Macedonian Ecological Society

Description

The Macedonian Ecological Society is an organisation working on nature conservation and environmental protection in North Macedonia.

It was founded in 1972, when the country was still the Socialist Republic of Macedonia. Its goals include encouraging ecological science, improving environmental education, raising public awareness, and pressing institutions and authorities to invest in environmental protection. It also advises the Macedonian government on environmental legislation and promotes monitoring of environmental quality, with particular emphasis on biodiversity.

Its past work includes ecological research in the beech forests of Mavrovo National Park, participation in Balkan-wide carnivore conservation networks for bears, wolves and lynx, and a vulture conservation project. It has run projects on sustainable development in the Prespa region, phosphate-free detergents around Lake Ohrid, and protected-area management across the southern Balkans, often in partnership with organisations in Greece, Bulgaria and Albania. More recently it has worked on brown bear population monitoring and river connectivity restoration in the Prespa basin.

The society is based in Skopje and also has a field office in Resen, near Lake Prespa.