sharr/šar planina – korab – dešat/deshat - UNEP Vienna ISCC

1.2.3. Local economic contextThe land-use and economic developmentpattern on each side of the state borders inthe proposed transboundary protected area“Sharr/Šar Planina – Korab – Dešat/Deshat”is very similar. There is almost no industryin this mountain region (except for somemines, gravel quarries and the chromiumsmeltery in Jegunovce), and the main sectorof the local economy in the mountains isextensive agriculture. The inhabitants of thismountain region can be best described asthe predominantly rural population with lowincome, and seriously affected by structuralunemployment, while the situation in the adjacentplain or foothill areas is considerablybetter. Thus, the territories in the region ofthe proposed transboundary protected areabelong to the less developed and poorest regionsof Albania, Kosovo - UN administeredterritory under UN Security Council resolution1244/99 and the Former Yugoslav Republicof Macedonia.Moreover, the civil war and the breakdown of the former Socialist Federative Republicof Yugoslavia resulted in immediatetemporary decrease of welfare and livingstandards in Kosovo (Kosovo - UN administeredterritory under UN Security Councilresolution 1244/99) and Macedonia, due tothe overall unstable political situation affectingthe economy of almost all former parts ofthe SFRJ. Last, but not least, the economyin Kosovo was further disturbed in result ofthe war in 1999, while the armed ethnic conflict in the northernmost border region of theFYR of Macedonia in 2001 had its adverseeffect on the traditional land-use practices© Ljupco Melovski© Ljupco MelovskiSheep-fold Vakuf on Ceripašina, central part of Šar Planina (left) and the local breed of shepherdingdog – Šarplaninec (right).PART 1. LOCAL CONTEXT FOR TRANSBOUNDARY COOPERATION 29