UNDP helps Albania protect Prespa Lakes Basin

TIRANA, Sept. 25 – The United Nations Development Program gave Monday to Albania $1.2 million dollars for the environmental protection of the Prespa Lake basin. That is part of the joint project with Macedonia and Greece titled “Integrated ecosystem management in the Prespa Lakes Basin of Albania, FYR Macedonia and Greece.” The regional project was designed to protect globally significant biodiversity in the Prespa Lakes. Governments of the three countries have agreed to work together to reduce pollution in the lakes, and introduce environmental management practices in the Prespa Basin, by integrating ecological, economic and social goals.
UNDP’s project in cooperation with the Albanian Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Water Administration will also be funded with $120,000 from the Albanian government. National Development Plans of the three countries will reflect issues related to environmental protection, and the project will include ecosystem management into appropriate sector policies and practices at the national level.
The project will cover water use management; agriculture; forestry and fishery management; and conservation and protected area management. Through this cooperation, the government caretakers of Prespa Park are committed to building on already established cooperation in areas of resource management and conservation. The project builds on a two-year forerunner project that promoted integrated ecosystem management with Prespa Park, and enhanced cooperation among the three participating countries.
In the Albanian portion of Prespa Park, the population is estimated to be steady or growing and with an already relatively high population density of 20 persons/ square kilometer. In this population, 23 percent unemployment and average yearly income is estimated at $700, with agriculture engaging 70 percent of the labor force. There is no industrial sector in the Albanian portion of the Park. Wild fruits and medicinal plants are important for income generation of those living in the Park. It has unique species: an estimated 1000 species, or 30 percent of the whole flora of Albania. There are 50 animal species and 19 plant species that are only found in the Prespa watershed, 1600 species of butterfly, and significant diversity of amphibians and reptiles.
Prespa Park acts as a globally important feeding, nesting and breeding location for at least 91 migratory bird species, including the vulnerable Dalmatian Pelican. At least 19 animal species in the park are threatened. Tourism is still relatively low in the area, but the links between environmental protection and tourism are becoming clearer and more important as eco-tourism is growing in the region, and in Albania. The Prespa Park project will protect the local residents and their livelihoods (and future livelihoods) while protecting the environment around them, minimizing the human causes that result in the destruction, degradation or impairment of natural ecosystems in the Park.