9th PPCC meeting (Korcha, Albania, 20-21 November 2006)

The Prespa Park Coordination Committee held its ninth regular meeting on the 20th and 21st November in Korcha, Albania. Apart from the Committee members, various international stakeholders attended the meeting and were informed about the local and transboundary activities, which have taken place during 2006, aiming at the conservation and sustainable development of the Prespa Park basin.

One of the main meeting discussions focused on analysis of the content and the organizational structure of the five-year transboundary project titled "Integrated ecosystem management in the Prespa Lakes basin of Albania, FYR-Macedonia and Greece". The project, with funding by the GEF - Global Environment Facility is expected to start in the beginning of 2007.

Furthermore, two important trilateral side-meetings took place on the first day of the PPCC meeting. The first one concerned the water management of the Prespa region, and was carried out with the participation of representatives of the water services of the three countries sharing the basin. The participants concluded at the necessity for the appointment of a trilateral technical working group on water issues as well as the establishment of a transboundary monitoring system for the waters of the basin. The second side- meeting concerned the spatial planning in the Prespa basin and was realised with the participation of representatives of the relevant authorities of the three countries. Main issues discussed were the legal framework and the methodology of the national spatial plans within the basin. The participants agreed to translate and exchange the terms of reference of the studies and to continue communication between the study teams.

The minutes of the 9th PPCC meeting and the presentations by the donors and stakeholders implementing projects in the Prespa Park area can be found here .