Bonn, 5 June 2000. On 31 May 2000 the President of Albania, Dr Rexhep Meidanj inaugurated Lake Prespa National Park which is situated where Albania, Macedonia and Greece meet and which covers anarea of 27,750 hectares.

Formed more than two millions years ago, the region of Lake Ohrid and the Greater and Lesser Prespa Lakes offers an important habitat for a multitude of wild animals and plants some of which do not occur elsewhere in the world. Tens of thousands of birds spend the winter at the lakes or rest there on their way from the North to the South and from the East to the West. With the National Park and a new Landscape Reserve (also 27,000 hectares, connecting Lake Ohrid with Prespa National Park), Albania has doubled the area of its protected regions.

The year-long co-operation between the German-based international NGO (non-governmental organisation) EURONATUR and the NGO Preservation & Protection Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA) and the financial support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the German Technical Co-operation (GTZ ) made it possible to put the project to create the Lake Prespa National Park into effect.

The ceremony to inaugurate the Park was attended by approximately 500 representatives of Albanian authorities, delegations from Greece and Macedonia, NGOs, media and the local people. In his speech the Albanian President thanked the German Government for having generously provided the funds and highlighted the excellent cooperation which helped these two new protected areas come into being despite a difficult period for government authorities as well as non-governmental organisations. He also stressed the importance of the National Park project for the economic development of the region. The German Ambassador, Peter Kiewitt, underscored the relevance of the Prespa National Park project which would be highlighted internationally as it had been included as a model in the world fair EXPO 2000 in Hannover/Germany. Dr. Gjiknuri (Chairman of the Albanian NGO PPNEA) and Dr. Fremuth (EURONATUR) stressed the important role of the CMS Secretariat in managing the approval and funding from the German government for this project. Arnulf Müller-Helmbrecht, the Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (Bonn Convention or CMS) emphasised the good co-operation between Germany and Albania, skilful NGOs and the CMS Secretariat. He mentioned that he was personally pleased that the Bonn Convention was able to contribute to the realization of the Lake Prespa National Park. "The region has been of global importance - for million of years - because of its unique biological diversity and the fact that it is an important breeding, stop-over or wintering site for numerous migratory bird species. Threatened species such as the Dalmatian Pelican (Pelicanus crispus) and the Slender-billed curlew (Numenius tenuirostris) are to be found here."

In addition to this positive development for Albanian conservation, the CMS Executive Secretary received the good news that Albania will most likely soon take the relevant steps in joining the CMS Convention, the CMS associated Agreements and the Memorandum of Understanding concerning the Slender-billed Curlew.