One of the oldest lakes in Europe – Lake Prespa in the Balkans, is on the verge of collapse, warns Euronews. Every year, the lake's waters decrease further due to evaporation, lack of rain and excessive use of water for irrigation.
With an area of about 260 square kilometers, more than twice the size of Paris, the ancient lake is home to more than 2000 species of fish, birds, mammals and plants. It is best known for its population of nesting curled pelicans, a globally endangered species. Nine of its 11 native fish species are found nowhere else in the world.
All of this is at risk as water levels continue to drop. It is currently eight meters lower than in the late 70s. In order to prevent the further development of this natural disaster, non-governmental organizations from the three countries that border the lake - Albania, Greece and North Macedonia - joined hands. They met at the first ever Prespa Regional Development Forum to call on their governments for urgent intervention.
Delayed actions
Hopes rose in 2000 when the three Balkan nations put aside their political differences and united to protect the delicate ecosystem they share. At that time, a political agreement was signed and a transboundary Prespa National Park was established. But since then, not even a little progress has been made on the project.
"NGOs from the three countries want to appeal to institutions and local authorities to speed up efforts in terms of institutional linking and concretization of action plans," says Lupčo Krastevski, project coordinator at the think tank Eurthink, the NGO that initiated the sponsored forum from the EU. "Many studies have been done, many strategic documents have been adopted, but their implementation is lacking. We hope that the three countries will take urgent measures as soon as possible", says Krastevski.
Can Lake Constance save Prespa?
At the recent forum, NGOs sought inspiration from the only other lake in Europe that crosses three borders, Lake Constance (Lac de Constans in French). Representatives of the Lake Constance Foundation presented their experience in managing the unique ecosystem shared by Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Established by six conservation organizations in 1994, the foundation promotes cooperation between the three countries on everything from resource management to climate change mitigation and adaptation. It works to improve the lake's biodiversity and manage pollutants such as microplastics in the water.
Foundation representative Volker Kromrie advised NGOs to encourage local mayors to put pressure on city politicians to enforce the commitments made in the Lake Prespa agreement.