Creating and nurturing partnerships between protected area managers and mountain enthusiasts.

It sounds normal, feasible, necessary, important… And it truly is — and we have a beautiful example: on Galičica.

The presentation explores the importance of establishing long-term partnerships between protected area managers and the community of mountain lovers.
Through the example of cooperation between Galičica National Park and the Patagonia Alpine Club – Ohrid, it will demonstrate how trust, coordinated activities, and joint initiatives can significantly contribute to better nature management, preservation of biodiversity, promotion of natural heritage, and the development of sustainable adventure tourism within protected areas.
The presentation will feature Andon Bojadži and Antonio Dodevski, who will share their personal experiences and examples from practical collaboration.

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Andon Bojadži is a graduate forestry engineer with more than three decades of professional experience in protected area management. Since 1991, he has been part of the team at Galičica National Park, where he has been actively working on improving forest quality, monitoring biodiversity, and developing natural resource management plans.
Throughout his career, Bojadži has participated in numerous scientific, conservation, and international projects aimed at meeting global standards for national park management. Through his work, he has actively contributed to building partnerships with local communities, nature enthusiasts, and mountaineers to ensure the park’s long-term stability and promote it as a model for sustainable management of protected areas.
Beyond his professional achievements, Bojadži is also an experienced mountaineer and was a member of the first Ohrid expedition to climb Mont Blanc in 1979, an important milestone in Ohrid’s mountaineering tradition.

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Antonio Dodevski is an alpinist, UIMLA-certified mountain leader, and mountain rescue instructor with over two decades of active experience in alpinism and rescue operations. He is one of the initiators of the revival of alpinism in Ohrid. In 2001, together with a group of like-minded enthusiasts, he founded the local alpine club, and by 2002 he initiated the establishment of the Mountain Rescue Service within the Red Cross Ohrid—today recognized for its organization, dedication, and professionalism not only in Macedonia but also throughout the region.
Since 2020, he has served as President of the National Association for Mountain Rescue, working alongside 12 organizations across the country and more than 250 volunteers to build a unified, efficient rescue system aligned with European standards and the recommendations of the International Commission for Alpine Rescue (ICAR-CISA).
Professionally, Dodevski works as a project manager on internationally funded initiatives focused on developing the mountain rescue system and creating conditions for sustainable adventure tourism within protected areas.