National Park Prokletije: Protect, Experience, Explore

Produced a series of informational videos about Montenegro’s National Park Prokletije to compliment a story featured in ECSP New Security Beat.

National Park Prokletije was founded in 2009 and is Montenegro’s newest national park. Located outside Plav and Gusinje in southeastern Montenegro, the park comprises part of the Prokletije mountains and shares borders with Kosovo and Albania. Once threatened by illegal logging, National Park Prokletije is now a haven for wildlife and comprises some of the country’s most representative landscapes, from forests and springs to snow-capped mountains.

While park staff and volunteers have all but eliminated the threat of illegal logging, they are still faced with significant challenges in order to secure funding and win support from the local population. If they succeed, National Park Prokletije could become the next ‘International Peace Park,’ allowing visitors to travel freely between the three Balkan nations of Montenegro, Kosovo and Albania.

Here, Park Director Enes Dresković and volunteers Alsen Radoncić and Irfan Radoncić discuss the obstacles faced in designating and maintaining National Park Prokletije, as well as the importance of the park to the region’s economy and the need to bolster local capacity building and education.