PONT helps Resen Municipality and Macedonian Ecological Society enhance partnership

Following the successful completion of the first grant in August 2020, PONT and Resen Municipality continue their cooperation over the completion of the 2020 Operational Plan for the Ezerani Nature Park (ENP) and Lake Prespa Monument of Nature (LPMN).

Their second Grant Agreement, signed on 18 September by the PONT Executive Director –  Mirjam de Koning and the Mayor of Resen – Zhivko Gosharevski, will ensure effective implementation of the core operations in the two protected areas by the end of 2020 in the four principal programmes:

(1) Resource Protection;

(2) Development of Sustainable Tourism;

(3) Education, Information, Promotion and Public Awareness Raising; and

(4) Management and Administration.

The second grant has a strong focus on developing a subsequent, 3-year application to PONT for the period January 2021 – December 2023, to be based on the existing MP for ENP (2014-2023) and the new MP for LPMN (2021 – 2030) that was developed with the previous grant from PONT and to be formally approved by the end of 2020. To that end, Resen Municipality will first assess the overall implementation of the MP for ENP in the period 2014-2020 as well as how effectively the two PAs were managed in 2020 through the application of the Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool. The information from these assessments will help the Resen Municipality prepare a detailed Operational Plan and budget for the two protected areas for 2021 and estimate the budget for implementing the operational plans in 2022 and 2023.

Alongside with the conclusion of the new Grant Agreement with PONT, the Mayor of Resen and the President of the Macedonian Ecological Society – Slavco Hristovski signed their first Memorandum of Understanding. Building upon a long history of cooperation and collaboration on many issues, the Memorandum of Understanding strengthens the partnership by formally regulating their shared responsibility for the conservation of Prespa’s natural values and resources.

This, along with the Memorandum of Understanding with the Hydrobiological Institute Ohrid, signed in October 2019, will enable Resen Municipality implement effectively biodiversity monitoring and habitat restoration activities under the latest Grant Agreement with PONT and in the future. PONT’s separate grants to the Hydrobiological Institute and the Macedonian Ecological Society provides for a balanced and complementary action by all partners involved.