Empowered lives. Resilient nations. Grecian Juniper forests Conservation Action Plan for Grecian Juniper forests in the Prespa lakes watershed Landscape Scale Conservation in the Prespa Lake Basin Transboundary Species and Habitat Conservation Action Plans Integrated Ecosystem Management in the Prespa Lake Basin GRECIAN JUNIPER FORESTS Conservation Action Plan for the Prespa Lakes’ Watershed Prepared by: Dr Georgios Fotiadis, forester & environmentalist-vegetation specialist, TEI Lamias, Department of Forestry & Management of Natural Environment, Karpenisi Greece M.Sc. Natalija Angelova, environmentalist, Macedonian Ecological Society, Skopje, FYR of Macedonia Dr Nikola Nikolov, forester & forest fires specialist, Faculty of Forestry, Skopje, FYR of Macedonia Dr Ljupcho Melovski, nature conservation specialist, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Institute of Biology, Skopje, FYR of Macedonia Dr Mitko Karadelev, micologists, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Institute of Biology, Skopje, FYR of Macedonia Vasko Avukatov, GIS specialist, Macedonian Ecological Society, Skopje, FYR of Macedonia Lazar Nikolov, GIS specialist, Macedonian Ecological Society, Skopje, FYR of Macedonia Process facilitation and document Gabriel Schwaderer, Euronatur editing by: Lawrence Jones Walters, ECNC Acknowledgments Dr Michael Vrahnakis, forester, Assistant Professor, Department of Forestry and Management of Natural Environment, TEI of Larissa, Karditsa, Greece Dr Yannis Kazoglou, agronomist-environmentalist, scientific advisor of the Municipality of Prespa, Greece Andon Bojadzi, forester, NP Galichica Management Authority, Ohrid, FYR of Macedonia SPP-Society for the Protection of Prespa, Greece Suggested bibliographical reference: Fotiadis G., Angelova N., Nikolov N., Melovski Lj., Karadelev M., Avukatov V. and Nikolov, L. (2012). Conservation Action Plan for Grecian Juniper Forests in the Praspa Lakes Watershed (Final Report). UNDP/GEF project “Integrated ecosystem management in the Prespa lakes basin”, pg ?? 33 Contents Abbreviations ________________________________________________________________________________ 3 SUMMARY ____________________________________________________________________________________ 9 PART 1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION _____________________________________________________________ 13 1.1. Introduction ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 14 1.1.1. The Prespa lake Watershed ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 15 1.1.2. The Transboundary Prespa Park (TPP) __________________________________________________________________________________ 16 1.1.3. Physical features and hydrology ________________________________________________________________________________________17 1.1.4. Geology ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 18 1.1.5. Climatic features _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 19 1.2 Description of the habitat ___________________________________________________________________________________________20 1.2.1. General description of the habitat: Grecian juniper forests (GJFs) __________________________________________________________ 21 1.2.2. Description of the Grecian juniper forests habitat type in the area of interest ________________________________________________ 22 1.3. Spatial distribution of the Grecian juniper forests in Prespa watershed ________________________________________________26 1.4. Conservation and protection status ________________________________________________________________________________ 30 1.4.1. Protection status in Albania ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 31 1.4.2 Protection status in Greece _____________________________________________________________________________________________32 1.4.3 Protection status in FYR of Macedonia ____________________________________________________________________________________32 1.5 Previous actions - review of relevant research or conservation projects _______________________________________________ 34 PART 2. GRECIAN JUNIPER FORESTS ACTION PLAN _________________________________________________ 37 2.1. Threats and limiting factors ______________________________________________________________________________________ 38 2.1.1. General issues ________________________________________________________________________________________________________38 2.1.2. Threat analysis _______________________________________________________________________________________________________40 2.2. Grecian juniper forests conservation action plan _____________________________________________________________________ 41 2.2.1. Overview of the overarching goal ______________________________________________________________________________________ 41 2.2.2. Detailed action plan ___________________________________________________________________________________________________42 CONCLUSIONS ________________________________________________________________________________ 59 REFERENCES: _________________________________________________________________________________ 61 ALB: Albania AP: Action Plan CoAP: Conservation Action Plan EU: European Union GJF: Grecian Juniper Forests GMP: Grazing management plan GRC: Greece MKD: FYR of Macedonia NGO: Non Governmental Organisation NP: National Park PAMA: Protected Areas Management Bodies (Authorities) PPCC: Prespa Park Coordination Committee PPMC: Prespa Park Management Committee SAP: Strategic Action Programme SPP: Society for the Protection of Prespa TDA: Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis TPP: Transboundary Prespa Park TTT: Technical Task Team UNDP: United Nations Development Programme 33 photo: Lj. Stefanov 1 SUMMARY The Prespa lake watershed is one of the least areas with well- preserved forest habitats of Greek juniper (Juniperus excelsa M. Bieb.) in the Balkan Peninsula. Grecian juniper forests are considered as a priority habitat in the Habitats Directive and the habitats in the Greek part of Prespa are specified as: *Endemic forests with Juniperus spp. - 42.A3 - Grecian juniper woods (Juniperetum excelsae) - forest formations dominated by Juniperus excelsa, of the Ostryo-Carpinion zone of the mountains of northern Greece (up to 900-1000m, around Lake Prespa). The most important plant species in the Grecian juniper woods are: Euphorbia characias, Sternbergia colchiciflora, Orchis morio, Ophrys aranifera, Cyclamen hederifolia, Quercus trojana, Cynoglottis barrelieri ssp. serpentinicola, Erodium guicciardii, Eryngium serbicum, Fritillaria gussichiae, Malus florentina, Melampyrum heracleoticum. These species are listed in international conventions and EU Directives (Bern Convention, CITES convention, Habitats Directive) as well as being on the IUCN Red List of threatened species. Prespa lake watershed is a region divided among three countries and this internationally important habitat therefore requires transboundary cooperation in order to contribute to its proper management and protection. This Conservation Action Plan for Grecian juniper forests habitat is therefore been realized on a trilateral level within the project “Landscape Scale Conservation in the Prespa Lake Basin – Transboundary Species and Habitat Conservation Action Plans” run by UNDP. Generally, Grecian juniper forests in all three countries appear on limestone, in south or southeast exposures dominated by warm and dry climatic conditions. The total estimated area covered by Grecian juniper forests in Prespa lake watershed is 5,156.31 ha. According the composition and degradation stage, three types of Grecian juniper forests are distinguished: pure, mixed and degraded. The largest area occupied by this habitat is found in Albania (43.59%), while the largest areas of pure, well-developed stands are found in Greece (24.165%). FYR of Macedonia has the least coverage of Grecian juniper forests within the area of interest (15.48%). Certain areas of the Grecian juniper forests distribution overlap with the existing protected areas in the three countries; where they therefore receive a level of protection. However, this habitat 8 Grecian Juniper forests Conservation Action Plan for Grecian Juniper forests in the Prespa Lakes’ Watershed is still exposed to some activities which are mainly of human nature that cause some negative impacts to its health. Some of the identified threats are logging, forest fires, unsustainable livestock grazing, urbanization- construction activities, archeological excavations and poor communication. Also some natural factors can affect the structure and the functions of the Grecian juniper forests, such as the juniper pocket rot. In this context, the overarching goal of this action plan is to ensure the long-term favourable conservation status, sustainable management, restoration and protection of the Grecian juniper stands in the Prespa lake watershed across trans- national boundaries. The major aims and the objectives for each aim are to: • Establish sustainable management of juniper forest, which includes (a) the prevention of illegal cutting, (b) introduction of sustainable management for coppicing and (c) effective enforcement of existing legislation. • Eliminate fires, which includes the improvement of the measures of prevention and presupression in order to decrease the number of fires and burned areas.