A rare sanctuary: Lake Skadar, Montenegro & Albania

Skadar, Shkoder, Scutari - the many names of this largest Balkan lake reflect its complex history and cultural importance. Settled or invaded by Illyrians, Romans, Serbians, Venetians and Turks, it now links the modern countries of Albania and Montenegro. Their shared boundary runs through its beautiful and prolific waters.

With the adjoining Rijeka Crnojevica wetlands, this is some of the most important bird and fish habitat in the Mediterranean region; in the summer of 1999, up to 250.000 birds lived on the lake and its many island sanctuaries.

Home to several species of fish and birds
It is a critical wintering and staging site for migratory birds and European waterfowl and the westernmost nesting site for the rare and elegant curly or Dalmatian pelican; in all, 230 species of birds have been recorded here, as well as 50 species of fish.

Fed by several rivers and many springs, the lake lies at the base of the rugged Dinaric Alps only a few kilometres from the Adriatic coast; many of its fishes, such as eel and salmon, have life-cycles encompassing both fresh and salt water.

Exploitation by lake-dependent villages
The bitter battles of the early 1990s were not fought here but still affected the people in dozens of small, lake-dependent villages scattered along the wooded shores. Fishing for survival, villagers depleted fish stocks and, lacking infrastructure for proper disposal, dumped rubbish in the lake.

Bringing back the lake to its former glory
Grassroots programmes are now reconnecting people with their lake's immense ecological value: in 2004, hundreds of school children in Albania and Montenegro helped in community efforts to clear rubbish from shorelines and towns. At the same time, factories in large nearby cities such as Podgorica and Shkoder dump pollutants into rivers which flow into the lake.

This raises concerns that economic recovery programmes are not taking into account the long-term importance of pure water, natural productivity, biodiversity and the ecological processes which maintain them. WWF and its partners are exploring ways to support the civil society and the government to maintain the rich biodiversity of this still relatively unspoiled lake.