UNESCO Warning Jolts North Macedonia Tourism Hotspot

After UNESCO threatened to put the lakeside town of Ohrid and the surrounding area on its list of endangered sites, mainly citing its persistent problem with illegal construction, the local authorities promised swift action.

The town started removing palm trees from the Ohrid coastline on Thursday, the same day the report was made public. UNESCO recommended removing them due to the fact that they are not indigenous and are harming the authenticity of the area.

"Their removal did not require some extensive preparations so we started from this," Ohrid's newly-elected mayor Konstantin Goergievski told media on Thursday.

In its latest draft report, due to be debated at its conference in July in Baku, UNESCO proposes putting the Ohrid region at the list of endangered heritage sites.

The report notes that although some large construction projects that threatened to ruin its authenticity were recently halted, the problem with many smaller illegal builds persists.

The mayor said that within 30 days, the local authorities will compile a register of illegal builds, and as soon as the national parliament passes a long-overdue law designed to curb this problem in and around Ohrid, they will introduce a moratorium on such constructions.

Lake Ohrid, the deepest and oldest lake in the Balkan semi-peninsula, is one of only 28 sites across the world that UNESCO has named a world heritage site in both the culture and nature categories.

Along with its natural beauty - it is home to many endemic species such as Ohrid trout - what makes the area special is its rich cultural heritage. Ohrid's old town is full of old churches, picturesque houses and centuries-old monuments.

However, the site came under the UNESCO spotlight at the beginning...