Owning your National Park Management Plan

National Park Management Plans are key planning and strategic documents that provide the basis for effective park management. Taking into account its importance, the obligation for its adoption is prescribed in the Law on Nature Protection, the Laws on the Proclamation of National Parks, and the Decisions on the Establishment of Public Institutions. In addition, the Minister in the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning has adopted a rulebook that precisely determines the content of the management plans.

For several reasons the management of national parks in North Macedonia has been predominantly carried out through quality and highly professional forest management. Such a tradition contributed to making the establishment of management plans as a basic management document difficult. For North Macedonia to be increasingly aligned with international practices in the management of its national parks, the development and adoption of quality management plans is an inevitability that we must accept as soon as possible.

In 2020/2021 with the support of PONT, the Public Institution Galicica National Park (PIGNP) successfully went through the process of developing and adopting a Management Plan mainly with its own staff. This process significantly strengthened the institution’s management capacity, which creates conditions for getting closer to international standards in the management of national parks. It also ensures full ownership of the Management Plan by the park management authority. In this way the institution understands the resources and capacities needed for the implementation of the management plan. They can take ownership of what they implement themselves and what can be better implemented in partnerships with third parties such as NGOs, experts, and the private sector.

Based on this invaluable experience a workshop dedicated to National Park Management Plans was organised by PIGNP in cooperation with PONT and in close coordination with the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning. Through presentations on the significant parts and stages of the development and adoption of the Galicica National Park Management Plan, lessons learned, and experiences were shared with the staff of the other three national parks in North Macedonia. Through several practical tasks/exercises, strategic thinking was initiated about parts of the management of each of the national parks.

The workshop organized by PIGNP was held on 25-26 April 2024, in the premises of the Visitor Centre of Galicica National Park in Ohrid. The workshop was a tremendous success bringing peers together while providing space for constructive and focused discussions. PONT hopes to increasingly support such initiatives while consolidating its grant programme.