Map / Lithuania

Welcome! Here you will find information about Lithuania on:

  • Protected Areas management
  • The Training and capacity Needs Assessment reports
  • Capacity building initiatives/projects

Protected Areas management

Most Protected Areas in Lithuania belong to IUCN categories I, IV and V: strict nature reserves, national parks and regional parks. All Protected Areas cover 15,64% of the national territory (1.021.471,16 ha). Strict reserves, national and regional parks have Administrations.

The Ministry of Environment (Protected Areas and Landscape Department; State Service for Protected Areas under the Ministry of Environment) and the Ministry of Culture (Protected Areas and Cultural Heritage Division) are the institutions responsible for the management of Protected Areas in Lithuania at a national level, as well as municipalities at a local level.

The Training and capacity Needs Assessment

The Training and capacity needs assessment report (2014) The ”Assessment of capacity development needs of Protected Area staff in Eastern Europe. Lithuania” is based on a survey that has been filled in by the staff employed in the national Protected Area management system of Lithuania in 2013.

The results of the surveys provide detailed information on staffing profiles, training provided in the past three years and structured assessments of competence, based on which recommendations have been developed.

The preparation and publication of this report was supported by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Bundesamt für Naturschutz: BfN) as a component of the project ‘Capacity Building Plans for Efficient Protected Area Management in Eastern Europe’ (Number: Z1.3-544 11-63/12 (FKZ: 3512 82 1800)).

The report is available for download at the end of the article.

Previous capacity needs assessments were conducted in:

2004 – within the Project “Raising Qualification Skills for Protected Areas Managers” (Project no. 2004/016-925-03-02)

2007 – within the Project “Institutional strengthening and modernization of state protected areas service administrations” (EuropeAid/114746/D/SV/LT)

2012 – only some updating to the analysis made in 2004

Capacity building initiatives/projects

2010 – 2013, The professional development, general and special competence rise of specialists in protected areas, State Service for Protected Areas under the Ministry of the Environment (Project no. No. VP1-4.1-VRM-03-V-01-057)

About the project:

Based on the initiative within Skills Development of the Protected Areas’ Staff” Project, this one aimed the renewal and publishing of long and short-term training programs, and the organization of trainings according to the updated programs for specialists of Protected Areas.

Service provider: Public Institution “Baltic Environmental Forum (BEF)”

Contacts: Žymantas Morkvėnas and Kęstutis Navickas – here.

2006 – 2007, “Skills Development of the Protected Areas’ Staff”, State Service for Protected Areas under the Ministry of the Environment

About the project:

A training needs analysis, 8 national training programmes, training courses on 24 national topics and study tours to foreign countries.

For details about the project, click here (in lithuanian).

2004, ”Raising Qualification Skills for Protected Areas Managers” (Project no. 2004/016-925-03-02)

About the project:

Analysis of institutional capacities finalized with an action plan seen as a national educational program for Protected Areas staff training, as well as training programs and training materials programs on: project preparation, environmental education, guiding visitors, effective administration of management, organisation of public hearings and signing agreements (contacting) with private landowners, development of collaborative management and ecological tourism, etc

For details about the project, click here.

Similar projects are available here.

For other initiatives in the field of capacity building for Protected Areas that should be included here, please write to us at office@propark.ro (state within the subject of the message: Capacity Building Section – Lithuania).