February 2, 2009, Prespa - Children on all three sides of the Lakes were in the focus of the events on February 2, marking the World Wetlands Day and the 9th Anniversary of the transboundary Prespa Park.

The winners of the drawing competition “Show your lake to your neighbors” were 10-years old Paola Merhani, Cvetanka Marinkovic and Georgia Samsonidou from Albania, FYR of Macedonia and Greece respectively. Some 160 primary school children from the three countries took part in the drawing competition. During the “Grand Finale” on February 2, children in each country were reviewing and selecting the drawings by their neighbours, and the winners were announced.

The competition was organized by local environmental NGOs Society for the Protection of Prespa (Greece) in partnership with the Coalition for Perspective Prespa (FYR Macedonia), and the Nature and Life (Albania). In the months to come the whole exhibition will tour the Prespa Lakes Basin and give the opportunity to all children to share the same vision of the lakes and their environment.

In the same spirit, an international Prespa Photo Competition was announced to mark and celebrate together the next, 10th anniversary of the transboundary Prespa Park.

In Albania, a wide range of stakeholders took part in the event organized by the UNDP/GEF Prespa Regional Project under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands WWD 2009 motto “Upstream – Downstream, Wetlands connect us all”. Among the participants were the representatives of the Liqenas and Proger Communes, Regional Council of Korça, the Prefecture, representatives of the civil society from communes, resource users NGOs, educational body and school children, and local folk dance groups.

Following the opening address by the Mayor of Liqenas Commune, Mr. Edmond Themelko, a biology teacher presented an overview of Albanian wetlands to the 7th  and 8th grade school children. Special attention was given to the country’s three Wetlands of International importance designated under the Ramsar Convention (Butrinti lake, Karavasta Lagoon and Wetland Complex of Shkodra Lake and Buna River). 

Against the backdrop of the Ramsar video “Wetlands: Keeping our planet alive and well”, younger children took part in the drawing competition, while the Folk Group of Liqenas performed traditional songs and dances dedicated to nature and to Prespa lakes.

In the premises of the Resen Municipality (FYR of Macedonia), the elementary school children took part in games and the quiz on wetlands and the significance of Prespa, organized by the UNDP/GEF project team and local NGO Coalition for Perspective Prespa.

Resen Mayor, Mr Dimitar Buzlevski stressed the importance of trilateral transboundary cooperation for the sustainable development of Prespa. State secretary in the Ministry for Environment and Physical Planning and National Project Director of the UNDP/GEF Prespa Project Ms Lidija Zafirovska highlighted Ministry’s support to the Project, and promised to keep fundraising for the implementation of other similar projects.

Following the screening of the Ramsar video “Wetlands: Keeping our planet alive and well” Professor Dr Trajce Naumovski addressed the issues of the challenges in protection of wetlands, with reference on Prespa lake as Ramsar Site.

Greek Prespa National Forest Management Body (PNFMB), in cooperation with the Society for the Protection of Prespa and with the support of the Prespa Municipality and the Florina Prefecture organized an event for 60 school children. Titled “World Wetlands Day: Wetlands connect us all”, the manifestation included information on the role of PNFMB, the Prespa wetlands, the global water cycle, as well as various educational activities.

Among the participants of the event were Florina Prefect and President of the PNFMB Mr Ioannis Voskopoulos, and Prespa Mayor, Vice-President of PNFMB and Prespa Park Coordination Committee member Mr Lazaros Nalpantidis.

The organizers aim at this WWD event becoming a beginning for a series of educational gatherings about water, the lakes, and protection of the environment in general.

World wetlands Day is an International Observance Day marking the establishment of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in Iran, 1971. The Convention's mission is the conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local, regional and national actions and international cooperation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world.

Prespa Park was established in 2000 by the Declaration of the three Prime Ministers, with a mandate for enhanced cooperation among competent authorities in protection of the environment in the Prespa Lakes Basin.

The Prespa Park Coordination Committee is a trilateral body representing governments, local authorities and civil society. It supports environmental protection and sustainable development in the Prespa Park for the preservation of natural and cultural heritage and the wellbeing of its peoples.♦