UNDP North Macedonia activities for protection of the environment

June 5, 2024

To help the country respond to the challenges of climate change, UNDP strengthens policy frameworks and local capacities for climate change mitigation and adaptation, disaster risk management and efficient management of protected areas.

The CO contributes to the country’s enhanced institutional capacity to meet its commitments to UNFCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) by supporting the development of national communications and transparency reports.

Particular focus is put on preservation and improvement of the ecological system in the Prespa Lake, a Monument of Nature, and enhancement of the transboundary cooperation and improvement of connectivity and mobility around the Lake.

In the area of disaster risk reduction, the CO is focusing on instigating transformational change in managing flood risk in the region, accelerating the shift from purely reactive responses to floods to integrated systems to manage hazards, vulnerabilities and exposure of communities and assets to prevent/ mitigate losses and alleviate the impact of future floods.

As a contribution to the overall efforts to decrease of the annual levels of fine particulate matter (PM10), the office is providing a model for collection and modelling of air quality data and support for the development and implementation of municipal air quality plans.

UNDP focuses on innovative financing mechanisms to advance the green agenda, particularly in providing opportunities for SMEs and households in North Macedonia to access renewable energy and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

Improving resilience to floods in the Polog region

Through stabilization of he stabilization of landslides, rehabilitation of riverbeds, cleaning up of wild landfills along river courses, cleaning and maintenance of existing channels for storm drainage, construction of protective dams, afforestation in order to retain flood water, reconstruction of existing ones and installation of new hydrological-meteorological stations, UNDP is improving the lives of people in the Polog region

Tackling air pollution in the city of Skopje

The project aimed to demonstrate a multi-pronged intervention to tackle air pollution in the City of Skopje linked to the residential sector.
Its objective was to establish a fully functional platform that brings all traditional and non-traditional partners to work together to address the issue.

Key results:

• 129 households in Lisice settlement have replaced the old heating elements with new energy-efficient heating systems.
• In 81 households, the old doors and windows were replaced with new, energy-efficient ones
• 39 new energy-efficient facades were made.
• 33 roofs have been renovated.
• 428 inverters installed.
• 37 old stoves were replaced with new pellet stoves.
• 5 heat pumps have been installed.

Resilient Skopje: Scaling up for sustainability, innovation and climate change

UNDP assisted the City of Skopje to become more resilient to climate change and other environmental threats, and to work with the public administration to help it design and deliver better services for its citizens. The project assisted the City of Skopje in implementing a set of priority measures identified in the Climate Change Strategy – Resilient Skopje and the Skopje Innovation Framework.

The following five services were redesigned:

-Bulky waste collection for PE “Komunalna Higena”;
-Data collection tool for visualization and monitoring.
-Redesign of the service www.uslugi.gov.mk;
- Redesign of the service for Submission of grant applications for CSOs;
-Redesign of 8 abundant green spaces in Municipality of Center, Aerodrom and Karposh

The Urban resilience was also enhanced with:
-Skopje Green Cadastre
-Green roofs on GTC and on Dom na Kulturata “Koco Racin”
-Greening of the slopes of the Skopje Fortress

Improving the management of the protected areas

Thanks to EU funding and the partnership with the Ministry of Environment and Spacial Planning, UNDP implemented the largest nature protection programme in the country, „Improving the Management of Protected Areas“.

We worked with 25 local organizations on a range of activities that contributed to the sustainable management of all national parks, 8 large and 17 smaller protected areas throughout the country.

8 large protected areas were selected for grant funding: National Parks Pelister, Mavrovo and Galicica, Multipurpose area Jasen, Prespa, Dojran and Ohrid Lakes monuments of nature and Vodno & Matka protected areas, while also implementing grant scheme for smaller, less developed protected areas, where a management authority had not yet been created.

Cleaning of the streambed of the river in municipality of Bogovinje

Through our co-financing process for municipalities in North Macedonia, we have supported the Municipality of Bogovinje in their project for cleaning and restoration of the stream bed of the local river. This ensures that the rivers ecosystem and surroundings are preserved, as well as being a safety net for possible floods in the future.

Development of recycling habits among children and youth through creative workshops for recycling paper

We also support the development of recycling habits among children and youth through creative workshops for recycling paper. In this case we supported local civil society organizations from Veles in their approach to paper recycling and paper recycling workshops. Additionally young people had the opportunity to learn about Quilling technique and create greeting cards and paper jewelry.

Safeguarding and monitoring of the geodiversity and biodiversity of the Gjonovica cave

We support the project of our CSO partners in Gostivar, aimed at safeguarding and monitoring the geodiversity and biodiversity of the Gjonovica cave, deterring any potential harm such as graffiti and damage to its intricate cave decorations.

Collection of waste around Lake Ohrid

UNDP supports local civil society organizations and their youth volunteers in the cleaning and preservation of lake Ohrid and its surrounding through collection of waste left in and around the lake. This is done with co-financing of the Municipality of Ohrid and support from the European Union.

We support green transition of small and medium enterprises (SME's) with grants for green investments

We support green transformation of small and medium enterprises (SME) by proving grants for green investments. Since 2022, over 120 SMEs received significant funds to boost their business growth with environmental – friendly solutions, adopt sustainable models and enhance resource efficiently while opening new quality jobs.