Wildland fire management-legal framework and institutional set-up in the countries of the Balkan region

Abstract

In general, Wildland fire management depends on the legal framework and institutional set-up in the individual country of the Balkan region: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia . The issue of wildland fire management is regulated by a different number of laws in each country, from four laws in Kosovo* to 16 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. These laws are complemented by other legal acts, such as rulebooks. Wildland fire management is typically regulated by laws in the fields of forestry, environment and nature protection, agriculture, internal affairs and civil protection, and local self governance.The country's institutional set-up is another parameter in the complex field of Wildland fire management. A large number of institutions and organizations are involved in this system. Some of them are government institutions (ministries, directorates, agencies etc.) and some are organizations (volunteer firefighters, associations of private forest owners etc.). The most important institutions and organizations involved in wildland fire management are ministries of forestry, agriculture and the environment; ministries of internal affairs and emergency situations; ministries of defence; local self-governments; associations of volunteer firefighters; and private forest owners. In the framework of these institutions, or independent of them, there are also a large number of agencies, directorates and enterprises. This kind of organizational set-up requires the precise distribution of competencies and the coordination of activities.The large number of Laws that regulate this issue, large number of institutions and organizations as a part of wildland fire management and their improper set-up is one of the reasons for inefficient wildland fire management at national and regional level.