During the month of July, several fires broke out near the Ezerani Nature Park. The fire that occurred on July 20 and 21 was the most intense, causing severe consequences for the quality of life of the local population, biodiversity, and the water quality of the lake. The flames consumed over 500 hectares of land, mostly natural areas that should be a source of pride in representing our natural values to the world.
In the past days, a team from the Macedonian Ecological Society, led by Lazar Nikolov, conducted a detailed analysis of the situation on the ground. It was determined that the fire burned approximately 200 hectares of reed beds, over 160 hectares of forests and willow and poplar galleries, around 100 hectares of meadow communities, about 30 hectares of alder forest, around 15 hectares of agricultural crops and orchards, as well as 10 hectares of transitional vegetation types along the lake’s immediate shoreline.
“Our initial field assessments show that around 50% of the affected forest and orchard areas have been completely destroyed. To grasp the seriousness of the situation, it is important to emphasize that nearly half of the land area of the Ezerani Nature Park was affected by this fire, causing damage worth millions of euros. We want to highlight that Ezerani Nature Park is designated as a protected area of category IV under the Law on Nature Protection, according to the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and based on our assessments, Ezerani represents a national and global natural treasure that should be a source of pride for the entire country. We deeply regret all the damage Prespa has suffered and commit to continuing our efforts to raise public awareness about the importance of nature,” stated Lazar Nikolov from the Macedonian Ecological Society.
The Ezerani Nature Park management adds that in recent years, smaller-scale fires have been recorded in and around the park, typically occurring between February and April when vegetation is underdeveloped. This has usually made it easier to develop strategies and tactics for quickly containing the fires. However, in such a dry time of the year, with so much easily flammable vegetation, a fire of this intensity and scale is unprecedented.
