Highlights of Prespa conservation in 2024!

PONT and the Society for the Protection of Prespa (SPP) have steadfastly worked together for nature in Greek Prespa since PONT’s establishment almost a decade ago. Read on for some exciting highlights and to see how you can contribute…

Where land and water meet – the precious wetland landscape of Prespa

Water, wetlands and rivers are our precious green and blue lifelines; closely woven into our landscape they bring life wherever they go. As important for people as they are for nature, these vital freshwater ecosystems face serious challenges worldwide, with impacts increasingly felt in Prespa too.

2024 saw the conclusion of a large-scale fact-finding mission to improve knowledge of the river, streams and riparian forest that grace the Greek part of Prespa. The SPP and its partners have studied their ecological role and functions, as well as finding out more about the wildlife that depends on them. They’ve also talked to local residents for an in-depth picture of how streams and riparian woods are seen and appreciated locally. We look forward to reading about what they found in three compact Layman’s Reports to be published this spring. Meanwhile, as the SPP’s three-year project on these lifelines comes to a close, the team are also publishing a new website, ClimaPrespa, based on their work, which looks at the impacts of climate change in Prespa on water levels and wildfire risk, and explores practical adaptation measures.

A participatory approach to water governance has always been central to the SPP’s work, and back in 2007 they initiated the Wetland Management Committee to strengthen the joint decision-making process for managing the water level and wetland vegetation of Lesser Prespa Lake. The committee successfully fulfilled its stakeholder-inclusive mission for 15 years, until changes in the national protected area management system obliged its closure. In an energising new development, however, a re-imagined forum for discussing wetland issues affecting everyone in the area, with a wider water and wetland landscape management scope, is set to begin in March 2025! The new forum follows extensive community dialogue throughout 2024, which culminated in the signing of a Memorandum of Co-operation between the SPP and the Municipality of Prespa at the year’s end, focussing on the preservation of natural and cultural resources, as well as strengthening participation and local development.

Meanwhile, wetland vegetation management continued in 2024, with local stockbreeders carrying out the majority of the management activities and using the cut vegetation as valuable fodder for their herds, as has been the case for some years now. The SPP supports this activity by cutting vegetation in the deeper, more inaccessible parts of the wetland using its amphibious cutting machinery, and will also produce reports on the vegetation management carried out in 2024, as well as on water levels and waterbirds. These SPP reports will provide valuable technical support to the new forum for dialogue, giving a sound scientific basis to its deliberations amidst the challenges of the climate crisis era.

At transboundary level, the PrespaNet partners followed up previous work to assess shoreline habitats with the publication of an accessible booklet on the conservation of these invaluable parts of the wetland landscape. ‘Conservation of wetland habitats across the Transboundary Prespa basin’ clearly explains the values and benefits of these areas, documenting the changes they are undergoing and the main pressures, as well as the challenges they face under the climate crisis. The booklet aims to remind decision-makers of the environmental, cultural and socio-economic importance of Prespa’s wetland habitats, boosting their appreciation and consideration in the management of the region.

New perspectives, new energy, new places – ‘If you build it, they will come’!

Acknowledging that Prespa has always attracted people who care about its future from all over the world, the SPP has invested in new ways to harness and nurture this attention for the benefit of the region, aiming to revitalise conservation efforts for new generations and build a broader community of interest.

Foremost amongst these initiatives have been the first steps in the development of a trailblazing new participatory digital platform for Prespa, whose long-term aim is to establish an online space connecting Prespa as a physical place with the widespread community of those concerned, wherever in the world they may be. The platform, engage.poliprespa.gr, set out to find its feet in 2024, with a series of small local participatory activities, and plans a more ambitious programme to start building its membership in 2025, kicking off with the establishment of a volunteer Climate Change Action Group – why not sign up?

If citizen science is your thing, the SPP has created a great new mobile phone app to help you take part in research on the feeding habitats of Prespa’s Dalmatian and great white pelicans. Whenever you see feeding pelicans at wetlands, or spot a ringed pelican, you can use the Pelican Watch app to easily record their behaviour with a few simple taps. All the data gathered, from nature-loving citizens and volunteer groups like the young birders from the Danish Ornithological Society (DOS) who tested the app in summer 2024, will help the SPP to support these magnificent birds by better understanding their needs.

The SPP’s young naturalist friends from DOS also supported a set of biodiversity surveys on Mount Sfika in 2024. A Natura 2000 protected area on the national park border, the karstic Sfika plateau is a unique landscape, with a distinctive ecology and wildlife, but it is under threat from a proposed wind farm. In one voice with the management authorities and local community, the SPP is advocating against the development of this wild, starkly beautiful and richly storied place. Collaborating with Greek universities, the SPP set up a field laboratory of young conservationists and independent scientists to survey the plateau in summer 2024. Like so much of Prespa, Sfika is particularly interesting for its plant life, so it’s also the ideal place to try out the SPP’s Flora Prespae Database app and submit your data. All these efforts consolidate our knowledge of Sfika’s natural values and help in the fight to strengthen its protection.

Lastly, 2024 saw the SPP complete works to restore a second watermill in Agios Germanos, next door to the original, award-winning mill building, and build new ancillary facilities for visitors that complement the traditional stone architecture. On the banks of the Agios Germanos River, which brims with aquatic wildlife, the watermill complex and exhibition, now with a second flour mill mechanism for visitors to enjoy, is once again open to the public. Drop by to learn how the river’s blue lifeline for nature also once supported a powerhouse of another age, or simply to say hello!

Want to know more?

PONT’s stable long-term funding enables a significant part of the SPP’s work, supporting and complementing their five-year strategic framework. You can learn more about this work and the wider SPP programme on their website or by following them.

By: the SPP