Conservation and management issues of Prespa National Park

Abstract

The present article describes the human activities in the area and their changes and trends, given that the contemporary nature conservation key issues are closely related to past and present socio-economic and cultural conditions, both within Prespa itself and outside of it. The liberation of Prespa, a remote and rather socially isolated borderline area, from Ottoman occupation took place in 1912–13. Recent events in its environmental history have been forest clearings and human depopulation in the Civil War (1944–49), irrigation system construction in the 1960s, its ‘discovery’ by ornithologists in the late 1960s, the high emigration rates of 1960–1980, its designation as a National Park in 1974, the destructive development works of 1984–86 after Greece’s entry to the EEC and the conversion to intensive bean cultivation in the mid 1980s.

The human population of ca 7000 at the start of this century suffered an almost 80% decrease after the Civil War. A resettlement in the mid 1950s increased the population by 40% but in the 1970s emigration reduced it to its previous size of around 1500, still its present size. The extensive and diverse farming systems of previous centuries changed gradually after the construction of an irrigation network in the 1960s, which twenty years later and along with international changes in production and economy patterns, made possible the present day domination of a bean monoculture within irrigated croplands. This was accompanied by increased energy inputs, mechanisation and the use of chemicals. Intensification of agriculture brought increased incomes which attracted also livestock keepers, resulting in a 56% decrease in numbers of livestock in 1964–1993. Cattle are presently kept for meat production only. They graze on the mountains, and no longer in the meadows around the lakeshore. A local shorthorn breed accounting for 93% of all cattle in 1963 declined to less than 18% in 1993. Fishing aimed mainly at carp and Prespa bleak, continues today as in the past to be a source of supplementary income. Eighty-six per cent of the – mainly oak and beech – forests are State owned and the rest belong to local municipalities. The forest area has not changed essentially in the last 40 years, but forest roads have expanded. Forests provide mainly fuelwood for local needs and small quantities of industrial timber. No specific management is conducted to safeguard the conservation values of the forest, the majority of which consists of even aged coppiced stands with limited value for wildlife. Manufacturing never played an important role for the economy of the area. Tourism has increased in the last 20 years, concentrated mainly in summer and spring. Accommodation in the villages is not yet satisfactory though it has improved enormously in recent years. The National Park’s infrastructure for visitors remains poor. Tourist pressure generally is not yet that high to impact drastically the social and environmental fabric. In places, hunting, angling and poaching can negatively affect the target species. The construction of the irrigation network in the eastern part of Lake Mikri Prespa was the most important change to the landscape and the habitats of Prespa the last 30 years. It resulted in the embankment of free-flowing streams, drainage of wet meadows and dramatic reduction of trees and hedges. In the last 15 years, the reedbeds, no longer burnt or mowed and assisted by increased nutrient loadings from agricultural runoff, have expanded landward to occupy formerly open, periodically flooded, areas. The above changes in habitats and land use have brought an impoverishment of biodiversity which can be seen in the extermination or the decrease in the numbers of certain plant and bird species.

The problems preventing a better management of the National Park and the perpetuation of its values are inappropriate legislation, the poor degree of coordination of the public services, the lack of both a specific National Park Service in Greece and a management authority for the Park and the hostile attitude of local people due to their limited information and involvement. The scenic beauty, the wetlands and a number of rare habitats, the diversity of habitats, flora and fauna, the endemic life forms, the rare mammals and the colonial waterbirds, the local architecture and the cultural expressions such as the Byzantine monuments, are the values of Prespa that must be preserved as a whole. The initial conservation efforts aimed at preserving biodiversity but later it became apparent that not only are humans an inseparable part of the whole, but additionally, several of their extensive activities have contributed substantially to the rich biodiversity of the area. Through the prerequisites of keeping a balance between primary and tertiary sector activities and of revitalizing the social fabric, the following are the key management and conservation issues of today: an unequivocal agreement on the values to be preserved and their limits; the formation of a management authority; a new realistic protection and land use zoning; the diversification and extensification of all farming activities; the restoration of the wet meadow habitats; the ensuring of a high water level and a good water quality for both lakes through tri-lateral cooperation between Greece, Albania and FYROM; and the establishment of a permanent environmental monitoring scheme.