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Wetlands in the Republic of Macedonia

The fragments of wetland habitats that are still in existence in the Republic of Macedonia are present as marsh or swamp communities. These patches are present as Studenchishte (small fragment near Ohrid Lake), Pelagonia (village Chepigovo), Negortsi Spa, Bansko, Belchishte wetland and Monospitovo marsh. The large areas of swamps that use to be present in most of the valleys in contemporary Republic of Macedonia have undergone a great transformation over the last 50-60 years. The main cause for their reduction was land reclamation, drainage, and conversion into arable land for agricultural needs which lead to their fragmentation in general (Smith and Smith, 2003). As most threatened wetland ecosystems nowadays are considered the fragmented parts of relict communities that developed on organic soils and appear as most suitable for early vegetables after draining such as the Bansko swamp. Some of the remaining wetlands (Negortsi Spa, Bansko) are of great importance for understanding the genesis of marsh vegetation in the Republic of Macedonia. In addition, mountainous marshes and peat bogs also suffered anthropogenic transformation due to the capturing of water from mountain springs and streams for the purposes of generating drinking water (Smith, 2003). Accordingly, the fragmentation and transformation of previous swamps had a major impact on faunal distribution and abundance. Most affected are the amphibians and species of other invertebrate and vertebrate groups. One of the related threatened species is the European Otter (Lutra Lutra L.). It is listed as Nearly Threatened according to the IUCN red list and is still present in some of the swamps, especially in Belchishte wetland where the population of the Otter is still large (Smith 2003; Smith and Smith, 2003).Also some of the wetlands lie within the network of some of the bigger rivers in Macedonia. The Vardar River that drains into the Aegean Sea in Greece has the biggest catchment, 80% of Macedonian territory. The river catchment of Crni Drim is the second largest river in Macedonia, draining into the Adiratic Sea with 13%, followed by the river Strumica with 7% of the total catchment area in Macedonia (Poledník et al., 2008). The Otter has importance for the wetland communities not just in Macedonia but also in other European countries, such as The Netherlands and Germany (Reuther, 1995; Reuther et al., 2001).