On 24 November, in the frame the project “Developing Sustainable Water Management Practices to Conserve Environmental Flow in Ohrid Lake Region”, funded by CEPF, the Institute for Environmental Policy (IEP) held a meeting with representatives of Pogradec Municipality and its administrators, water specialists, the Koran growth plant in Lin village, local and regional environmental inspectorate, Macedonian NGOs working within Ohrid lake etc.
At this meeting, IEP presented the strategy for water and climate change management in order to protect and preserve the ecosystems in the basin of Lake Ohrid. This document sets out the issues of long and short term measures to be taken.
Another paper presented at the meeting was, the pilot project “Efficient Irrigation in defense of Lake Ohrid,” deals with the implementation of a full cycle of water management for the area of Lin. It explains the Scada system and drip irrigation components, ways of water management and conservation, buffer zones and sanitation, and measures to be taken. Macedonian colleagues from Grashanica organization presented a broader perspective on the management of Lake Ohrid.
The meeting was greeted by the Deputy Mayor of Pogradec, expressing his appreciation and desire for the implementation of such projects when funds will be available.
Numerous discussions were addressed by the participants on topics such as lack of awareness for the waste disposal, the fishing association as regulator of fishing on the lake, the investments made in the sector of water management, the need of wetlands etc.
This is the opening meeting of a series of activities to be undertaken in the Municipality of Pogradec. The pilot project and the strategy proposed by the IEP will be available in English soon (attached the Albanian version). Publications and activities were made possible by a grant awarded by Birdlife International and DOPPS, through the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF).
