Belgrade, Serbia, 20 February 2019 – WWF Adria has been selected among the three winners for “Best non-profit campaign 2018“, for the Sterlet fishing ban campaign that was held in June last year and resulted in Ministry for enviromental protection to completely ban Sterlet fishing in Serbia, with effect from January 2019.
The award was granted by the Brodoto agency, which is a social impact agency specialized in campaign, design and media and works with socially responsible companies and organizations in Serbia and Croatia.
The award ceremony in Belgrade was held as part of “Impact Conference 2019” and it is the second edition of a first-of-its-kind event in the South-East of Europe, that is dedicated to enhancing and accelerating impact investment in Europe.
The Sterlet campaign was funded by the EU project “LIFE for Danube Sturgeons” and was created as a result of the work of WWF Adria in Serbia with fishing communities and law enforcement agencies towards the protection of sturgeons. While the campaign of WWF Adria was attracting more and more supporters, it was requested from the Ministry of environmental protection to impose a Sterlet fishing ban in Serbia. Six months later, in December 2018, the request was implemented and from January 1st, 2019 Sterlet fishing is officially banned in Serbia.
The campaign was developed and carried out in collaboration with United Anglers of Serbia, mainly using the social media communication channels due to their advantages to provide the opportunity for having a direct conversation with the general public and the project’s target groups. “Lobbying for legal changes to achieve successes in protecting wildlife cannot be done without getting the support of people. And to get their support, we need to have open conversations with them, to educate them and to find solutions of the modern challenges together, acting as a responsible community.” – said Milena Dragović, Communications Officer at WWF Adria. The campaign was also well received by the traditional media across the country.
More information about the Sterlet fishing ban campaign can be found in the section News & Activities.