Conservation and trade of wild edible mushrooms of Serbia - history, state of the art and perspectives

Wild edible mushrooms have received significant scientific and socio-economic attention in the last few decades, since they have become the subject of a booming trade business. Through last decades, Serbia, a small country positioned in the South East of Europe, has become a source country for extensive export of commercially important species of wild mushrooms. The data used for international analyses of national policy on mushroom protection and trade are cited usually from personal communications and therefore are not really reliable. Extensive investigations into diversity or ecology of macro fungi in Serbia have never been undertaken. The forestry sector, which is managing all forests in the country, has absolutely neglected its role in ecosystems while habitats of macro fungi have been permanently destroyed. There are only two legal acts that refer to mushroom protection directly and none aims to protect their habitats or diversity in practice. In this contribution, a comprehensive review of official data on research, conservation, socio-economic importance and legislation on wild edible mushrooms and truffles in Serbia was provided. Additionally, the application of existing legal acts on conservation of macro fungi and data on wild mushroom trade in the period between 1993-2016, during which time the trade control has been initiated was analysed. The currently valid system of conservation and trade control are discussed in the frame of protection of wild mushroom species and their habitats and measures for upgrading this system in order to meet the requirements of the sustainable use of natural resources in the socio-economic conditions of Serbia are proposed

Redesigning current instruments as a precondition for a more effective environmental protection

The problems of environment and evaluation of natural capital belong to the phenomenology of externalities, and the requirements of environmental economics are ever more oriented towards the elaboration of the ecological-economic category of the externalization of internal expenses, wherefrom reasons for the introduction of ecological-economic instruments, before all payments for pollutions, ensue. Demystification of the negative conviction relating ecological payments as taxes is very important, since it must be shown that ecological payments correct, mitigate or remove externalities. Environmental protection is a complex system and it consists in a set of rules, measures and instruments that are applied for the surveillance of pollution sources, and shaping of instruments for environmental protection is a complex process intended for the accomplishment of established ecological goals. Among all instruments available for bridging the gap of internalization and exerting a significant effect on polluters to diminish their emissions of pollution, the ecological and economic ones are most important. The results of our investigation have demonstrated that it is necessary to reshape the current set of instruments regarding protection of vital functions of nature and an efficient environmental protection, and one of the key cognitions is that the scientific and professional public must not be excluded from the appraisals of creating and redesigning the instruments of environmental protection. These assertions have their foundation in the premise that the significance of elements of the social dimension in sustainable development is to a great extent determined by the level of environmental degradation and reduction in capacity of renewable sources. The paper, approach and data processing of the conducted research offer a new model and new elements of methodology for establishing the state and quality of the environment, whereby social-economic criteria of research (a socio-economic laboratory) are introduced into the fundamental analysis of the condition of crucial media of the environment, but also into shaping a more efficacious instrument set of protection. In such a way, a substantial contribution is given to the affirmation of a holistic and inter-disciplinary approach in the investigation and understanding the phenomenon of contemporary environmental reality, especially the central media of the environment (water, air, soil)