Protecting Lake Ohrid, Albania and Macedonia

A training course “Heritage supporting sustainable development opportunities in the Lake Ohrid Region will take place on 25-27 April in Pogradec and Tushemisht. This course is organized on behalf of Project: Towards strengthened governance of the shared transboundary natural and cultural heritage of the Lake Ohrid region”, financed by European Union and Albanian Ministry of Environment and implemented by UNESCO. The course will gather representatives from the ministries of economic development and tourism as well as agriculture and from equal departments from local government from two countries Albania and FYR of Macedonia; l ocal representatives of chamber of commerce; individual entrepreneurs (family accommodation entrepreneurs, hotel owners, craftsmen, farmers, wine producers; fish farmers, tourist associations etc). The workshop offers a capacity building opportunity on the potential for ‘heritage-friendly’ small-scale enterprises/initiatives for Lake Ohrid region practi

Interview with Ylber Mirta, Head of Water Department, Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning, and Focal Point for National Natural Heritage in the FYR of Macedonia How is FYR of Macedonia protecting the natural and cultural heritage of Lake Ohrid? The FYR of Macedonia is making continuing efforts to protect the natural and cultural heritage of Lake Ohrid region. In this framework, some important laws and regulations have been approved at the national level, defining the ways, conditions and tools to protect this natural and cultural heritage. These include laws no. 20/04 and 71/04 for cultural protection of the heritage, and 75/2010 for management of the natural and cultural heritage of Lake Ohrid. Other laws include: on nature protection; on environment protection; on waters management; on ratification of the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (informally called the Espoo Convention); on ratification of the Aarhus Convention, a

"The Ministry of Culture is the lead state institution responsible for the protection, conservation, improvement and promotion of cultural heritage in Albania. In line with its institutional competences the ministry had taken several important initiatives, programmes and projects to protect and promote cultural heritage, develop and support public–private partnerships and strengthen and intensify regional and international cooperation. The ministry’s new vision, approach and policy towards cultural heritage is reflected in the decision-making processes related to the country’s cultural heritage. From 2014–2016, new protected areas of cultural monuments were adopted, new historic centres were approved by Decisions of the Council of Ministers and several major rehabilitation projects implemented or are still in process. The new vision and approach of the ministry towards cultural heritage in this period have been put into practice in the important project Towards strengthened g