Starting from June, 2017, CENER21 will implement the project Achieving biodiversity conservation through creation, effective management and spatial designation of protected areas and capacity building, supported by UNEP and GEF.

The general objective of the project is to support the expansion of the protected areas system in Bosnia and Herzegovina and build capacities for effective management of biodiversity.

Only 2% of the BiH territory is under formal and legal protection. UNEP and CENER implement the project aiming to double this territory. The plan is to include 9 new areas: 1. Bjelašnica-kanjon rijeke Rakitnice- Treskavica-Visočica, 2. Botanical reserve Mediteranetum, Neum, 3. Livanjsko polje, 4. Orjen-Bijela Gora, 5. Cave of the Mokranjska Miljacka Spring, 6. Cave system Govještica, 7. Cave system Vjetrenica, 8. Tišina, 9. Zvijezda.

Within the 3 years, this project is expected to increase national protected area network in the country and management effectiveness and capacity as a tool for biodiversity conservation and protection of threatened species and habitats.

The proposed long-term solution for biodiversity conservation in BiH is a reconfigured system of protected areas that is designed to protect biodiversity – while optimizing its ecological service functions – under an effective management regime that responds to the needs of local communities and targets main drivers of biodiversity loss in the country.

Main project partners and core users, in accordance with their responsibilities for nature protection, are Ministry of Spatial Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology of Republika Srpska, Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism. Other key stakeholders are Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic Institute for Protection of Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage of Republika Srpska, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of Republika Srpska, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and forestry, Federal Ministry of Spatial Planning, Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund of Republika Srpska, Environmental Protection Fund of the Federation of BiH.