Ambassador Christophe Le Rigoler: France interested in Pelister’s 'French Path' restoration

French authorities have signalled interest in taking part in the rehabilitation of the historic "French Path" on Pelister, aiming to make the route more appealing to visitors by improving access to wartime historical information from the First World War.

French ambassador Christophe Le Rigoler conveyed the interest during a meeting with Ivancho Toshevski, director of Pelister National Park. Toshevski presented how the park operates, the challenges it faces and its development plans for active eco-tourism.

Scope and goals discussed

Ambassador Le Rigoler emphasised that France would like to play an active role in restoring the trail and enhancing the ways in which historical data on military operations along the route are presented to visitors from home and abroad.

Toshevski outlined the park's current capacity, maintenance needs and aspirations to combine nature-based tourism with improved historical interpretation along the path, so that visitors can better understand the First World War events that took place in the area.

Both sides described the talks as exploratory; next steps and concrete commitments were not announced at the meeting. The discussion, however, opened a channel for possible cooperation on conservation, trail rehabilitation and visitor interpretation projects at Pelister National Park.

Photo: NP