Conclusions: Recent advances and the future prospects of the lake Skadar/Shkodra environment

Abstract

The 23 chapters in this book synthesize the information on the Lake Skadar/Shkodra environment. This book has shown that several significant steps have been made over the past four decades in improving the gaps in our knowledge of the Lake Skadar/Shkodra ecosystem. This last chapter identifies seven themes related to the ecology and management of Lake Skadar/Shkodra. These themes emphasize the current knowledge gaps, recent advances, and future prospects of the Lake Skadar/Shkodra ecosystem providing some ideas as to how to incorporate scientific research into the current management of the lake basin. The key to a better understanding of the Lake Skadar/Shkodra environment remains transboundary cooperation. This is particularly important given the global challenges that Lake Skadar/Shkodra can be expected to face as climatic change and increasing demands for water increasingly impact the lake ecosystem.