North Macedonia

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North Macedonia is a landlocked, mountainous country whose greatest natural treasure is aquatic. Lake Ohrid, two or three million years old, is one of the oldest lakes in the world and works as a living museum: it holds more than two hundred species found nowhere else, among them snails, freshwater sponges, worms and the Ohrid trout, in a case of evolution in isolation comparable to Baikal or Tanganyika. Beside it, separated by the Galičica range, lies Lake Prespa, connected to Ohrid by underground conduits through the limestone. The Mavrovo and Šar mountains, with beech forests and high pastures, are the last refuge of a cat in a critical situation, and the country's canyons and crags support griffon and Egyptian vultures.

The nature of North Macedonia

National animal: The Balkan lynx, a national symbol and present on the five-denar coin

Did you know?

The Balkan lynx is one of the rarest cats on the planet: fewer than fifty adults survive, most of them in the Mavrovo mountains and along the Albanian border. It matters so much as a national symbol that it is engraved on the five-denar coin, and its monitoring is done almost entirely with camera traps, because direct sightings are exceptional.

Biodiversity profile

Balcanes (interior, cuenca de Ohrid-Prespa)Aprox. 7,3-9% del territorio bajo alguna figura de proteccion formal (86 sitios protegidos, incluyendo 2 parques nacionales y una reserva estricta)

Climate

•Continental humedo (Cfb/Dfb) en la mayor parte del pais
•Clima de transicion mediterranea en el suroeste (cuenca de Ohrid)

Main biomes

•Bosque montano balcanico (montañas Sar, Pelister)
•Ecosistema lacustre del Lago Ohrid y el Lago Prespa (cuenca transfronteriza compartida con Albania y Grecia)
•Lago antiguo
•Bosque de hayas de montaña
•Pastizal de altitud
•Cañón kárstico
•Humedal lacustre
•Matorral submediterráneo
•Río de montaña

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•No aplica (pais sin litoral); el Lago Ohrid y el Lago Prespa son los ecosistemas acuaticos de mayor relevancia mundial del pais

Flagship wildlife

•Trucha de Ohrid (belvica, endemica)
•Oso pardo y lobo gris (montañas Sar y Pelister)
•Aguila real y buitre egipcio
•Pelicano dalmata (Prespa)
•Lince balcánico
•Buitre leonado
•Alimoche común
•Oso pardo
•Lobo gris
•Rebeco
•Pelícano ceñudo
•Nutria paleártica
•Águila real

Notable endemic species

•El Lago Ohrid, con 2-3 millones de años de antigüedad, alberga aprox. 1.200 especies nativas, de las cuales 200-212 son endemicas exclusivas del lago, una de las mayores concentraciones de endemismo de agua dulce del planeta por unidad de superficie
•17 especies de peces endemicos de Ohrid, incluidas 2 especies de trucha exclusivas
•Lapa de agua dulce endemica (Acroloxus macedonicus)
•Trucha de Ohrid
•Esponja de agua dulce de Ohrid
•Caracoles endémicos de Ohrid
•Lince balcánico

Notable threatened species

•Trucha de Ohrid o belvica (Salmo ohridanus, endemica y amenazada por sobrepesca)
•La biodiversidad unica del Lago Ohrid enfrenta una "crisis de biodiversidad progresiva" segun cientificos, por sobrepesca, contaminacion de nutrientes, especies invasoras, turismo desbordante y calentamiento global

Notable protected areas

•Lago Ohrid (Patrimonio Mundial natural y cultural, transfronterizo con Albania desde 2019)
•Parque Prespa (colaboracion trinacional entre Macedonia del Norte, Albania y Grecia)
•Montañas Sar (transfronterizas con Albania y Kosovo)
•Parque Nacional de Galičica
•Parque Nacional de Mavrovo
•Parque Nacional de Pelister
•Lago de Ohrid
•Lago Prespa
•Cañón de Matka

Main conservation threats

•Sobrepesca, contaminacion de nutrientes y especies invasoras en el Lago Ohrid, amenazando su excepcional endemismo
•Turismo desbordante y construccion no regulada en la cuenca del lago
•Cambio climatico, considerado el desafio mas inexorable para la resiliencia del ecosistema segun cientificos consultados

Notable natural phenomena

•El Lago Ohrid es uno de los menos de 3 docenas de "lagos antiguos" del mundo, con hasta 3 millones de años de antigüedad continua, siendo considerado posiblemente el lago mas diverso del planeta por unidad de superficie

Conservation

The fall in the level of Lake Prespa through water extraction for irrigation and the long-standing plan for power stations in Mavrovo have been the great environmental conflicts. The Balkan lynx recovery programme is coordinated with Albania and Kosovo.

Where and when to watch wildlife

Galičica and Prespa in spring for pelicans and wetland birds. Mavrovo in autumn for the deer rut and tracks of large carnivores. The Matka canyon year-round for cliff birds and bats.

Sources: Yale E360 - Lake Ohrid ancient lakes climate change | Ramsar Sites Information Service - Lake Ohrid | UNESCO World Heritage Centre - Natural Cultural Heritage Ohrid region | IUCN - Towards improved management natural resources North Macedonia | BioDB.com - North Macedonia

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