PONT News

The Dutch Ambassador to Albania, Dewi van de Weerd, visited Greater Prespa Lake on 19 May 2018, where she enjoyed a boat trip and sighted more than 100 pelicans. The trip was organized by the Prespa Ohrid Nature Trust (PONT), Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA), and the park authorities. Prespa is home to the Dalmatian pelican – the world’s largest freshwater bird. These birds nest …

The Supervisory Board of PONT recently conducted a tour of the Prespa-Ohrid ecoregion. This was a fantastic opportunity to further develop understanding of the issues and challenges unique to the region, as well as to build upon and foster new relationships. Some highlights of the multi-faceted visit include: research and monitoring activities of the Hydrobiological Institute Ohrid, demonstrated aboard the Institute’s monitoring boat at Lake Ohrid; excursion in Galicica …

A ceremony was held on 14th of May in Skopje to mark the launching of PONT’s grants programmes in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The event was opened by PONT’s Executive Director Mirjam de Koning who, in her opening remarks, noted that PONT is a private, independent grant-making foundation providing long-term co-financing to protected area authorities, non-governmental organizations and other environmental actors active in the Prespa-Ohrid ecoregion. Jani …

In 2018, PONT has granted the NGO, Macedonian Ecological Society in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MES) (www.mes.org.mk), an initial one-year grant aimed at strengthening MES’s institutional capacities by opening a local office in the municipality of Resen. The PONT grant provides core funding aimed at supporting MES’s key objectives in line with its mission, as well as operational support for a dedicated staff position at the new …

Integrated landscape approaches provide a basic framework for balancing competing demands and integrating policies for multiple land uses within a given area. In the Prespa region this approach includes sustainable agriculture activities, certification and labelling of agricultural products, and so-called agritourism or ecotourism activities aimed at community engagement and empowerment; resulting in an overall “greening” of the local economy. Local stakeholders in the Greek part of Prespa have worked …

In 2018, PONT granted the NGO, Protection and Preservation of Nature Environment in Albania (PPNEA) (www.ppnea.org), an initial one-year grant. The grant is aimed at strengthening PPNEA’s institutional capacities through enhancing its involvement in transboundary projects and projects specific to Prespa, Albania, and through improving overall operations and research activities, including large carnivores conservation activities. A lot remains unknown about the population of brown bears that inhabit the region. …

The Wider Prespa Region covers parts of Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Greece. The transboundary area houses five protected areas, three wetland areas, part of a transboundary Biosphere Reserve as well as the transboundary Prespa Park. To ensure sustainable conservation and effective management of the protected areas, cooperation across borders is crucial. In 2013, to strengthen cooperation between local stakeholders, three environmental NGOs – the Macedonian …

As part of the development and establishment of PONT’s grant programme, PONT has conducted a conflict assessment. The study followed a participatory approach to identify existing and potential conflicts and engage different stakeholders to come up with mitigation measures and implementation strategies in line with the PONT grant programme.  The study, Conflict Assessment in Wider Prespa Area can be found on the PONT website and will be an important …

Summer is nearly here and I’m so proud of all that we have achieved over the last few months. Since arriving in Tirana in late January, my team and I have established our program office and signed  a Framework Agreement with the Ministry of Environment of Albania—two very important milestones in furthering PONT’s successful future. PONT’s Regional Program Office (RPO) officially opened its doors in May in the center …