On November 15, 2018, Apuseni Nature Park Administration organized the workshop on sustainable development of the Apuseni Nature Park area at the Four Seasons Hotel in Vârtop. The workshop was supported by the Slovenian Forest Service and Global Nature Fund from Germany.

The main objective of the workshop was to identify and develop pro-biodiversity business concepts that are applicable to the Apuseni Nature Park area in key sectors of the local economy: tourism, animal husbandry, wood exploitation and processing, harvesting and processing of forest fruits, mushrooms and herbs. An analysis to identify the resources required to develop PBBs or to transform existing businesses in PBBs has also been carried out.

37 stakeholders attended the workshop, which included the representatives of business sector in the local community, especially tourism, animal husbandry, forest management and processing of wood, harvesting and processing of forest fruits, mushrooms and medicinal plants, as well as representatives of local public administrations from the Park region and the Bihor County Council.

The interactive activities and discussions at the workshop focused on pro-biodiversity business (PBB) development, a key concept in ECO KARST project, which argues that the functioning of most economic activities depends on certain services that nature provides (ecosystem services). The long term success of any business is depending on maintaining the quality of these services through efforts to preserve nature (biodiversity).

During the workshop, some of the future activities proposed in this project were announced: organizing a workshop on planning the sustainable use of natural resources (and ecosystem services) in the Apuseni Natural Park and organizing a ceremony to award three (3) best pro-diversity businesses in the Apuseni Natural Park area.

The organizers and participants were extremely satisfied with the results of the workshop and they are looking forward to the future activities. Apuseni Nature Park Administration invested huge effort to analyze which resources are crucial for the PBB development in the area, in order to provide necessary support during the planned activities. The Park Administration maintains a continuous communication with all of their stakeholders, which leads to a fruitful cooperation. Thanks to this approach, a high level of stakeholder’s engagement in this area comes as no surprise.