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Albania and North Macedonia keep secret the strategic report on saving Lake Ohrid

Politiko 2023-02-01 21:41:46

Albania and North Macedonia keep secret the strategic report on saving Lake

Both States Parties are requested to submit to the World Heritage Center, by 1 February 2023, a joint updated report on the state of conservation of the property.

Based on what is written in this report, a decision will be made about the fate of Lake Ohrid, both on the Albanian and Macedonian sides.

"Regarding the preparation of the plan for the revitalization of the region of Lake Ohrid, I have no information, but I think that at the moment of its approval at the meeting that will be organized, I will be present to discuss this document, because this is the procedure and I think it will be respected" said Orhideja Tasevska, Director of the Hydro-biological Institute/Ohrid.

Until now, this report has been "secret" and civil society and stakeholders have not been consulted. Both respective governments have only worked with the institutions. Meanwhile, the stakeholders doubt the authenticity of the document, referring to the situation of the lake on both sides of the border.

"We are not clear about what is written in the report. UNESCO's response will depend a lot on the seriousness and arguments given in the report for the recovery of this region as a world heritage. But even in the event that we will include the region in the list of assets at risk, this would constitute a penalty that would require increased responsibility on the part of the institutions," said Arian Merolli, environmental expert.

"Unfortunately, we do not have any information, we were not a participant in the drafting of these documents, even though we are among the most active associations that we are working to improve.

I don't understand why we don't become part of the working group when we are contributing to the solution of the Lake Ohrid problem. What is more problematic is that the government is showing that it does not consider civil society as part of the solution to the problem, but sees them as some critics that they do not want to have on their desk.

For this reason, I am skeptical that the state they will present in the documents will not reflect the real state of the Ohrid lake ecosystem.
But from what results in the report submitted on February 1, 2022, the parties have committed to something else. According to this report, the draft of the strategic plan for the recovery of Ohrid should be completed in June 2022. Meanwhile, until February 1, 2023, North Macedonia and Albania should harmonize the final document, consulting each other and civil society," he said. Dear Pollozhani, civil society. top channel