A two-day study visit took part last week under the PONT project brought Albanian subgrantees to North Macedonia to exchange practical experience on growing, processing and selling non-timber forest products. 

Participants visited Moja Farma, a women’s association near Gostivar that cultivates Sideritis raeseri (mountain tea) on a 1,000 m² plantation using seedlings from a Prespa Ohrid Nature Trust - PONT supported nursery. The farmers use drip irrigation, receive technical advice from experts at the Agriculture University of Skopje, source genetic material from the Sharr mountain and face challenges from invasive plants and the need for good soil preparation. 

The delegation also visited the Poloski Med beekeepers in Varvara village inside Shar Mountain National Park, where beekeeping produces high-quality organic honey and the association makes medicinal herb creams from calendula, chamomile and mountain tea following traditional recipes adapted to modern hygiene and packaging standards. 

At Hotel Kitka in Vratnica the group saw the area's first small collection center for medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) and mushrooms, received the guidebook titled "Proper Collection of Herbs and Mushrooms" which teaches sustainable harvesting and designates collection areas to prevent over-collection. They also inspected a solar-powered portable drying unit with 100 kg capacity that helps producers turn fresh harvests into shelf-stable products while farmers pay only a small fee when electric heating is needed. 

The visit showed that small infrastructure like nurseries, collection points and solar dryers, together with simple practices such as proper planting, careful harvesting and correct drying can significantly improve product quality and income while supporting conservation and eco-tourism. 

The study visit also highlighted the central role of women’s groups and small associations in building local value chains for MAPs and other NTFPs, and emphasized that regional knowledge exchange strengthens transboundary cooperation across the Korab-Koritnik, Shara and Albanian Alps protected areas and helps scale good practices. 

Albanian participants returned with concrete ideas to improve cultivation, processing and marketing of MAPs, and the PONT project continues to promote cross-border cooperation to protect nature and boost rural livelihoods.