Members of Slovenia Forest Service and the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development met up on Friday, 15th November to visit the deep and extensive forests of the Kočevsko region, where we one of the smallest World Heritage component part can be found. This is the virgin forest Krokar with its buffer zone in the forest reserve Borovec. The team visited the buffer zone of this forest, which was never logged and admired the climax beech forest perched on top of a high cliff above the Kolpa valley. The view of the fog-covered old-growth forest was breathtaking. The trip continued with a loop around the wider area and a descent into the Kolpa Valley.
Krokar Situational Analysis workshop
On the following day, Saturday, 16th November, a workshop took place in Kočevje to define the current situation and the needs and potentials of the local stakeholders with the aim to better understand and link the protection of the outstanding natural heritage with the local sustainable development. The workshop utilised the method Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation. This method allowed the group of local and national stakeholders to discuss the situation in a comprehensive and coordinated manner, while allowing everyone to voice their opinions.
The workshop allowed the collection of different views, opinions, and the wishes for future development, as well as some existing and potential conflicts, which will aid in the preparation of the outputs and deliverables within the thematic work package 1 and 2. With this workshop, the project also initiated the active stakeholder engagement activities in Slovenia, which will now run until the end of the project.
