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

chromium smeltery in Jegunovce (previouslyemploying some inhabitants from the northernpart of Šar Planina) due to the recent worldwidefinancial crises. Due to the above, illegal activitiesare frequent, including illegal hunting andfishing, and illegal forest felling.The above activities can hardly meet thegrowing economic demands of the local populationand provide for the growth of welfare,therefore the emigration rate is high, and someof the inhabitants of the region are dependentof fi nancial support from their family membersworking either in towns and cities, or abroad,in the Western European countries (e.g. Germany,Italy), often in construction sector.Abandonment of traditional land-use practicesdue to the rural depopulation trend andabandonment of several mountain settlementsin result of the armed ethnic confl ictin 2001 resulted in decrease in the numberof sheep grazing in the mountain pastures ofthe region, with adverse effect on the localeconomy.The above adverse effects on the conditionof the local economy in this mountain regioncan not be mitigated in the near future by e.g.the rapid development of tourist services, nomatter the exceptional landscape and naturalvalues of these mountain ranges for mountaineering,nature-based tourism or recreation.The capacity of tourist accommodation, concentratedin few bigger summer holiday andwinter skiing resorts is limited, at least comparedto the size of the trilateral region and itsexceptionally high tourist attractiveness.© Google EarthSatellite view 2: Landscape of the afforested central part of Mavrovo National Park.PART 1. LOCAL CONTEXT FOR TRANSBOUNDARY COOPERATION 31