Broj: 75/26
Podgorica, 01.07.2026.
To:
Government of Montenegro
Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Northern Development
Public Enterprise National Parks of Montenegro
Environmental Protection Agency
Subject: Urgent call to prohibit sanitary and salvage logging in Prokletije National Park
Introduction
We, the undersigned civil society organizations, scientific experts, and concerned members of the public, express our deep concern regarding plans and ongoing initiatives to conduct sanitary and salvage logging within Prokletije National Park, as well as in other national parks.
Prokletije represents one of the most ecologically valuable and least disturbed mountain ecosystems in Europe. As a protected area of national importance and part of the wider Dinaric biodiversity hotspot, the park plays a crucial role in safeguarding forests, wildlife habitats, water resources, and climate resilience.
While sanitary logging is often justified as a forest health measure in commercially managed forests, extensive scientific evidence demonstrates that logging interventions in protected forests of protected areas such as national parks frequently cause great ecological damage to the subject of conservation such as rare and endangered species, forest continuity and long term ecological resilience. Applying salvage logging within the core zones of our wildest national park could lead to the loss of recognition of these territories according to the IUCN standards for being considered a national park.
For this reason, we call on the official institutions to immediately halt any sanitary or salvage logging operations within the territory of Prokletije National Park and to prioritize conservation-based forest management.
KEY CONCERNS:
1. Protected areas must prioritize natural processes
National parks are established primarily to protect ecosystems and allow natural dynamics to occur without human interference. Dead wood, fallen trees, and natural disturbances, including the bark beetle itself, are integral parts of forest ecosystems and contribute to biodiversity, soil formation, and nutrient cycling.
2. Dead wood is essential for biodiversity
Scientific research shows that up to one third of forest species depend on dead wood habitats, including insects, fungi, birds, and mammals. Removing such material through salvage logging significantly reduces habitat availability for many rare and protected species.
3. Sanitary logging often masks commercial timber extraction
Across Europe, “sanitary” or “salvage” logging has frequently been used as a mechanism to extract timber from protected forests under the justification of forest health. This practice risks undermining the conservation purpose of national parks.
4. Logging infrastructure causes long-term ecosystem damage
Even limited logging operations require heavy machinery, road access, and timber transport, which can lead to soil erosion, forest fragmentation, and disturbance to wildlife—impacts that persist for decades.
5. Prokletije forests are particularly sensitive ecosystems
The forests of Prokletije are characterized by old-growth stands, steep terrain, and high biodiversity values. Interventions in such landscapes carry a heightened risk of destabilizing fragile ecological systems.
6. Climate resilience depends on intact forests
Undisturbed forests are among the most effective natural carbon sinks and play a key role in regulating local climate and water cycles. Removing biomass from protected forests diminishes forest carbon stocks, undermines humus formation, reduces water holding capacity, and contradicts Montenegro’s climate and biodiversity commitments.
7. International conservation commitments
Montenegro has committed to protecting biodiversity through international frameworks, including the Convention on Biological Diversity and European conservation initiatives. Allowing logging in national parks undermines these commitments and weakens the credibility of protected area management.
OUR REQUESTS
In light of the above concerns, we respectfully call on the official institutions to:
- Immediately suspend all sanitary and salvage logging activities in Prokletije National Park.
- Conduct transparent, science-based assessments of forest conditions with the participation of independent international experts and the scientific community.
- Strengthen protection measures to preserve old-growth forests and natural forest dynamics within the park.
- Ensure public transparency and participation in all decisions affecting the management of Prokletije National Park.
CONCLUSION
Prokletije National Park represents a natural heritage of exceptional value for Montenegro and for Europe. Decisions taken today will determine whether its forests remain resilient, biodiverse, and ecologically functional for generations to come, and whether the area continues to be internationally recognized as a national park according to international standards—or risks losing that status and the credibility associated with this globally respected designation.
We therefore urge the responsible institutions to act in accordance with the core mission of national parks: the protection of nature and natural processes, and to refrain from authorizing logging activities that could compromise these values.
Protecting Prokletije is not only an environmental responsibility—it is a commitment to future generations.
| Name and surname | Institution | |
| Jovana Janjušević | Executive Director of the Center for Protection and Research of Birds, Montenegro | jovana.janjušević@czip.me |
| Gabriel Schwaderer | Executive Director of the EuroNatur Foundation, Germany | gabriel.schwaderer@euronatur.org |
| Milan Ružić | Executive Director of the Society for the Protection and Study of Birds of Serbia | milan.ruzic@pticeserbije.rs |
| Željka Leljak Gracin | Executive Director of the BIOM | zeljka.leljak.gracin@biom.hr |
| Aleksandër Trajçe | Executive Director of Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA) | a.trajce@ppnea.org |
| Aleksandra-Anja Dragomirović | Center for Environment (CZZS), Bosnia and Herzegovina | anja.dragomirovic@czzs.org |
| Ing. Martin Mikoláš, Ph.D. | Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences | Czech University of Life Sciences Prague | mikolasm@fld.czu.cz |
| prof. Ing. Miroslav Svoboda, Ph.D | Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences | Czech University of Life Sciences Prague | svobodam@fld.czu.cz |
| Ing. Krešimir Begović, Ph.D. | Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences | Czech University of Life Sciences Prague | begovic@fld.czu.cz |
| Jakob Pavlin, Ph.D. | Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences | pavlinj@fld.czu.cz |
| Abdulla Diku, Ph.D. | ILIRIA, Albania | info@iliria-al.org |
| Assoc. Prof. Dr. Momchil Panayotov | University of Forestry, Dendrology Dept., Sofia, Bulgaria | panayotov.m@ltu.bg |
| Tzvetan Zlatanov, PhD | Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, BULGARIA | tmzlatanov@iber.bas.bg |
| Prof. Dr. Jörg Müller | Chair for Conservation Biology and Forest Ecology, University Würzburg, Germany | Joerg.mueller@uni-wuerzburg.de |
| Prof. Dr. Sebastian Seibold | Ecosystem Resilience Group, Ulm University, Germany | Sebastian.seibold@uni-ulm.de |
| Prof. Dr. Simon Thorn | Philipps University Marburg, Germany | Simon.Thorn@hlnug.hessen.de |
| Prof. Dr. Dalibor Ballian | University of Sarajevo – Faculty of Forestry, Bosnia and Herzegovina | balliandalibor9@gmail.com |
