Enhancing nature-based solutions in Serbia

This scoping study has been developed to enable better understanding of the Serbian national context, in terms of the institutional, policy and legal framework and reveal the key challenges for the application of Nature-Based Solutions along with the recommendations and entry points for the mainstreaming of Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) into national disaster risk reduction and climate change policies and strategies. The Western Balkans is one of the most vulnerable regions in Europe in terms of climate change and environmental impacts. Serbia faces major environmental challenges and climate-related risks, calling for a stronger agenda to improve national resilience.

This study finds that the policies in Serbia regarding NbS are still fragmented and cross-sectoral mainstreaming is lacking. Despite many attempts to mainstream climate change issues into other policies (even within the environmental sector), the recognition of climate change impacts on different sectors remains insufficient. Some nature-based concepts appear sporadically among actions recommended in Serbia’s strategies and several newly developed strategic documents made clear reference to NbS. However, to derive maximum benefits from the existing natural phenomena and ecosystems in Serbia, NbS need to be mainstreamed and their application strongly linked with other sectoral measures and plans.