The transboundary Prespa Park Area is shared between Albania, Greece and North Macedonia and it was declared a transboundary protected area by the Prime Ministers of the three countries on the 2^nd of February 2000 with a Joint Declaration.

The region has a common watershed which is also the boundaries of the transboundary Prespa Park and due to the rich biodiversity and geomorphology of the area, the common management and cooperation is a necessity to preserve the ecological and cultural values.

Following the declaration and in order to coordinate the actions in the area of the three countries, the Prespa Park Co-ordination Committee (PPCC) and its Secretariat were established. The PPCC consisted of representatives of the respective Ministries of Environment, local Municipalities, local NGOs from the three countries and a permanent observer of MedWet/ Ramsar. The PPCC Secretariat consisted of representatives of the NGOs of the three countries.

The PPCC held  11 meetings from 2001 until 2009.  In February 2010, on the day marking the tenth anniversary of the Prespa Park Declaration, the Ministers of Environment of Albania, Greece and North Macedonia, together with the EU Commissioner for the Environment, signed the “Agreement on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Prespa Park Area” in Pyli, Greece, recognizing the importance and value of the Prespa Park Area.

The Joint Agreement acknowledged that the “Prespa Lakes and their surrounding basin are unique natural areas whose geomorphology, ecology, biodiversity and cultural significance is of international importance, as a vital habitat for the conservation of numerous rare and/or endemic fauna and flora species, as a nesting place of globally threatened birds, and as depository of significant archaeological and traditional heritage”.

The aim of the Agreement is the cooperation of the Parties to ensure the integrated protection of the ecosystem and the sustainable development of the Prespa Park Area, including the development of integrated watershed management plans, in accordance with international and European Union standards. The Agreement provides for the adoption of legal, administrative, economic, financial and technical measures, the preparation and implementation of integrated management plans and programs, the organization of a system of exchange of ideas, data and information and the establishment of joint institutions to implement the substantive provisions.

The Agreement entered into force on 29-5-2019.

The operation of the joint bodies foreseen under the Agreement has started since 2021.