May, 2021

The sustainable use of Non-Timber Forest Products holds the potential to improve livelihoods of local communities in Prespa while contributing to the conservation of region’s rich and unique biodiversity. This is predicated on developing new resource use models that combine conservation with socio-economic priorities of the local people, as highlighted in the 2019 Assessment of Challenges and Opportunities Related to Non-Timber Forest Products in the Wider Prespa Area, endorsed …

Nature-based tourism in protected areas in the Wider Prespa Area holds a great potential to contribute to the local economy, reduce poverty, and help develop this predominantly rural area, as argued in the report “Assessment of Challenges and Opportunities Related to Sustainable Tourism”, commissioned by PONT in 2019. The positive social and economic impacts of nature-based tourism will in turn strengthen the case for nature conservation in the Wider …

National and local stakeholders, representing central and local government, Protected Area staff, CSOs, local communities and the private sector in Prespa, in North Macedonia, got together on the occasion of the World Biodiversity Day, to express their unequivocal support for the conservation of the endemic Prespa Trout (Salmo peristericus). Four rivers in the Prespa basin, Braychinska, Kranska and Leva rivers in North Macedonia, and Agios Germanos River in Greece, …

Following the easing of the border restrictions, the PONT team visited some of its beneficiaries in North Macedonia. The trip started with a fruitful meeting with the Mayor of Vevchani Municipality. The journey continued to the new and bright offices of the Association of sports “Sport for all – All for sport” Ohrid. This new office with three rooms gives space for the ever-growing work around the Ohrid Ultra …

The transboundary network of NGOs in Prespa – PrespaNet, recently published the results of the “Preliminary assessment of Human-Large Carnivore Conflicts and Associated Livestock Husbandry Practices in the Albanian and Macedonian sides of the Prespa Basin”. The study builds upon and complements a similar study conducted on the Greek side of the basin in 2016-2017. Collectively, these studies provide for the first-time standardised information on human-large carnivore conflicts in …

Elaine Chen and Charlotte Walter’s creative adventure into raising awareness of at-risk species and their campaign #OurVulnerableEarth2021  came to an end last Thursday on Earth Day 2021. What started with a Calendar for Non-profits the year before, culminated in an auction of the original prints created for the calendar. Their campaign raised an amazing 3700 Canadian Dollars for Non-profits working in the field of Conservation.   Elaine Chen who …