North Macedonia
Meeting in Skopje to Advance Regional Strategy for the Balkan Lynx
A key regional meeting held in Skopje, North Macedonia, in early June 2025 has brought together experts and representatives from the respective ministries from across the Balkans to work on a joint conservation strategy for the critically endangered Balkan lynx.
© BLRP
From 3 to 4 June 2025, 38 participants from across the Balkan lynx range—including North Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, Bulgaria, and Bosnia & Herzegovina—gathered in Skopje for a strategic regional meeting, including a field trip to Mavrovo National Park – the main habitat of the Balkan lynx. The focus of the meeting was to work together on a Regional Conservation Strategy for the Balkan lynx. As the Balkan lynx is listed under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) since February 2024, a key action is the creation of a collaborative Regional Strategy to ensure its protection and conservation.
The meeting was hosted by MES and co-led by Iskra Stojanova (UNEP) and Urs Breitenmoser (IUCN Cat Specialist Group) with remote contributions from Clara Nobbe (CMS) and Marta Medlinska (Bern Convention) underscoring the international significance of the initiative.
This strategy is the result of an inclusive process supported by the BLRP, which played a key role in the preparatory work leading up to this physical meeting. Initial preparations were made during the BLRP Partner Meeting in November 2024, followed by a series of four online consultations involving all range countries in April and May 2025 to develop the draft of the strategy presented in the physical meeting. This joint approach ensures that the final document reflects shared priorities and region-specific conservation needs. While the coming months will focus on refining the draft and completing final reviews, the goal remains clear: to secure a unified and science-based path forward for safeguarding the Balkan lynx and its fragile habitat.
