Two men lead horses prepared for mountain riding tours over a ridge on Shar Mountain, in the northwest of North Macedonia, Wednesday, June 9, 2021. North Macedonia, the small Balkan country has been waiting for almost three decades the pristine beauty of the mighty Shar Mountain to be protected in a vast trans-boundary area and to be proclaimed as National Park, one of the largest in Europe. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

North Macedonia declares Shar Mountains area a national park

By Associated Press AP

PUBLISHED 11:13 AM ET Jul. 01, 2021

SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — North Macedonia’s parliament has formally adopted legislation to make the country's section of the Shar Mountains an extensive national park.

All 66 lawmakers present in the 120-member parliament voted late Wednesday to grant protected status for the region that's already protected on the other side of the border in Kosovo.

The area that's rich in biodiversity spans more than 240,000 hectares (593,053 acres) across Albania, North Macedonia and Kosovo and includes dozens of glacial lakes.

North Macedonia’s Environment Minister Naser Nuredini in a Facebook post described the parliamentary vote as “historic.”