Reportage: The Natural Ornithology Reserve Ezerani

The heart of Prespa Park needs to be paid more attention to Starting from this spring, birds can be freely observed from the first house placed

Katerina Bogoeva

This spring, according to the written rule of nature, contained in the awakening and saluting the life, the plants and animals offer their energy and invite the people in their kingdoms to enjoy together in the unique season. Such a thing should not be missed, if the road takes you near the Lake Prespa, since the call of nature at the ornithology reserve Ezerani is still strong and impressive enough to leave breathless the urban people, no matter which dynamic living place they come from or how open they are for the bird kingdom, which has its own rules, sounds and unforgettable peace. The spring was not the only direct occasion for coming to the reserve. The occasion is the placing of the first and so far the only house for observing the birds, as part of the project "The infrastructure of Ezerani reserve" on the Lake Prespa, implemented by the Macedonian association for studying and protection of birds (MASPB). Within the project, supported by the Norwegian Embassy in Macedonia, the main road that leads through the reserve has been mended, signposts have been made from Bitola, Resen and the surrounding settlements and placed at the four entrance gates of the reserve, as well as one information board at the very entrance of the Infocentre in the village Asamati. This spring, the reserve got concrete water collection pipes that will redirect it under the road in order to avoid neglecting the main approach through the protected space.

And, the protected location whose exceptional value MASPB has started promoting to the national and international public since 1995, spreads at 2080 hectares and is on the Ramsar list of protected areas, which confirms the fact that this location is one of the rare ones in the world that managed to keep their natural values. Such a status should be credited to the 270 kinds of birds of which 105 are water kinds. The percentage of birds in the reserve is really big, if we have in mind the fact that the total number of birds in Macedonia, according to professor Branko Micevski, president of the above-mentioned association and professor at the Faculty of Natural Science and Mathematics in Skopje, is somewhere between 320 and 330. From the recently placed house, one can observe the bird habitats, their life by and inside the lake, the flight above the lake, without disrupting the natural balance by the benevolent visitors.

The first more detailed information on the reserve Ezerani, can be acquired at the Information and Research Centre in the village Asamati, located within the village cooperative home. Foreign donors, and the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning (with a certain percentage) have so far participated in its adaptation and equipment. The municipality Resen allowed the association to use the Collective home. From there, through a telescope, visitors can observe the bird kingdom, but also talk and get information from the two specific guards of the ...reserve, employed by MASPB, whose role is to do everyday monitoring of the location. They record the changes of the bird fund, follow the condition with the natural habitats in the reserve, but also record the destructions and violations (stealing sand, bird hunting) and inform about them. One of the two "specific friend" of the birds in Ezerani, Nikola Todorovski, emphasizes that the presence of birds on the Lake Prespa, some of which are rare kinds, can contribute to the necessary publicity of the location, the eco-tourism, which, as he says, " we all know Prespa is missing".

"In the everyday monitoring of birds, we determine their number and  we follow, among other things, the white pelican, the heron, the long white-grey heron which come in a smaller number, five, six, to fifteen most, rarely 20 or more. They can be easily counted, whereas others, such as the ducks or the doves, are determined as a bigger or smaller flock. Observing takes a special approach, it is necessary to observe them from a distance, since they are sensitive to a human presence. By placing the house, it has been made easier, since we have a wider range. There are many migrant birds, some of them come and stay in the winter period, other come in spring, such as the white and black stork, the swallow, etc. Most of the birds live here, reproduce, build their nests, feed with organisms they find in the water or on the coast...Unfortunately, the two fishponds in the reserve, where birds used to feed themselves and rest do not function for some time. The location is divided into 3 zones with certain activities that can be performed there. In the first zone, that covers the littoral part of the coast, the movement of people, fishing, cutting reed and lading out sand s forbidden, but we often come across thieves and hunters, the fact we can only inform about, but not fine. The water-supply from Resen is the one that manages the sand resources now and they have placed guards that can submit??for the recorded illegal lading out of the sand.

The inhabitants from Ezerani, Asamati and the nearby settlements have been informed how far the reserve stretches, and according to Todorovski, now, as opposed to before, they behave in a correct manner regarding its existence. In the past, the inhabitants have often made obstructions, fearing that the reserve will make them lose their properties, orchards, pastures and meadows.

However, the thing that destroys the primary image of the reserve, especially on the side of Asamati, is the wild village dump, which lies on the very entrance and waits for better times to be displaced, although the village, inhabited by both Macedonian and Albanian, young and old population has certain farming machinery in the yards that can be used to solve this problem easily. The strict natural reserve is visited by rare students, tourists and scientists, and what it misses to animate the interested and attract the attention of the uninterested is various printed material of educational and informative contents, adjusted to visitors of various age, as well as TV and radio documentary programmes, better and more visible support by the local and national authorities that would increase the dignity of the location which it deserved as a unique Ramsar place in Macedonia

The morphology of the beach has been disturbed by the withdrawing of water in the Lake Prespa, which, however, does not bother the birds, and, as the well-informed say, has a positive impact on the extension of their habitat. Alajdin Mehmeti, the second "specific bird friend" is Asamati inhabitant. He was also born there, which is a fact that gives him the opportunity to compare the situation in the past and today. "There were more birds, but their number reduced after the fishponds in the village were closed, which provided a considerable amount of food for them. In contrast to the past, now the population collects fewer reeds for feeding the cattle, which can be find in the reserve. Even now, at certain places, one can come across otters, although in a smaller number around Stara Reka, and we also noticed some wolves that attack the cattle.

For the Mayor of Resen, Dimko Toskovski, the reserve in Ezerani plays an important role in the functioning of the whole area. He emphasized that now, the water-level of the Lake Prespa is in phase of low-waters, that there is a confirmed historic fluctuation of waters in every 22 to 24 years, but also that the period of crisis, according to the estimations, should have terminated by 2015. "We help the functioning of the reserve that stretches for about 10 kilometres, from Sirhan to Asamati as much as we can. But, unfortunately, the environmental awareness in our country, has not reached the necessary level yet. There are certain problems regarding the removing of the wild dumps, and we are currently working on solving the problem with wastewaters from Ezerani and Carev Dvor, is supposed to be terminated by the end of August. Also, we started paying more attention to the reduction of the use of non-phosphate detergents and other harmful substances. We decided to apply alternative forms of tourism, since the mass one has ended, and in that context, it is necessary to turn the attention to the protection of the environment. We are part of the first cross-border Balkan Park, "Prespa Park", which is of great importance to all three countries".

MASPB President, Branko Micevski is not satisfied with the present treatment of the values that this reserve Ezerani possesses. He considers that neither the local nor the national authorities have so far demonstrated the necessary interest for a real treatment of the location, concerning the values it has.

"Zoning the reserve's space, as well as the specific treatment and protection, remained only on paper. The population is introduced to the existence of the zones, but their protection is inadequate, since the zones did not become part of the Law for announcing the ornithology reserve a strict natural reserve by the country in 1996. The channel of Golema Reka has been dug in the reserve, so the Resen wastewaters go to the lake, and the cleansing station does not function properly. We, as a non-governmental organization, together with the Republic Institute for Protection of Natural Rarities, managed to obtain a legal protection of the location eight years ago, but we did not manage to teach the country that these laws should be as well implemented. We are a non-governmental organization and in 1997, by a Government decree, we were nominated for managers of this location. However, we cannot implement any activities unless we sign an agreement with the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning. So far, such an agreement has not been signed, and unfortunately, we have not been given any responsibilities or financial assets for certain activities for better functioning of the reserve. We can only do monitoring, for which we only get finances from foreign sources by working on projects. We have been monitoring the reserve since 2000, but the authorities have not shown interest in our reports, although we send some of them from time to time, to inform them on the condition with the bird fund and the disruptions in the reserve such as killing birds, ladling out sand, fishing, etc. The Water economy enterprise that manages the sand, should also protect it from the thieves, which they all know are present. The lake, however, is managed by private companies, as if it were a fishpond, thus excluding it from the Ramsar list. Ezerani reserve is the heart of the Prespa Park, thanks to which Macedonia is also part of the Ramsar world list. In Greece, there is a pelican nest and in Albania, there is nothing of the kind. Unfortunately, these 10-15 years all that has been done is unplanned, the ministries from all governments listen to our suggestions only in the beginning, but after a short while, when they find out that their hands are untied, a chaos occurs. It is necessary to make a plan for managing the reserve Ezerani by experts in order to preserve its values". 

K.B.