Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) play an important role in conservation by bringing environmental issues to the attention of the relevant stakeholders and policy makers, raising public awareness, undertaking conservation actions, conducting research, etc. But how does all this apply to the Albanian context?
To answer this question, we have invited our very own Dr. Taulant Bino to the Conservation Defined podcast series. Together with our moderator, Ols Lafe, Dr. Bino will tackle the topic of the role of CSOs in nature protection and wildlife conservation in Albania.
With an extensive career, spanning over three decades, in the field of nature protection and the conservation of wild birds and their critical habitats, Dr. Bino paints a picture of how CSOs contributing in the field of environment and conservation have evolved throughout the last 30 years as well as the challenges they have faced.
“… there was a huge pressure upon habitats because there was a vacuum from the dictatorship to another society. Institutions were not really functional. There was a vacuum of institutional authority. So people exploited that and there was poverty in the middle… The main issues of that era were illegal logging and poaching. And somehow the civil society organizations had to adapt to the situation”, – says Dr. Bino in regards to the situation created as a result of the fall of the communist regime in Albania.
Other topics featured in this episode include the public’s attitude towards CSOs, the engagement of local communities in environmental initiatives as well as one of the most discussed topics within the environment and conservation “bubble” – the Protected Areas Cause.
To listen to the full interview, choose your favorite platform and click on the following links:
The Conservation Defined series is an AOS production supported by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), within the framework of the “Maintaining the Ecological Integrity and Biodiversity of Divjaka- Karavasta National Park” project.
