News

Co-organized by WWF – Greece and WWF-Turkey, the event WWF Panda Youth Awards took place on Thursday 4^th June, the Event. Five youth teams from Greece and five from Turkey. 

World Environment Day, June 5th, 2021

Having entered the third decade of the 21^st century, we are now facing a multifaceted environmental crisis – a biodiversity crisis and a climate crisis - in Greece and around the world.

Home to a mosaic of habitats, important waterbirds, endemic fish, mammals, and other biodiversity, the wetlands of Lake Lesser Prespa have provided to local societies for centuries.

Every year at the end of winter, fires are recorded in the reedbeds of Lake Lesser Prespa. Usually, these fires are targeted to burn reedbeds or sometimes they are set to clear drainage ditches from vegetation and end up spreading in the reedbeds. 

The 4th meeting of the Transboundary Wetland Management Technical Group (TWMTG) was carried out online on Monday 26^th April, with the participation of representatives from the national parks and the protected areas of the Prespa basin, as well as environmental NGOs working for the conservation of the area. 

On 26^th February the annual Wetland Management Committee (WMC) meeting was held; the WMC is an advisory committee which functions under the Management Body for the Prespa National Park (MBPNP). At this year’s meeting, the 14^th such event, subjects such as wetland vegetation management, the fluctuation of the water level in Lesser Prespa Lake and developments in the waterbird populations were discussed, as well as other issues related to fisheries, such as the dates of the closed season for 2021.

November and December of 2020 saw some of the highest temperatures recorded in Greece in the last century, and pelicans across the country were lulled into a false sense of security! In Messolonghi, Karla and Prespa the first eggs hatched earlier than in any previous year.

To celebrate World Wetlands Day, which is dedicated to water this year, and the interplay between this vital resource and wetlands, we invite you to watch “People and naiads – myths and facts”, a video created by the young people of Prespa.

On January, like every year in Lesser and Great Prespa, the midwinter bird counts took place. The midwinter counts occur simultaneously all over Europe and in Greece they are organized by the Hellenic Ornithological Society with the cooperation of many bodies and organizations, and hundreds of volunteers.

On 10^th December, the 3^rd meeting of the Transboundary Wetland Management Technical Group (TWMTG) took place online with 18 representatives from the protected area authorities and NGOs of the three countries.