First of all, a little information for starters:

I'm not a citizen of the town of Ohrid, but of Shtip, a smaller town located 300km from inarguably the most beautiful place in Macedonia. Still, regardless of not being faced on a daily basis with the continued destruction of Ohrid's environmental and overall identity, I am worried about its future, as every Macedonian should be.

If you stop a Macedonian on the street to ask what is the place that every foreigner should visit, he/ she will tell you without giving it a second thought: Ohrid and its lake.

Lake Ohrid is one of the largest lakes in the Balkans. Located between Macedonia and Albania, it is the deepest freshwater system in the Balkans with a maximum depth of 300 meters, which makes it one of the deepest in Europe. It preserves a unique aquatic ecosystem that is of worldwide importance, with more than 200 endemic species, and along with the nearby Galicica Mountain, it represents a unique natural reservoir. Along with its natural beauty, what makes Ohrid special for many tourists is its rich cultural heritage. The town is full of old churches, picturesque houses and monuments dating back centuries. It is an exceptional cultural heritage that contains traces of early and Medieval Christianity at every step.

And it's not only the Macedonian people know the true and unique value of Ohrid. Ever since 1980, Lake Ohrid and the Ohrid region have been inscribed in the World Heritage List by The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, or UNESCO. It should be also pointed out that Ohrid is one of only 28 UNSECO World Heritage sites that are listed as both cultural and natural rarities at the same time. This great recognition testifies about the importance of this region not only for my country Macedonia, but also for the rest of Europe. To quote from the official document:

"Situated on the shores of Lake Ohrid, the town of Ohrid is one of the oldest human settlements in Europe. Built mainly between the 7th and 19th centuries, it has the oldest Slav monastery (St Pantelejmon) and more than 800 Byzantine-style icons dating from the 11th to the end of the 14th century. After those of the Tretiakov Gallery in Moscow, this is considered to be the most important collection of icons in the world."

I could go on and on about Ohrid's beautiful and outstanding identity, but maybe you should check out the numerous online sources, and let me emphasize and bring to attention the negative trend that has been ongoing for the past few years.

That being said, it is not an uncommon thing for the last couple of years to see deterioration of the region's protection and preservation. I'm just going to point out a couple of cases that should be addressed immediately if we don't want to lose not only UNESCO's protection, but also the genuine beauty of the country's pearl.

For example, during the past few years there has been a rapid increase in building tourist facilities close to the shore which has a devastating effect for the surrounding nature, especially for the reed belts. Tourism is beneficial to any country's economy, but that does not mean that it can be a justification for a destructive behavior. To be precise, there has been a new change to Ohrid's general urban plans that are a threat to an entire ecosystem. These new amendments of the general urban plan will urbanize and change the overall look of the city under UNESCO. In accordance with the organisation's rules, the body of the Municipality is obliged to notify the Centre for World Heritage of UNESCO about how any change can impact the cultural heritage and the environment. Still, the Municipality failed to do this, presumably because it can face an unwanted reaction by the organisation.

As I said, it is not uncommon to learn that the bodies and structures that are supposed to protect the lake and its surroundings are actually and ironically the ones who are making the greatest damage. Like for example, a public enterprise that disposed sewage waste in the lake and thus making a human, forced and unacceptable intervention in the quality of the lake's flora and fauna.

Furthermore, there are also several ongoing building activities at the heart of the town that ever since their early stages of construction have proved to be poorly planned decisions. The project has been dubbed Plaosnik 2014 and it envisages building of a university complex on the hill above the old part of the city. This government-funded plan has been under a strong opposition from the Association of Macedonian Architects who warn that if the project is not abandoned, the picturesque city could risk deletion from the prestigious list of UNESCO world heritage sites. They argue that a location like Plaosnik does not allow any urban expansion and intrusion. Their stances were also supported by UNESCO's General Director Irina Bokova who stated after visiting Macedonia: "We should be very careful when it comes to the protection of heritage and its conversation, which is something we should work on, and maintain authenticity." 

As a conclusion, I hope that this article can bring some attention, no matter how minor, to the problem Ohrid is facing. Maybe if we, the people, become more aware about the atrocities surrounding us, we can prevent living in an unhealthy environment full of (un)natural catastrophes.

Finally, I should just let the following facts speak for themselves and be a warning for us all:

Revoking the status of UNESCO protected heritage is not unheard-of. The last time it happened was in 2009, when Dresden was crossed off after a bridge with four lanes was build through the city protected core. Also, in 2007, a sanctuary in Oman for the rare Orix antelope was removed from the World Heritage list, following a decision to the authorities in the Gulf state to reduce the size of the sanctuary in the search for oil.

Vladimir
EVS Volunteer