The Ohrid region, which includes Lake Ohrid and the protected areas around it in Albania and North Macedonia, once again avoided inclusion on the List of World Heritage in Danger, but the UNESCO World Heritage Committee assessed that the threats remain serious and gave the two countries five years to implement the recommendations.
According to UNESCO, unauthorized construction, uncontrolled urbanization, damage to the lake shoreline, inadequate wastewater management, and insufficient ecosystem protection remain the main threats to the Ohrid Region.
Arian Merolli, an environmental and world heritage expert, explained to Amfora.al that the new deadline should not be interpreted as a sign that the danger has passed.
“For me personally, this is not a hopeful decision. Since 2020, I have been following the process and I have seen that some of the responsible institutions did not have information about the rehabilitation strategy and plan,” he said.
According to him, the strategy adopted by the two countries should be accompanied by a detailed implementation plan, with clear deadlines and responsibilities for each measure aimed at protecting the lake.
The decision was made at the 48th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, held in Busan, South Korea, where 16 out of 21 member states voted in favor. In addition to postponing the decision to include the region on the List of World Heritage in Danger, UNESCO is demanding that Albania and North Macedonia accelerate the implementation of the recommendations, including removing unauthorized construction, adapting urban plans to the organization’s standards, and drafting strategic environmental impact assessments.
UNESCO also urges authorities, particularly in North Macedonia, to expedite the assessment of the impact of unauthorized constructions on the universal value of the region and, where necessary, to demolish them. It also recommends that no new urban or development plans be approved until strategic environmental assessments are completed.
According to audit reports, the Municipality of Ohrid has not approved urban plans for 20 settlements, while no measures have been taken to demolish 4,847 unauthorized constructions, although 456 final decisions were issued during 2019-2024. Unauthorized constructions and structures have also been identified in protected areas.
Merolli says that it is precisely the lack of implementation of the measures that makes the fulfillment of the new obligations uncertain.
“I am skeptical about how realistic the willingness of the two states to implement these obligations will be. If the commitments stemming from the World Heritage Convention are not respected, the region risks losing its status as a world heritage site,” he said.
In addition to unauthorized construction, UNESCO’s decision also requires the review of alternatives for the construction of Corridor 8 and the assessment of the impact that infrastructure projects may have on the protected area.
The expert also raises concerns about the way progress in implementing recommendations is reported.
“The annual reports do not reflect the reality on the ground and do not professionally address UNESCO’s recommendations or how problems should be solved,” said Merolli.
Warnings about the Ohrid Region are not new. For years, UNESCO, heritage experts and environmental organizations have raised concerns about uncontrolled development, unauthorized construction and the lack of effective measures to protect the ecosystem.
In 2023, during a “workshop” in Pogradec with investigative journalists, experts warned that Albania and North Macedonia were facing difficulties in implementing UNESCO recommendations and that without concrete intervention, the region risked being included in the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Another alarm signal came at the end of 2024, when the report of the UNESCO Reactive Monitoring Mission concluded that mismanagement and lack of concrete action by both governments were causing continued degradation of the ecosystem and risking the loss of the Ohrid Region’s status as a World Heritage Site.
Experts have also raised concerns about urban developments near archaeological areas, arguing that the construction of modern buildings risks damaging a territory where traces of approximately 8,500-year-old settlements have been discovered, considered among the earliest in Europe.
Environmental organizations and civil society have also warned for years that UNESCO’s recommendations are not being implemented at the required pace. Most recently, they have denounced the usurpation of several beaches on the shores of Lake Ohrid by concessionaires, accusing municipalities and inspectorates of a lack of intervention. UNESCO has repeatedly reiterated its demands for the cessation of uncontrolled urbanization, the elimination of unauthorized construction, the protection of the lakeshore, the improvement of wastewater treatment, the preservation of the Studençishte Marsh, and the strengthening of coordination between the institutions of the two countries.
Lake Ohrid is considered one of the three oldest lakes in the world, with a geological history dating back about four million years. With a maximum depth of 285 meters, it is the deepest lake in the Balkans and one of the most important biodiversity reserves in Europe, home to over 200 species, many of them endemic, such as the koran, which is found only in these waters.
For its exceptional natural values, the Macedonian part of the region was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979, while the status was extended in 1980 to include cultural heritage. In July 2019, UNESCO extended this status to the Albanian part of the Ohrid Region, recognizing the lake as a joint world heritage of Albania and North Macedonia./ amfora.al