Increasing citizen engagement in spatial planning to reduce opportunities for corruption in protected areas

The project targeted the use of non-transparent spatial planning to legalize construction in protected areas, particularly problematic small hydropower plants. While the team successfully pressured decision-makers to abandon one large-scale facility, two other cases of illegal planning continued. Key lessons included the need for more extensive capacity building for local organizations and the importance of engaging professional public officials to prevent corruption before decisions become irrevocable.

• Spatial planning processes in Serbia are often non-transparent and used to bypass environmental protections, allowing individual interests to be legalized through secret decisions that are irrevocable once completed.
• Small hydropower plants are highlighted as a specific risk where siting decisions made for personal gain can devastate the biodiversity of free-flowing rivers, often resulting in plants that produce no significant electricity.
• The project achieved mixed results in direct interventions: public pressure successfully stopped the construction of one large-scale facility that would have violated laws, but violating plans persisted in two other documented cases.
• Initial project assumptions underestimated the level of training required for local civil society; the team found fewer active local organizations than expected and a lack of expertise in administrative spatial planning procedures.
• A critical lesson learned was that civic engagement alone cannot eliminate corruption risks; there is a need to proactively engage professional public officials and planners who may oppose corrupt practices but face pressure from investors and decision-makers.

APA

WWF International (n.d.). Increasing citizen engagement in spatial planning to reduce opportunities for corruption in protected areas. https://www.worldwildlife.org/our-work/funds/usaid/tnrc/knowledge-hub/pilot-projects/increasing-citizen-engagement-in-spatial-planning-to-reduce-opportunities-for-corruption-in-protected-areas/

Chicago

WWF International. Increasing citizen engagement in spatial planning to reduce opportunities for corruption in protected areas. n.d. https://www.worldwildlife.org/our-work/funds/usaid/tnrc/knowledge-hub/pilot-projects/increasing-citizen-engagement-in-spatial-planning-to-reduce-opportunities-for-corruption-in-protected-areas/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=WWF International |title=Increasing citizen engagement in spatial planning to reduce opportunities for corruption in protected areas |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/our-work/funds/usaid/tnrc/knowledge-hub/pilot-projects/increasing-citizen-engagement-in-spatial-planning-to-reduce-opportunities-for-corruption-in-protected-areas/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wwfinternationalndincreasing, author = {{WWF International}}, title = {{Increasing citizen engagement in spatial planning to reduce opportunities for corruption in protected areas}}, institution = {WWF International}, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/our-work/funds/usaid/tnrc/knowledge-hub/pilot-projects/increasing-citizen-engagement-in-spatial-planning-to-reduce-opportunities-for-corruption-in-protected-areas/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }