Protecting Lake Ohrid, Albania and Macedonia

The third Transboundary Platform Meeting of the project “Towards strengthened governance of the shared transboundary natural and cultural heritage of the Lake Ohrid region” will take place on 7 March 2016. This third meeting on transboundary cooperation is part of a European Union and UNESCO initiative aiming to reinforce conservation and sustainable development through management effectiveness on both sides of the Lake Ohrid. The third Transboundary Platform Meeting will take place in Pogradec, Albania. Representatives from the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Environment, representatives from the National Agency of Protected Areas, representatives from the local governments around the lake, representatives from the Advisory Bodies (ICOMOS and IUCN) as well as UNESCO will get together to pursue their work in establishing a viable cooperation platform. This Transboundary Platform Meeting aims more specifically to present and discuss opportunities in existing transboundary

Lake Ohrid, one of the world’s oldest lakes situated in south-eastern Europe, stands out as one of the largest reserves of biodiversity and some of the oldest human settlements in the continent. The convergence of distinctive natural values with the quality and diversity of its cultural, material and spiritual heritage makes this region truly unique. Two-thirds of Lake Ohrid is inscribed on the World Heritage List on the Macedonian side of the lake as the mixed World Heritage property “Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region”. Now time has come to join our efforts and take over our responsibilities to extend World Heritage status to the remaining third of the lake located in Albania. The project “Towards strengthened governance of the shared transboundary natural and cultural heritage of the Lake Ohrid region” has been designed to address the main factors affecting the Lake Ohrid region through identifying and safeguarding the main natural and cultural assets of the La

The Albanian Parliament has passed a 10-year moratorium on chopping down trees for industry or export purposes. The law drafted by the Ministry of Environment allows local authorities to approve limited wood-cutting for heating. Albania's 1.4 million hectares (3.5 million acres) of forests have been savagely cut or burnt over the past 26 years since the fall of the communist regime, with an average of 2.5 million trees chopped down each year. Minister of Environment Lefter Koka said that this radical decision has come after measures failed to stop the loss of woodland, which has contributed to the flooding the country experienced in recent years. Source: http://www.mjedisi.gov.al/al/newsroom/deklarata-per-shtyp/hyn-ne-fuqi-moratoriumi-ne-pyje-ne-republiken-e-shqiperise

1979- The Lake Ohrid is first inscribed on the World Heritage List as a natural property, under criterion (iii) on superlative natural phenomena which is today criterion (vii). 1980- The World Heritage property is extended to cultural criteria (i), (iii) and (iv) and becomes one of the first mixed World Heritage properties. . 1998- A joint UNESCO-ICOMOS-IUCN monitoring mission is carried out for the first time since inscription. The mission highlights that economic and demographic developments pose threats to the values of the site that can only be addressed through an integrated approach and protective measures that link the cultural and the natural heritage preservation. The state of conservation of the property is discussed by the World Heritage Bureau in 1998 in Kyoto, Japan (Decision 22 COM VII.30). 2008- At its 32nd session (Quebec City, 2008), the World Heritage Committee initiated the Upstream Process during a reflection on the future of the World Heritage Convention. Th

"Towards strengthened governance of the shared transboundary natural and cultural heritage of the Lake Ohrid region" is the name of the 36-month project co-financed by the European Union and the Ministry of Environment of Albania aimed at the protection and sustainable development of the Lake Ohrid region. Lake Ohrid is one of the oldest lakes in the world, embracing numerous exceptional natural and cultural features. The region’s striving for balancing conservation with sustainable development is reflected in the bilateral Agreement for the Protection and Sustainable Development of Lake Ohrid and its Watershed ratified in 2005. The European Union has partnered with UNESCO in this joint management project aimed at supporting the efforts of Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to sustainably develop the fragile Lake Ohrid region shared between the two Governments. The project is designed to address the main threats affecting the natural and cultu