ANALYSIS OF THE ORGANIZATION OF PROTECTED SPECIES MONITORING IN SERBIA

Monitoring of protected species within protected areas (PA) is an important component of PA management. In addition to the framework that defines the basic preconditions for PA management and the financing mechanisms that ensure sustainable financing for PA, a structural component of PA management is monitoring of protected species and changes in PA over a long period of time. In Serbia, key monitoring is carried out by the Institute for Nature Conservation as well as by PA managers. This research aimed to identify the management practices utilized for monitoring PA by different groups of managers. To do so, the organization of monitoring of protected species was observed. The survey indicated that monitoring in most PA is conducted by a ranger service, and experts are only present when public enterprises manage national parks. A lack of databases was identified for most PA managers, except the public enterprise Vojvodinašume, and the problems related to reintroduction of species are mostly financial. Therefore, in the next period, it is necessary to improve this aspect of PA management by providing additional financial resources and better organizing the monitoring of protected species in Serbia.