Publication Name

Land resources

Even though theWestern Balkan countries are facing

serious land degradation threats and Albania has

several laws focused on establishing the measures

and structures for preventing land degradation),

in general legislation for land protection is scarce

and insufficient. For the countries other than

Albania, only certain strategic documents pay

attention to land resources either as a distinct sector

or as mentioned within sector-specific policies

on agricultural land, spatial planning, geological

research, and mining.

Besides evaluating the current state of land

resources qualitatively and quantitatively in each

country, these strategic documents define goals

or targets as well as short- and medium-term

measures. These include: preventing soil erosion

and degradation; promoting sustainable land

management in hill and mountain areas; improving

sustainable financial mechanisms for land use and

coastal zone management; developing plans and

programmes to combat desertification; establishing

and strengthening information systems for land

LAND

Albania

Croatia

FYR

Macedonia

Montenegro

Serbia

Kosovo*

Regional

(Joint responses)

Bosnia

and Herzegovina

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/99 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

Policy Evaluation Matrix

Mainstreaming

of adaptation

goals and targets

Adaptation

targets

Availability of

implementation

tools

Mountain

adaptation

considerations

Regional/transboundary

adaptation considerations

Monitoring

and Evaluation

Participation

1- low or not considered at all

2- low or mentioned at least

3- somewhat integrated/present

4- high or fully integrated

Established in 2003, the Environment and

Security Initiative (ENVSEC) recognized climate

change as a core development challenge with

potentially serious implications to international

peace and security. The objective of ENVSEC’s

climate change and security work is to enhance

the capacities of countries (including in South-

Eastern Europe) in the management of security

risks resulting from climate change, many of them

water-related.

The key areas of its assistance are:

1. Providing technical assistance to enhance

knowledge base of climate change impacts and

their interrelation with security: vulnerability

assessments of security impacts of climate

Adaptation to climate change: the ENVSEC Initiative

change, and identification of hotspots

2. Providing support to regional dialogues and

cooperation: information sharing and regional

coordination through regional meetings and

transboundary projects

3. Strengthening relevant policies, institutions and

capacities on the national and regional levels

to address climate change risks and develop

regional adaptation strategies

4. Facilitating risk communication and raising

awareness on security impacts of climate change:

information dissemination, establishment and

support to knowledge networks.

For further information, please visit http://www.

envsec.org/

tools for mainstreaming climate change into ICZM

Plans and Strategies, as well as into coordination

mechanisms committed to this action.

The

project, entitled Integration of Climatic Variability

and Change into National Strategies to Implement

the ICZM Protocol in the Mediterranean (ClimVar

project), was launched in January 2013 within the

MedPartnership.