RESTORATION OF THE PRESPA LAKE ECOSYSTEM

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in partnership with the Municipality of Resen and the Ministry of Environment achieved multi-year cooperation focused on the restoration of the ecosystem of Lake Prespa, primarily through the introduction of comprehensive measures to significantly improve overall health and strengthen resilience in Lake Prespa and providing long-term control of the eutrophication process.

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Project specialist Nikola Zdraveski, who has been actively involved in the implementation of these initiatives for more than 6 years, explains that the Prespa Lake Basin Management Plan is the first prepared planning document in the country prepared for this area according to the methodology of the Water Framework Directive (WFD 2000) of the European Union. In the Member States of the European Union, the overall planning and utilization of natural resources is primarily analyzed and takes into account the potential effects of such planning on water resources. The qualitative and quantitative status of water bodies (rivers and lakes) are in the focus of the governing principles of the Water Framework Directive and they determine in which direction and to what extent we can and must exploit them, directly or indirectly. Based on this principle with the help of expert support, for the first time we managed to make a comprehensive identification and quantification of all pollutants: dotted and diffuse water bodies in the Prespa Basin, through a coordinated and transparent platform to include all identified key stakeholders in management resources and prepare a program of measures for protection and improvement of the water condition in the Prespa Lake watershed. The Prespa Lake Basin Management Plan referred to a planning period of 6 years (2010-2016) in accordance with the principles of the WFD 2000 planning framework. Thanks to the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) which funded the project for protection of Lake Prespa implemented by UNDP, we managed to realize the planned activities to a large extent, including activities in the agricultural sector and reducing its impact on water, improving the wastewater treatment system and building systems based on natural treatment processes , introduction of a biodegradable waste management system, targeted activities to reduce erosion processes and land degradation and establishment of local capacities through the construction of a monitoring station in the village of Stenje for permanent monitoring of water quality in the watershed, assessment of the effect of current and future restoration efforts and activity, Zdravevski explains.

Full interview with Nikola Zdraveski 

https://klimatskipromeni.mk/article/492#/index/main