permaculture

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

On Sat, Dec 19, 2015 at 3:47 PM, Steve Hart <stevenlawrencehart@gmail.com>
wrote:

> I'm keen to see more..obviously when we connect into Youtube there are
> dozens of like links that appear in the right hand collumn menu.
>

Not a video but....

Europe’s oldest lake faces destruction to make way for tourists - Lake
Ohrid is most biodiverse lake of its size in world, home to over 350 novel
species & a UNESCO World Heritage Site & a Holy Grail for world's
biologists. Its marsh is threatened to be destroyed with luxury apts. (
newscientist.com)

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28693-europes-oldest-lake-faces-destruction-to-make-way-for-tourists/

18 December 2015
Europe’s oldest lake faces destruction to make way for tourists

They call it Europe’s Galapagos. Lake Ohrid in Macedonia
<http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/99> is the most biodiverse lake of its size
in the world, home to more than 350 species found nowhere else and listed
as a UNESCO World Heritage Site based on its natural value. It is also
Europe’s oldest lake, having survived for more than a million years.

But none of that may save it.

For a tourist boom is coming to Ohrid, the town on its shores. From April,
British holidaymakers can take a cheap flight with Wizz Air
<https://wizzair.com/en-GB/TimeTable/London-Luton/Ochrid> from Luton to
holiday in Ohrid. To meet their needs, the lake’s most critical ecosystem
is set to be concreted over to make space for apartments and a marina.

“Lake Ohrid is a Holy Grail for biologists from all over the world,” says
Christian Albrecht of the University of Giessen in Germany. “But it faces a
biodiversity crisis.”

Albrecht was part of an international team of researchers who drilled
almost 600 metres into the lake’s sediment
<http://www.sci-dril.net/17/19/2014/sd-17-19-2014.pdf> in 2013, to chart
its complex history. They uncovered the “combination of longevity and
stability that has triggered the evolution of the endemic species”.
Unique species

“The lake is not as old as the famous big lakes of the world, such as Baikal
<https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12617234-600-the-great-lake-is-in-great-peril-siberias-sacred-sea-bigger-than-belgium-and-older-than-any-other-lake-baikal-is-threatened-by-pollution-from-industry-and-agriculture>
or Tanganyika,” says Albrecht. “However if you take its size into account,
it is the most biodiverse lake in the world. I am seriously concerned about
the future of its endemic species. Many are restricted to a few square
metres of the lake.”

The majority of the lake’s fish and snails are found only here
<http://www.ilec.or.jp/en/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/19_Lake_Ohrid_27February2006.pdf>,
as are many of its sponges and worms.

These species often live around underwater springs that bubble up from the
surrounding limestone geology and create ecological niches, says Daniel
Jablonski <http://www.danieljablonski.com/en-s-4> of the University of
Bratislava in Slovakia.

Life in Lake Ohrid <http://www.pnas.org/content/112/37/11478.short> has
survived a lot over its long history, including repeated glaciations and
fallout from volcanic eruptions.

But a “creeping crisis” for the lake from the rising human population is
about to become critical because of the coming tourist boom.

In particular, the lake’s most important buffer against human activity, the
Studenchishta marsh
<http://www.scribd.com/doc/258498562/STUDY-ABOUT-THE-CONDITION-OF-THE-REMAINING-STUDENCHISHTE-MARSH>,
is threatened with being wiped from the map. “Its buffering function is
being jeopardised,” says Albrecht.
Luxury apartments

The marsh is the only surviving wetland on the lake’s shore. It cleans raw
sewage and other pollution from water flowing from Ohrid into the lake.

It also harbours its own rare species, including the Macedonian crested
newt (*Triturus macedonicus*) and four globally endangered butterflies.

But last year Ohrid’s mayor, Nikola Bakraceski, unveiled plans to drain the
entire 75-hectare marsh and replace it with luxury housing and a marina.

“These development plans will irreversibly destroy this crucial ecosystem,”
says Albrecht. In a letter sent to the Macedonian president in October,
Jablonski called the plan to drain the marsh, and to replace nearby reed
beds with imported sand to create Mediterranean-style beaches, “totally
unacceptable”.

So far, the city authorities haven’t responded to their pleas.
A citizen initiative called SOS Ohrid <https://ohridsos.wordpress.com/> has
launched a petition to save the unique habitats.

-- 
Lawrence F. London
lfljvenaura@gmail.com
https://sites.google.com/site/avantgeared/