Skopje, 12 December 2022 (MIA) – Mavrovo National Park and Shar Mountain National Park in North Macedonia, Korab-Koritnik Nature Park in Albania and Shari National Park in Kosovo will soon be part of a cross-border national park, the largest of its kind in Europe, straddling over an area of more than 242,000 hectares.  

“On the occasion of International Mountain Day, a meeting was held in Tirana between North Macedonia’s Minister of Environment and Physical Planning Naser Nuredini, Albania’s Minister of Environment and Tourism Mirela Kumbaro and Kosovo’s Minister of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure Liburn Aliu,” the Environment Ministry said in a press release on Monday.  

Minister Nuredini spoke about a vision in which protection of the natural values of protected areas, on the other hand, ensures sustainable management by not turning them into museums of nature, but creating new opportunities for socio-economic development of local communities.  

“The natural cross-border connection of the protected areas, Mavrovo National Park and Shar Mountain National Park in North Macedonia, the Korab-Koritnik Nature Park in Albania and the Shari National Park in Kosovo, opens new opportunities for greater protection of flora and fauna, better handling of illegal activities, better monitoring, greater opportunities for the development of eco-tourism and alternative forms of tourism, exchange of good practices and experience, protection and promotion of cultural and natural heritage, as well as greater attractiveness and increased interest of international donors and investors,” said Environment Minister Naser Nuredini.  

Minister Kumbaro said protected areas are seen as areas providing benefits beyond their borders on the geographical map, beyond the borders of nation states – between the communities and the generations that live in these areas.  

“These zones serve as an ecological corridor, housing a number of important species of plants and animals, not only at a regional level, but also at European and international level, such as the European Green Belt. In terms of tourism, we see protected areas as a very good opportunity for the development of ecotourism in all its forms,” the Minister stressed.  

According to Kosovo’s Environment Minister Aliu, the project will give a new perspective for the development of this mountain area.  

“We have the borders between us, but we want to enable benefits for various companies that want to build in that space. It is our duty to establish rules keeping in mind the past in order to develop and use it, but also to protect what is very valuable. In 2013, we increased the territory of Shari National Park to 53,469 hectares,” Minister Aliu said.  

Aliu added that in addition to the tourist destination Brezovica, there is a plan to develop other areas of mountain tourism, both winter and summer tourism, in accordance with the criteria for nature protection.  

This project between the three countries, reads the press release, is aimed at joint cross-border development of nature-based tourism, joint cross-border management of the region, joint promotion of special natural and cultural heritage across borders, etc. The meeting was also attended by representatives of UNEP, the United Nations Environment Programme that will support the project. On the other hand, Daniel Pirushi, director of the National Agency for Protected Areas, said a management board within the protected area will be formed within three months, and work on the project will begin.