The "Integrated Resources Management Plan for the Buna/Bojana Area" that extends throughout Albania and Montenegro, was developed by GWP-Med, PAP/RAC and the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (IHP), in the framework of the GEF UNEP/MAP MedPartneship Project. It was presented during the Final Consultation Meeting on 7 September 2015, in Ulcinj, Montenegro.
The management plan considers upstream impacts on coastal and water resources, as well as marine impacts on the river delta and coastal aquifers. A number of measures were proposed in order, among others, to restore and safeguard the area’s ecosystems, increase resilience to climate change, as well as support the job creation potential and social welfare. Perhaps, the most important one out of these measures was the establishment of a transboundary governance scheme: a Draft Framework Agreement for the Sustainable Management of Skadar/Shkodra Lake Basin and Buna/Bojana Area was prepared upon request of the Montenegrin Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism, as the basis for related discussions between Albania and Montenegro. This is one of the few examples of an international legal arrangement proposed to establish an integrated approach for the management of river basins, coastal and marine areas, thus practically implementing the paradigm “from source to sea” at transboundary level.
The management plan was the practical application of the “Integrative Methodological Framework (IMF) for coastal, river basin and aquifer management” similarly developed by GWP Mediterranean, PAP/RAC and UNESCO IHP, in the framework of the MedPartneship Project, to integrate Water Resources Management and Coastal Zone Management into one operational methodology. Identifying the key sectoral and spatial dimensions, within which this integration must be defined, and setting out the approach to achieve this based on a 5-stage process, the IMF forms a guiding tool for practitioners and policy makers in the Mediterranean and beyond, towards planning that will foster sustainable use of natural resources and sustainable development.