Today in BAKU, Azerbajan, was voted that Albanian side of Lake Ohrid be joined to the other part of the lake, as a world protected property.
Why this moment is important? Because the integrity of this lake can not be preserved if the whole lake is treated, protected and managed as a whole.Three years ago, designed to support both countries in their efforts to protect the Ohrid Lake area, the project “Towards strengthened governance of the shared transboundary natural and cultural heritage of the Lake Ohrid region” focused on the protection of culture as well as nature, recognising their multiple values, addressing the main threats and harnessing opportunities through a sustainable development approach.
It aimed to profile this transboundary area by assessing its values and opportunities for sustainable development, and to improve capacities for the effective management of natural and cultural heritage. The project served to build a participatory process for integrated management planning and the preparation of a dossier by the Albanian authorities to extend the World Heritage property to the Albanian part of the Lake Ohrid region.
The project was coordinated by UNESCO in partnership with the authorities of both countries, as well as the three Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Convention (ICOMOS International, IUCN and ICCROM), and is financed by the European Union with the co-financing by the government of Albania.
The project “Towards strengthened
governance of the shared transboundary
natural and cultural heritage of the Lake Ohrid
region” was co financed by European Union, contributing 1.7 million
EUR to the project in the framework of its
assistance to pre-accession countries in the
field of Environment and Climate Change.
Additionally, the Government of Albania financed 170,000 EUR, bringing the
total budget for this three-year project to
approximately 1.87 million EUR.
Here is the page of the Project