What an exciting year 2022 has been for PONT. We included the transboundary Korab-Shara Albanian Alps area into our grant portfolio and started to explore the concept of conservation connectivity. Based on solid preparations, we started the first eleven grants in our new geographical area. Three grants for the new protected areas (Albanian Alps National Park and Korab-Koritnik Nature Park in Albania and the newly proclaimed Shar Mountain National Park in North Macedonia); seven grants for local NGOs and one large regional grant. We profoundly thank the German Government for its generous additional contribution making this geographical expansion possible.
We increased our annual grant budget from €1.2 million to €2.1 million and doubled the supported hectares of protected areas from 150.427 to 351.234. We received a sinking fund contribution of €5 million by the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation earmarked for Greece and raised £300.000 unrestricted funding over three years from the Sigrid Rausing Trust. The two donations enable us to start a programme for new environmental actors in North-Western Greece.
The long-awaited first official transboundary meetings for Prespa Park took place in June 2022. We established and implemented our Environmental Social Management System and improved PONT’s Strategic Framework, Grant Manual, and application and reporting templates. With the increasing portfolio, we welcomed and onboarded new staff to our team and expanded our office space. After two quiet years, we were overwhelmed by visits from people interested in our work in the region.
PONT was established back in 2015 and much has changed since then, including two geographical expansions, many new protected areas and environmental actors funded, and a bigger staff team. We take this opportunity to thank Lynda Mansson for guiding and supporting PONT through this growth as she stepped down as President of the Supervisory Board. The PONT team wishes you all the best!
The winning grants by national NGOs will start in the transboundary Korab-Shara Albanian Alps area and ecological corridors. We have our first external evaluation to reflect on the previous six years and guide our next steps. We are launching a Call for Proposals in North-Western Greece to support conservation connectivity in this biodiversity rich region. We look forward hosting several visits for our donors and will continue to follow-up on our increasing grant portfolio.
As a trust fund, PONT’s approach to conservation differs from the standard “project based” or “short-term” solutions. PONT’s funding is long-term and focused on key conservation actions in the biodiversity rich mountains and lakes bridging Albania, North Macedonia, and Greece. It is designed to ensure the sustainable management of the Prespa-Ohrid, Korab-Shara, and Albanian Alps regions, including ecological corridors between these areas. Our model emphasises long-term commitment, transparency, efficiency, accountability, and collaboration.
We have two funding programmes:
PONT supported 35 grants in 2022 (10 grants for protected area management authorities managing 11 protected areas and 25 grants for environmental actors).
Protected areas are central to PONT’s approach. To be effective, though, protected areas need to be of sufficient size and ecologically connected to one another and the larger landscape. The areas which provide ways to identify, maintain, enhance, and restore ecological connectivity are called Connectivity Conservation Areas (CCAs) or ecological corridors. Ecological corridors are not a substitute for protected areas but complement them, especially in regions where additional protected areas are not possible, and/or connectivity is required to support biodiversity and ecological processes of the existing protected areas. Ecological corridors facilitate adaptation to changing environmental conditions, such as climate change. The ecological corridors and protected areas they connect make up an ecological network.
The PONT Focus Region has been identified as strategically important for maintaining ecological connectivity along the Pindus Mountains mixed forests ecoregion and further north towards the Dinaric Mountains mixed forests ecoregion. Based on expert studies commissioned by PONT six Connectivity Conservation Areas (three in Albania; two in North Macedonia and one in North-Western Greece) were proposed with a total of 1.26 million hectares.
We are very pleased with the progress made by our beneficiaries and highlight some of the results below.
PONT facilitates and supports partnership working between protected area management authorities and environmental actors to fill the gaps in resources and capacity of public administrations. Several successful working partnerships have been established at local and transboundary level. Promoting transboundary cooperation and a collective eco-regional approach among donors, grantees, governments, and countries is key to preserving our areas of focus.
The cooperation between the Public Institution Galicica National Park, Municipality of Resen, managing the Ezerani Nature Park, and Macedonian Ecological Society (MES), around habitat restoration is exemplary in the effectiveness of its approach.
Providing sufficient fodder to the growing herd of red deer at the Red Deer Breeding Centre in Galicica National Park incurs significant costs and has become even more challenging with recent inflation. This challenge was turned into an opportunity by linking the different habitat restoration activities in Prespa. In the summer of 2022, the managed wetlands in Ezerani Nature Park, covering six hectares of meadows, produced 1400 bales of hay that were distributed to both Red Deer Breeding Centre and livestock breeders in Prespa, at no cost.
The active management of wet meadows benefits both biodiversity across habitat types and the local communities. Mowing ensures the sustainability of the diversity of plant species, controlling the succession that occurs as a result of dry years, and stimulating livestock breeding in the region. The removal of biomass from wet meadows also helps slow down the process of eutrophication in Lake Prespa.
This practice is planned to continue over the next few years and is expected to strengthen the cooperation between Public Institution Galicica National Park, Municipality of Resen, and MES on habitat management and restoration; contributing to more effective protected area management, multiplying the benefits of PONT co-financing.
Red Deer, Photo: Dejan Dimidzievski
At the start of the 2022 summer holiday season, the first Via Ferrata in Galicica National Park opened. This new adventure provides a different way of experiencing nature and the panoramic values of the park. The Via Ferrata named “Dobroja” (the local name for the Juniperus foetidissima tree species), was built with the financial support of PONT, as part of the “Adventure Zone in Galicica National Park” project. The goal of the project was to attract new categories of visitors, that would increase the total number of visitors to the park while directing their activities to the parts of the park that have a higher carrying capacity for visitation, and away from the more vulnerable parts (“zone of strict protection”).
The Via Ferrata starts at an altitude of 1465m with the highest point being 1685m. The total length is 535m, of which 145m is climbing vertical rocks, properly equipped with stairs. The rest is walking on exposed terrain, using a safety line (metal rope), which runs along the entire length. The vertical sections are divided into three segments, with lengths of 40m, 52m, and 53m, with options between them for a safe exit of the Via Ferrata and going down on an easy hiking trail. The most complex and difficult segment is the last one, after which the Via Ferrata continues along exposed mountain terrain for a length of 210m, from where it descends along an easy hiking trail to the starting point and the Korita picnic area.
View at the top of the Via Ferrata, Photo: PONT
The Alpine Club Patagonia Ohrid provides safety equipment and guides for the groups who want to explore this adventure and the Ohrid Red Cross Mountain Rescue Service take care of the safety aspects. Both environmental actors are implementing three-year follow-up grants with PONT expanding their activities in cooperation with the Public Institution Galicica National Park.
Climbing the Via Ferrata, Photo: PONT
Estimating the abundance of brown bears in the wild is a daunting task, it’s virtually impossible to directly observe the bears and tagging them with individual-specific tags is an onerous task and unfeasible in practice, as is the reading of the tags. This has meant brown bear populations are often based on “expert opinions” and rarely backed by strong evidence from the field. Previous efforts to estimate the size of the population in Prespa used questionnaire surveys to “guesstimate” the number of brown bears in the wider Prespa region. The latest survey estimated the total number to be around 60, with 35 of those in the Macedonian part of Prespa, 18 in Greek Prespa, and 7 in Albanian Prespa.
The validity of these so-called “guesstimates” is often challenged though. However, molecular genetics has recently opened up new possibilities to “tag” individual bears through genotypes obtained from genetic material that they leave behind in the environment (e.g.: faeces or hair). This led the PrespaNet NGO network to conduct a two-year transboundary study in Prespa using novel genetic techniques to estimate the abundance of brown bears in the region.
The genetic study revealed a minimum of 51 individuals, 19 females and 32 males in the entire study area. This is well within expectations and supports previous guesstimates. Genetic diversity in bears in the Prespa region appears somewhat lower than has been observed in the West Balkans. However, it is considerably higher than in the European bear populations that are known to be very small and endangered. This fits in with the findings of other studies in that wider geographic region. Recaptures enable the possibility of connecting sampling locations to the same individual, giving insight into their movement and use of corridors. Notably, some of the bears cross the borders between the countries. Two male individuals have been observed to make longer excursions throughout the study area. This study highlights the importance of good habitat connectivity and the use of bears as flagship species to enforce better protection of biodiversity hotspots such as Prespa.
Photo: Dejan Dimidzievski
With the sinking fund contribution of €5 million from the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, the total capital input for PONT amounts to €84.6 million. PONT is extremely grateful for the additional contribution and the unwavering commitment of our founding donors to our mission and its future success: MAVA Foundation and the KfW Development Bank (KfW) – mandated by BMZ.
With the funding split between permanent capital committed to our endowment and a portion in the form of “sinking funds” (which must be spent by a certain date), these commitments provide us with a solid financial base for the coming years.
Earnings on the investment of the KfW/BMZ endowment contribution and sinking fund, and the entire principal of the sinking fund, are dedicated primarily to support PONT’s grant programme for protected areas and environmental actors, such as protected areas and NGOs working in the PONT focus region located in Albania and North Macedonia. The initial sinking fund contributions can be used for grants in the Wider Prespa-Ohrid Area in Albania and North Macedonia. The latest sinking fund contribution of €20 million is to be exclusively allocated as grants for additional protected areas in Albania (Korab Koritnik Nature Park and the Albanian Alps National Park) and connecting transboundary areas in North Macedonia (Mavrovo National Park and Shar Mountain National Park). Important conservation actions supported by NGOs in the protected areas and ecological corridors between the protected areas, are also eligible for co-financing by PONT. A small portion may also be used to cover PONT operating expenses.
The MAVA sinking fund (including investment earnings thereon) is actively used to support PONT’s grant programme in favour of the Greek NGO Society for the Protection of Prespa (SPP). The investment earnings on MAVA’s endowment can be used for any purpose that supports our mission.
Earnings on the investment of the endowment provided by the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation are used to support the work related to the conservation of species and their habitats in the PONT focus region. The additional sinking fund contribution is earmarked for Greece.
The donation by the Sigrid Rausing Trust is used to finance local NGOs working in the Wider Ohrid Area and to prepare for and implement our new programme in North-Western Greece. A portion may also be used to cover PONT operating expenses.
The ‘Fundraising Grant’ donation by MAVA was used for the development and implementation of our Fundraising strategy.
PONT grants require co-financing of at least 50% of eligible costs for protected area grants and for grants for state-financed environmental actors. Grants for NGOs require at least 25%. Eligible sources of co-financing are government funding; own contributions by beneficiaries; and the financial contribution by other projects (other than from the German Government). We acknowledge and are grateful for the co-financing by our cooperation partners and happy that there is an increase in government funding and own contribution as co-financing sources.
PONT grants require co-financing of at least 50% of eligible costs for protected area grants and for grants for state-financed environmental actors. Grants for NGOs require at least 25%. Eligible sources of co-financing are government funding; own contributions by beneficiaries; and the financial contribution by other projects (other than from the German Government). We acknowledge and are grateful for the co-financing by our cooperation partners and are happy that there is an increase in government funding and own contribution as co-financing sources.
The Financial Statement 2022 will be published when the 2022 audit report is finalised by PONT’s independent auditor expected mid-2023. A summary of the 2022 Financials is provided in the full PONT Annual Report 2021 which can be downloaded here.
The Financial Statement 2022 will be published when the 2022 audit report is finalised by PONT’s independent auditor expected mid-2023. A summary of the 2022 Financials is provided in the full PONT Annual Report 2021 which can be downloaded here.
We take this opportunity to thank Lynda Mansson for guiding and supporting PONT for the last seven years as she stepped down as President of the Supervisory Board.
Under the leadership of David Morrison, the pro-bono contribution of our investment committee members (Al Breach, Johan Holgersson, Ronald Kent, Alessandro Manghi and Hanna Loikkanen) remains invaluable. PONT would like to thank all of them for their contribution.
A special thank you to Ronny Dobbelsteijn for providing us with pro bono support for our public relations, IT, and communications.
We would also like to thank all our cooperation partners for their co-financing contributions and technical inputs.
Prespa Ohrid Nature Trust (PONT)
Abdi Toptani Str.,
Torre Drin Tower nr. 35,
Tirana | Albania
info@pont.org
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