the coasts. Forests in the region vary depending upon location. Inland forests are typical of Central Europe consisting of oak, beach, spruce, fir, and pine, whereas the southern coastal forests consist of evergreens. The area is also home to the Balkan mixed forest, an ecosystem of relatively high biodiversity and a wealth of endemic plant species.
The Balkans face numerous challenges in biodiversity conservation and sustainable forest management. High levels of exploitation and logging have affected many forests in the region and sustainable resource management is hindered by socioeconomic and political instability. Illegal logging is also prevalent and considered a major threat to Balkan forests.
Given the scope of challenges to forest management in the region, the US Forest Service has contributed valuable input into discussions and strategies for combating illegal logging and provided training on techniques for timber sales and contracting mechanisms.
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Regional Illegal Logging Workshop
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS), in cooperation with Department of State, Department of Justice, and World Bank, conducted a four-day regional workshop on combating illegal logging May 14th-17th, 2007 in Budapest, Hungary. Participants included forestry officials, law enforcement officers, and prosecutors from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Hungary. Instructors shared strategies, approaches and tools on how most effectively to combat illegal logging.
Topics covered included the President’s Initiative Against Illegal Logging (PIAIL); follow-up to the 2005 Europe and Northern Asia Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (ENA-FLEG) St. Petersburg Ministerial; development of national action plans; governmental methods for preventing illegal logging (boundaries, timber designation, building a timber sale contract, finance, sale administration, documentation, transportation of logs, law enforcement protocol in timber sale administration, and suspension and debarment); investigation of illegal logging incidents; educating the public and judiciary; improving transparency; building partnerships with local communities; money laundering; and establishing contacts with counterparts in neighboring countries.
The course not only conveyed U.S. best practices and methods, but also provided a neutral forum for officials from the countries of the former Yugoslavia (along with Hungarian and Bulgarian counterparts) to discuss issues of mutual interest and to establish relationships with counterparts form neighboring countries and jurisdictions.
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Bosnia and Herzegovina - Joint Annual Forestry Conference
In November, 2007, USFS participated in the Third Joint Annual B&H Forestry Conference in Sarajevo, organized by USAID, World Bank, and several in-country partners. A USFS specialist provided a half-day workshop within the conference on Timber Sale Design, Timber Marking, Cruise and Appraisal, Timber Sale Contracts, Sale Administration Team, Certification of Sales Administration Personnel, Documentation, Timber Tracking, Law Enforcement, and others. Topics for the workshop were identified through discussions with specialists from B&H who attended the regional illegal logging workshop in Budapest, Hungary, in May 2007.
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