On November 16, a working meeting between the CNVP North Macedonia team and the Sar Mountain National Park team was held in Tetovo. The purpose of the meeting was to jointly discuss the envisaged project activities for the coming period within the framework of the project ‘’Sustainable use of natural resources for transboundary socio-economic development of protected areas in North Macedonia and Albania (Shar, Korab-Koritnik and Albanian Alps)’’.

At the beginning of the meeting, CNVP introduced the project team and emphasized the importance of collaboration with Sar Mountain National Park (SMNP) as a strategic partner in the further implementation of the project, aiming for a joint contribution to the preservation of biodiversity but also the socio-economic development of Sar Mountain and the entire region.

A short presentation about the concrete project was made by the CNVP team, emphasizing the main project milestones, expected results and impacts, beneficiaries, and partners. It was clarified that the focus of the project is the entire region of mountains Shar, Korab- Koritnik until the Albanian Alps, emphasizing that Sar Mountain is a very important part of the project's focus.

In this initial phase, the project’s focus will be on conducting research activities in three dimensions, such as biodiversity, tourism, and non-wood forest products, while the obtained information will serve as an important input for derived actions that will follow.

The Sar Mountain National Park, thanked the CNVP team for their support and emphasized the further cooperation and joint initiatives in the direction of preserving the Sar Mountain. SMNP committed to sharing all the research done so far on Sar Mountain, while emphasizing that the institution is attempting to have a complete picture of the Sharri region.

Both teams reviewed in detail the draft annual program 2023 of the SMNP and extracted concrete activities to be supported by CNVP during the upcoming year. Hereby, both parties showed willingness for the concrete activities for the next period to be streamlined into a joint memorandum of cooperation, which will be signed in the near future.

The project ’Sustainable use of natural resources for transboundary socio-economic development of protected areas in North Macedonia and Albania (Korab-Koritnik, Shar and Albanian Alps)’’ is implemented by CNVP, with financial support from PONT. The project aims to promote sustainable use of the natural resources, monitoring, and management of important habitats and species through the provision of and support to local communities for creating a better socio-economic life in harmony with nature.