Drin Dreams: another step towards a shared vision for the management of the Drin river basin
Representatives of national, regional and local authorities, water users associations, academia, members from the private sector, NGOs as well as representatives of international organizations and donor agencies met on 29 September 2011, in Podgorica, Montenegro for a National Consultation Meeting to discuss and elaborate on management issues, needs and actions for the sustainable management of the Drin river basin. Lake Skadar and Bojana river are the important parts of the basin that fall within Montenegro. This activity falls within the first component of MedPartnership on "ICZM, IWRM and the management of coastal aquifers".
The meeting was opened by ministers responsible for water management in the basin: H.E. Mr. Tarzan Milosevic, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, Montenegro; H.E. Mr. Stevo Temelkoski, Deputy Minister of Environment and Physical Planning, FYR Macedonia; H.E. Mr. Spetim Rudi, Deputy Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning, Kosovo (U.N. administered region, S.C. Res. 1244). Others who also made opening statements were Mr. Bo Libert, Regional Adviser UNECE, Prof. Michael Scoullos, Chairman of GWP-Med; Ms. Thomais Vlachogianni, MIO-ECSDE representative. The ministers expressed their strong support to the Drin Dialogue and development of the cooperation in the Drin basin.
The Montenegrin National Consultation Meeting was the third in a series of meetings within the Drin Dialogue process. A National Consultation Meeting was organized in November 2010 in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and a second in April 2011 in Albania. A consultation meeting involving all countries sharing the basin will be organized later in November 2011.
In the National Consultation Meeting the main challenges in the Drin basin as well as possible responses were discussed. Water quality, development of tourism and hydropower were among the issues debated, as were the recurrent serious floods of recent years. The establishment of a joint commission to enhance transboundary cooperation for the sustainable management of the extended Drin basin was suggested as an important step to take.
On the following day (30 September 2011), the 4th Drin Core Group Meeting discussed the results of the national consultation. The Drin Core Group agreed on a text for a Memorandum of Understanding between the Riparians reflecting a Shared Strategic Vision for the joint management of the transboundary Drin basin. It is planned that this MoU will be signed by Ministers during a meeting in Tirana at the end of November.
Additional Information
The Drin Dialogue is a structured consultation process launched on December 1st, 2009 which aims to establish a Shared Vision for the management of the extended Drin River Basin. The Drin Dialogue is conducted within the frameworks of the UNECE Water Convention and the Petersberg Phase II / Athens Declaration Process. Activities within the Dialogue contribute directly to and are part of the Mediterranean Component of the EU Water Initiative and of the GEF MedPartnership. The Drin Dialogue is facilitated by UNECE and the Global Water Partnership-Mediterranean (GWP-Med) and is financially supported by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. It is also supported by MIO-ECSDE.
The Drin Basin covers a geographical area that includes Albania, Greece, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo (U.N. administered region, S.C. Res. 1244) and Montenegro. The Drin River is the “connecting body” of this water system, linking the lakes, wetlands, rivers and other aquatic habitats into a single ecosystem of major importance. The region is very rich in endemic species and exceptional in terms of biodiversity conservation, and so has great potential for the development of sustainable tourism.
