“Sinjajevina’s rich ecology and outstanding landscapes is not only a product of nature. It is also the inherited and cumulated work of pastoralist activities over millennia. Indeed, this area represents an increasingly rare symbiosis between human societies and the environment, and it stands as a marvelous example of sustainable development and cultural resilience for Europe and the world as a whole.” – https://sinjajevina.org/38-2/
Sinjajevina is located in Montenegro’s UNESCO Tara River Basin Biosphere Reserve and is the summer grazing location for pastoralists’ cattle and sheep herds. This alpine landscape is unique because of the indigenous cultures that have shaped it throughout time with traditional practices of transhumance. However, despite it’s UNESCO, EMERALD and IPA (Important Plant Area) designations, the government plans to create a military training ground and weapons testing area. For obvious reasons, the locals who use this land are against this project, but they were never asked to be a part of the planning meetings and policy agreements.
If this sounds interesting to you, there is a current call for PhD’s to study the traditional transhumance practices in order to help inform policy and to document the cultural and biological importance of this area. DM me for the word document describing the PhD. Applications due by August 31st 2020.
The Edited Jottings of an Amateur Anthropologist 