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Transboundary Conservation: Sustainable Resources Management and Lake Skadar/Shkoder

Edmunds, Linsey S.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1523877674015642

Abstract Details

2018, Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, Environmental Studies (Voinovich).
There are 310 internationally shared water basins in the world (McCracken & Wolf, Forthcoming). The fluid and dynamic properties of water know no human designated borders and make sustainable management difficult given the management, economic demand and capacity disparities between states (Wolf, 2010). Political incentives, limited or abundant resources, differing infrastructure, and knowledge of transboundary water can vary drastically and lead to conflict or poor management. These challenges are exacerbated in developing countries dealing with additional economic, institutional and infrastructure pressures, in addition to unstable foreign relations and policy processes. Given the wide array of challenges to sustainably managing transboundary waters, the international environmental community has in recent decades pushed for accords or agreements between states to collaboratively manage shared water resources. This thesis focused on the Global Environment Facility’s effort to integrate management of a shared water basin in the Balkans region of Southeastern Europe. Lake Skadar/Shkoder is situated on the Balkan Peninsula with Montenegro along the north border and Albania to the south. Considered one of the last biodiversity hotspots in Europe and a proposed transboundary Biosphere Reserve given its importance as an ecosystem and refuge for migratory birds, Lake Skadar/Shkoder has been the focus of international conservation efforts in recent years. Human pressures on the lake from industrial activities and unsustainable tourism infrastructure development are drawing concerns. After nearly seven decades of communist rule and a series of violent conflicts in the 1990s associated with the breakup of Yugoslavia, both Albania and Montenegro have fledgling democracies facing extensive challenges with high unemployment, widespread corruption and low institutional capacity. In this context, the Global Environment Facility provided $4.55 million to the federal governments of Albania and Montenegro for the Lake Skadar/Shkoder Integrated Ecosystem Management Project, which operated between 2008 and 2013. Transboundary water mechanisms based on Integrated Water Resources Management principles are increasingly applied in the region to improve ecological health, economic development and diplomatic relations. The focus of this thesis is to determine how key water actors in the region perceived the Lake Skadar/Shkoder Integrated Ecosystem Management Project efforts to establish long-term sustainable watershed management of the lake basin.
Geoffrey D. Dabelko (Committee Chair)
Edna Wangui (Committee Member)
Natalie Kruse-Daniels (Committee Member)
79 p.
Area Planning and Development; Conservation; Cultural Resources Management; East European Studies; Ecology; Environmental Management; Environmental Studies; Water Resource Management
Transboundary; Conservation; IWRM; Balkans; Global Environment Facility; Freshwater Management

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Edmunds, L. S. (2018). Transboundary Conservation: Sustainable Resources Management and Lake Skadar/Shkoder [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1523877674015642

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Edmunds, Linsey. Transboundary Conservation: Sustainable Resources Management and Lake Skadar/Shkoder. 2018. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1523877674015642.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Edmunds, Linsey. "Transboundary Conservation: Sustainable Resources Management and Lake Skadar/Shkoder." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1523877674015642

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1523877674015642
334
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