At the Society for the Protection of Prespa, transparency and accountability are at the heart of everything we do. From strategic planning and financial management to our conservation and protection initiatives, we work according to our ten core Principles. With a clear organizational structure, we aim to maximize the effectiveness of our work and continue meeting the expectations of our members, donors, and society at large.
Our work is grounded in scientific research and monitoring, as well as in management activities that safeguard and conserve biodiversity. We always act in collaboration with local, national, and international partners, ensuring that every partnership aligns with our vision and goals.
We organize our work into five-year strategies. Each strategy assesses the current situation, sets medium- and long-term objectives, and defines our activities for each year. Midway through the cycle, an interim evaluation highlights challenges and areas for improvement, allowing us to adapt our management and activities accordingly. At the end of each five-year period, we conduct both internal and external evaluations, the results of which guide the planning of the next strategic cycle.
Our activities take shape through both time-bound programs, with specific goals and duration, and long-term actions that address ongoing needs — often through a combination of the two. Each program is assigned to a coordinator, who leads the team and is responsible for delivering results in line with the agreed plan, which may be adjusted if needed. Coordinators report either to their department head or to the Director.
Programs are carried out in accordance with SPP’s internal procedures and Principles, with careful documentation of all related records and correspondence. Each action is evaluated based on its objectives annually — and in some cases every six months — through reports submitted to the General Assembly and donors, as well as during the final evaluation of each five-year cycle. The outcomes of our projects and initiatives are shared through SPP’s communication channels, including our website.
Our Principles
Partnerships with Purpose |
The SPP pursues partnerships, responsibility-sharing and participatory approaches, primarily at transboundary level, but also at national, regional or global level, provided that those partnerships serve its vision and objectives. |
Nature and People Together |
The SPP strives to safeguard the natural environment of the wider Prespa area, as well as its social-ecological and socio-economic dimensions. The SPP is primarily an environmental organisation, which always takes the social and economic context into account in its actions. |
Science and Traditional Knowledge |
The SPP’s positions are based on scientific evidence, while at the same time drawing on traditional ecological knowledge. |
Integrated Local Action |
The SPP is locally based and its work is characterised by integration, and synthesis; it pursues a multi-disciplinary and holistic approach, which seeks to involve a range of stakeholders. |
Tackling Irreversible Threats First |
The SPP prioritises addressing threats that lead to non-reversible impacts, for example the extinction of habitats or species, and considers climate change to be a particularly significant threat in this context. |
Landscape as Heritage |
The SPP addresses the landscape as an integral part of the natural and cultural heritage of the area. |
Transparency and Accountability |
The SPP is a transparent organisation. Its positions, policies, activities and accounts are easily accessible and are open to public scrutiny and debate. |
Sharing Knowledge Widely |
The SPP invests in the continuous exchange of information, experience, best practice, organisational learning and networking, especially with other transboundary areas in the wider region. The SPP seeks to disseminate this knowledge and experience to all interested bodies, scientists, and other concerned people. It seeks a wide audience. |
Green Practices for All |
The SPP seeks to adopt green practices, within its own organisation at the same time as promoting them within the whole region, whilst also taking the conservation of biodiversity into account. |
Prespa as One |
The SPP, in all that it does, endeavours to take into consideration the whole of Prespa as a cross-border region that is hydrologically, geographically and ecologically related and is located in three countries. |