On November 18, 2025, a workshop dedicated to katuns and the nomination process of the Montenegro katun system for the GIAHS list (Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems) was held in Podgorica, organized within the Interreg MED GIAHS project. The goal of the workshop was to convey the key project results to the participants, as well as the most important information received from international GIAHS experts, towards the finalization of the nomination file for the katuns of Montenegro.
The workshop gathered 63 participants from public sector institutions, protected areas, civil society, experts in the field of cultural and natural heritage, tourism organizations, and travel agencies.
Within the program, GIAHS criteria were presented, along with arguments clearly showing that Montenegrin katuns, as a centuries-old pastoral system, fully comply with these international standards. Activities carried out for protection purposes, as well as the status of the GIAHS application itself, were presented to the participants. Special attention was paid to the draft Dynamic Conservation Action Plan, a mandatory part of the GIAHS nomination, which defines key risks, threats, challenges, and concrete measures for the preservation and development of katuns.
During the discussion, it was shown that katuns are still insufficiently understood in Montenegrin public discourse and that they face numerous administrative, infrastructural, and social obstacles. Participants pointed out that this centuries-old tradition, although a unique part of Montenegro’s identity and cultural landscape, is still not adequately valued or treated with due respect.
Problems of katuns located on state land according to customary law were particularly highlighted. Herders face the fact that, as land users, they can hardly obtain permits for building huts and auxiliary facilities, while at the same time, those who abuse customary law—building weekend houses and other structures even though they are not herders—are gradually pushing out the herders and limiting access to water, pastures, and other resources. Similar obstacles exist in both state and private katuns located in protected areas.
During the workshop, examples were heard of herders who were fined for planting a garden at a katun or repairing a hut, as well as cases of court proceedings initiated by weekend house owners against herders. It was also pointed out that the modernization of infrastructure—such as paving roads—while useful to herders, simultaneously accelerates the devastation of space, encourages unplanned construction, and leads to inappropriate tourist activity that disturbs the peace of both the herders and their herds.
The joint conclusion of the workshop is that katun dwellers, despite their rich knowledge and tradition, are fragmented, distant, with poor mutual communication and too little institutional support, and that without a systemic approach, they cannot respond alone to the challenges threatening the survival of katuns.
The workshop was organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development, and Northern Development, within the project implemented by the Regional Development Agency for Bjelasica, Komovi, and Prokletije with partners from Montenegro—the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Property and the Association of Rural Households of Montenegro—as well as with partners from Europe through the Interreg EURO-MED program.
The katuns of Montenegro are already recognized as valuable intangible cultural heritage, and by the end of the year, their official declaration as a protected intangible cultural property is expected. Entry onto the GIAHS list would confirm their global importance and represent a key step toward the long-term protection and sustainable development of this unique cultural landscape.
