Lake Skadar

Lake Skadar National Park was established in 1983 in southern Montenegro and protects some 400 km² around the lake of the same name, the largest on the Balkan peninsula. Roughly two thirds of the lake lie in Montenegrin territory and the rest in Albania.

It is a karst lake fed largely by submerged springs, the so-called oka, which rise from the bottom through conduits that can descend tens of metres below sea level. Its surface varies greatly between seasons and much of its shore is occupied by floating vegetation of water lilies and water chestnut, reedbeds and flooded woodland.

That system supports one of the largest concentrations of waterbirds in the Mediterranean: more than two hundred and fifty species have been recorded, and the lake holds one of the last breeding colonies of Dalmatian pelican in Europe, along with pygmy cormorant, herons and large winter concentrations of wildfowl. It has been a Ramsar site since 1996. On its shores and islands survive medieval Orthodox monasteries, Ottoman and Venetian fortresses and fishing villages, and poaching, illegal fishing and tourist development projects are its main threats.