ORGANISATION

For the production of this Toolkit on Wetland Management and Monitoring, we have collated information and material generated during the implementation of summer schools and educational webinars that were implemented through the LIFE Prespa Waterbirds project between 2019 to 2021 in Prespa. 

The LIFE Prespa Waterbirds - LIFE15 NAT/GR/000936 project, titled "Bird conservation in Lesser Prespa: benefiting local communities and building a climate change resilient ecosystem" is co-funded by the Environment Directorate (LIFE) of the European Commission, the Prespa Ohrid Nature Trust and the Green Fund and supported by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. The aim of the project is to contribute to the conservation of nine rare waterbird species that live in Lesser Prespa Lake, using means through which benefits to the local community will also be created. The project also takes into consideration the critical issue of climate change, aiming to adapt conservation activities in order to take account of its probable future effects.


The summer school in 2019 was implemented in the premises of the Society for the Protection Prespa. Site managers working in Management Bodies of protected areas with lakes and wetlands in Greece were invited to participate in a five-day summer school enriched with lectures, fieldwork and workshops.       

The summer school in 2020 was implemented online, owing to the restrictions of the global COVID-19 pandemic, and it was implemented also as part of the following projects: 

1) The PrespaNet project "Strengthening NGO-led Conservation in the Transboundary Prespa Basin", funded by the Prespa Ohrid Nature Trust and the Aage V. Jensen Charity Foundation, with support from EuroNatur. This transboundary project aims to strengthen the PrespaNet network’s collaboration through concrete conservation activities in the region, and build a paradigm for integrated cross-border co-operation on biodiversity protection. The project has established a local NGO presence in Prespa in both Albania and North Macedonia, and particularly works with young people, through education and volunteering initiatives.



2) The PoliPrespa project “Protected areas: a vehicle for the sustainable development of Greek rural regions- the case of Prespa”, supported by a grant by Stavros Niarchos Foundation. This multi-partner project brings together all local stakeholders to implement and manage a four-year programme spanning environmental and social activities, as well as work on the local economy, aiming to create a sustainable development model for other protected areas within Greece.


The summer school in 2020 was further supported by contributions from the Agricultural University of Athens, the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research and the Greek Biotope/ Wetland Centre (EKBY). 

In 2021, again owing to the restrictions of the global COVID-19 pandemic, a set of four targeted webinars on wetland management and monitoring were designed for site managers working in protected areas authorities across the transboundary Prespa basin.