Key facts about the Lake Ohrid as World Heritage

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. The Upstream Process is an experimental approach aimed at reducing the number of properties that experience significant problems during the process of nomination for inscription on the World Heritage List.

2009-The World Heritage Committee approves a minor boundary modification that slightly reduces the northern and western boundaries of the property. Within this process, the Committee encourages the creation of a buffer zone as well as undertaking efforts towards a transboundary extension of the World Heritage property to include the Albanian part of Lake Ohrid.

2011 -The World Heritage Committee, in decision 35 COM 12C, selects 10 Pilot Projects to test the effectiveness of the Upstream Process, including the Pilot Project "Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid Region" (Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia).

2011 -The State Party of Albania submits "Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region" on the Tentative List as a first step in the World Heritage property extension process.

2012- Phase One of the Upstream process entails the Advisory Scoping mission to assess the feasibility of an extension for nomination to the already inscribed site. This mission identifies threats affecting natural and cultural heritage of the Lake Ohrid region such as unplanned urban development, fishing and habitat alteration as well as unsustainable waste actions.

2014- Phase Two of the Pilot Project for the Upstream process initiates the project Towards strengthened governance of the shared transboundary natural and cultural heritage of the Lake Ohrid region.