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Management of Wetland Ecosystem Services: Issues, Challenges and Solutions
Exploring novel approaches for wetland conservation and wise use, water management, sustainable use and ecotourism, restoration of degraded or lost sites, pollution control and climate change

Ohrid, Macedonia, April 30 – May 4, 2018
St. Clement University of Ohrid, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality

The SWS Europe chapter will hold its 13th annual meeting in Ohrid, Macedonia, on April 30 - May 5, 2018. Ohrid is an authentic town with a scenic location on the north shore of Lake Ohrid, the oldest lake in Europe. Other natural highlights in the vicinity include Galichica Mountain and Lake Prespa. The threatened Studenchishte wetland, on the shore of Lake Ohrid, has been protected for the foreseeable future with help from SWS, and is a location of one of the field trips. All are welcome to come join us in what promises to be a very interesting and beautiful location. Start planning early!

IMPORTANT NOTICE - book your hotel room now!
We strongly encourage you to make your hotel reservations as soon as possible due to the hotel policies in Macedonia. There is also a holiday the week of the conference (April 30 - May 5), so hotel rooms will be difficult to find if you wait too long. Learn more. 

Travel information to Ohrid
Ohrid has a small airport which is mostly serviced in summer by tour operators. Flying to Ohrid would of course be the easiest option but only a few companies fly and most flights are seasonal (summer) and only start mid-May. However, Wizzair flies a few times a week from London Luton, Zürich and Basel to Ohrid. Learn more.

Call for abstracts
The Scientific Committee is currently accepting abstracts. Please use the abstract format as indicated in this example pdf. In the pdf you will find a link to a Word document which has all the required formatting and will facilitate the writing of your abstract. Please send abstracts to swseurope.abstracts@gmail.com by February 15, 2018.

Student awards and travel grants
All student oral and poster presentations submitted to the conference will automatically be included in a poster and presentation competition. The winners will receive €250 each.

There will also be several student travel grants awarded. To apply, please email Matthew Simpson (matthew.simpson@wwtconsulting.co.uk) a short essay describing why you deserve the grant by January 31, 2018.

Plenary speakers

• Trajče Talevski
• Slavco Hristovski
• Marina Talevska
• Aleksandra Cvetkoska

Scientific Committee
Rob McInnes (RM Wetlands & Environment Ltd, 
Nick Davidson (Nick Davidson Environmental, UK)
Matthew Cochran (ORBICON, Denmark)
Keith Edwards (University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic)
Matthew Simpson (WWT Consulting, Slimbridge, UK)
Jos Verhoeven (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)
Alenka Gaberščik (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)
Karin Tonderski (University of Linköping,
Stefan Weisner (University of Halmstad, Sweden)
Diederik Rousseau (University of Gendt, Belgium)
Nadezda Apostolova (University of Valencia, Spain)
Slavco Hristovski (University St Cyril and Methodius, Skopje, Macedonia)
Zlatko Levkov (University St Cyril and Methodius, Skopje, Macedonia)
Trajče Talevski (Hydrobiological Institute, Ohrid, Macedonia)

Organizing Committee
Matthew Cochran (ORBICON, Denmark)
Keith Edwards (University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic)
Matthew Simpson (WWT Consulting, Slimbridge, UK)
Jos Verhoeven (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)
Dragana Velkovska (E.D.E.N., Skopje, Macedonia)

Program
View the full program

Field Trips
Studenchishte Marsh
Containing peat layers over 5 m deep, Studenchishte Marsh is one of the few remaining habitats of its kind in the Republic of Macedonia. Situated at an altitude of 695 m in the south-west of the country on the eastern shore of UNESCO Lake Ohrid, the wetland’s previously extensive range has been reduced over the past century to just 50 ha with marshy and peaty habitats displayed in 25 ha. Despite its diminished extent and ongoing degradation, the wetland continues to furnish significant additional biological and habitat diversity to a region already world-renowned for the exceptional richness of its natural world. Over 50 species of birds are still recorded at Studenchishte; 14 native fish taxa swim through an adjacent channel; 9 beetle species unknown elsewhere in Macedonian territory clamber through the vegetation; Red-Listed dragon and damselflies zoom above; and small populations of rare plants continue to cling to life here. In addition, Studenchishte supports oligotrophic conditions at ancient Lake Ohrid, one of the oldest and most biodiverse inland waters on Earth, some of whose 200-plus endemic species can also be found in the wetland.

In recent years, changes to the General Urban Plan for the city of Ohrid opened Studenchishte Marsh to drainage and urbanization as part of a large-scale tourism development drive. Cooperating with Ohrid SOS, a local citizens’ initiative devoted to the protection of Lake Ohrid, the Society of Wetland Scientists has been an active and important participant in the so-far successful movement to overturn those destructive proposals.

Struga
StrugaMacedonia’s city of poems, Struga is the third largest of all the towns on the Lake Ohrid shore with 16,559 citizens set within a municipality population of over 60,000. Heavily influenced by Albanian culture, it marks the gateway to the Lake Ohrid’s only outflow, the Black Drim River, around which the town’s life is concentrated. In previous years, wetland habitats extended over 500 ha in the vicinity of Struga. These have all but disappeared, although remnants survive, especially between the villages of Kalishta and Radolishta. Hopes for wetland rehabilitation in the region now depend upon the protection of Studenchishte Marsh, which can provide a blueprint for reconstruction, and the eventual pathway of the proposed European Corridor VIII railway that will connect the Black and Adriatic Seas. Current plans are thought to reduce opportunities for wetland restoration.

Lake Prespa
To the east of Lake Ohrid on the other side of the National Park Galichica mountain massif is Lake Prespa, which, at an altitude of 855 m is the highest of Macedonia’s three tectonic lakes. Owing to its comparably long existence yet more acute isolation, Prespa delivers an even greater proportion of endemic ichthyofauna than Lake Ohrid with 9 of its 11 native fish species found only here on the planet. All but 1 appear on the IUCN Red List. Meanwhile, Prespa’s shallower waters present excellent conditions for birds, which are represented by 216 species or 42% of the Europe’s avian diversity, most famously the Dalmatian pelican. Three significant wetland areas border Lake Prespa: Ezerani, Stenje and Perovo. Both Ezerani and Stenje are strictly protected zones hosting rare and endemic species, while the former is a designated a Monument of Nature.

Sveti Naum
Sveti naumAn unusual feature of Lake Ohrid is its inflow. 53% of arriving water travels (largely from Lake Prespa) via karst aquifers, which feed into numerous sub-lacustrine and surface springs in a process that contributes both to Ohrid’s oligotrophic conditions and its wide diversity of life. Named after a 9th century saint who founded the regionally renowned monastery here, Sveti Naum contains a major complex of these springs at Lake Ohrid’s south-east corner. With discharge of up to 20 l/s, these coastal and underwater springs form a small lake with exceptionally clear waters, a particularly important wetland phenomenon that is home to fascinating flora and fauna, including micro-locally endemic invertebrates.

The registration fee covers the two days of presentations, lunches and coffee/tea breaks on those two days, the welcome reception on April 30, the conference dinner and the mid-meeting field trip. The post-meeting field trip to Lake Presba costs an additional $45 (38 Euros). (Please note: the registration fees are the same for early and regular registration since there was no early registration period.)