Skadar Lake as a Biosphere Reserve

Bar, Montenegro, 30-31 January 2014

In the framework of the cross-border Albania -Montenegro project "To support the proposal of Trans-boundary Biosphere Reserve Area of ​​Skadar Lake", a joint initiative between the Institute for Nature Conservation in Albania (INCA) and Green Home (Montenegro), a follow up meeting was organized in Bar (Montenegro) to assess the efforts made so far and the progress regarding the process of declaring Skadar Lake – a Biosphere Reserve. The meeting emphasized several achievements reached by the end of this project, such as the comprehensive information shared between several stakeholders, the support provided to the central and local institutions, the close cooperation and strong solidarity reached as a result of this process with local authorities, environmental NGOs and other local actors around Lake Skadar. The meeting found as very interesting the similar efforts made at the area of Ohrid and Prespa Lakes, which could serve as good examples to follow. It also indicated some steps to be followed in the future. An important finding from this meeting was the slowdown moment that the project of Skadar Lake Biosphere Reserve is experiencing due to an un-cleared position from Montenegro institutions regarding this initiative. A feasibility study was suggested to be carried out in order to assess whether or not to continue the support to this initiative for the two countries and come up with proper recommendations.