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UNESCO announces the inclusion of Ohrid in the List of World Heritage in Danger

2024-07-16 22:16:46, Kulturë CNA

UNESCO announces the inclusion of Ohrid in the List of World Heritage in Danger

Lin, Pogradec. Source, VOA

The World Organization of Monuments, UNESCO warns the Albanian and Macedonian authorities about a possible inclusion of Ohrid in the List of World Heritage in Danger.

In the draft decision of the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee just published, UNESCO says that North Macedonia and Albania must submit to the World Heritage Center, by February 1, 2025, a joint updated report on the state of preserving the property and implementing the recommendations of the UNESCO missions.

UNESCO assesses that "the urgent need to preserve Ori requires a broad mobilization to preserve universal values, including the possible description on the List of World Heritage in Danger".

In the draft decision of the World Heritage Committee that will be considered at the 46th session in India this month, UNESCO "reemphasizes the request for Albania to officially remove from the provisions of the General Local Plan of Pogradec, the possibility of urban development in the areas along the coast of the lake between Pogradec and Tushemishti and in Lin".

Likewise, UNESCO requests that the Drilon Source Water Park Master Plan be removed from the provision for the construction of a building on top of the hill near Drilon and any infrastructure on and around it.

UNESCO reiterates its request for Albania and North Macedonia to urgently prepare a Strategic Environmental Assessment that comprehensively assesses the impacts of all infrastructure and development plans and other major projects on universal values ??and submit it to the World Heritage Center for consideration.

UNESCO in the draft decision urges Albania and North Macedonia to strengthen the cross-border dialogue from the high institutional to the operational level.

UNESCO asks both states to “ensure that the Transboundary Watershed Management Committee operates on a regular basis, in a two-way dialogue with and supported by a transboundary working group to ensure that transboundary issues are promptly and effectively addressed effective and progress to be monitored and reported".

UNESCO in the draft decision reiterates its request to North Macedonia that "changes to Detailed Urban Plans and approval of Local Development Plans outside settlements will be suspended until a Heritage Impact Assessment is carried out"

"The General Urban Plans for Ohrid and Struga and spatial planning instruments for unbuilt areas should be processed urgently and in full respect of universal values", says UNESCO.

UNESCO requests that North Macedonia systematically examine, based on clear criteria, the extent of the negative impacts of illegal buildings and decide how to eliminate or mitigate those undesirable effects, including the removal of illegal constructions or their parts. .

UNESCO further asks North Macedonia to stop construction near the Studen?i?a Swamp and the Gorica Veriore and Gorica 3 complex until environmental impact assessments for the project are undertaken.

UNESCO again urges North Macedonia to finalize the declaration of the Studen?ica Marsh as a natural park and Lake Ohrid as a Natural Monument and to ensure that management measures preserve key ecological processes and features that contribute to the property's universal values.

North Macedonia is requested by UNESCO to submit to the World Heritage Center, upon completion, the feasibility study for the Urban Plan for areas and buildings of state importance in the coastal belt of the Ohrid region.

UNESCO also requests Albania and North Macedonia to submit to the World Heritage Center for review by ICOMOS all project documentation related to the project proposal for the early Christian church in Lin and the project for the rehabilitation of the promenade along the lake in Struga .

UNESCO urges the two countries to undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment on the potential impact on universal values ??of any alternative route of the VIIIth Railway Corridor, for which the feasibility study should be prepared in 2024, and submit to all assessments and technical information relevant to UNESCO.

UNESCO in its analysis notes with concern that large-scale development around the lake, especially near major urban centers, has undermined the qualities of the exceptionally harmonious ensemble.

The state of preservation of the property is not improving and there is no positive trend to start restoring its integrity", says UNESCO.

Lake Ohrid is one of the largest lakes in the Balkan Peninsula and is considered one of the oldest lakes in the world. Most of the lake belongs to North Macedonia, while the rest belongs to Albania. Three large cities lie on the shore of the lake: Ohrid and Struga in Macedonia and Pogradec in Albania.

The Macedonian part of Lake Ohrid was accepted into the World Heritage List in 1979, first as a natural asset, and a year later as a natural and cultural asset, while the Albanian part was accepted in 2019./ VOA