While the institutions have spent years arguing over who's responsible for protecting Lake Ohrid, some people simply got into the water and started cleaning. Today, by the beach next to the "Biser" hotel in Kalishta, the fourth international eco-action to clean the lake began - organized not by a ministry, but by diving clubs.

The action is coordinated by the diving clubs "Ezerski puls" and "Skaut," and alongside local divers, guests from Serbia and Croatia joined in. The invitation was open to everyone - volunteers, citizens, environmental activists and nature lovers. The organizers' message is simple and direct: caring for nature is a shared responsibility, not just the job of the institutions.

That sentence is exactly the point of the whole story. When citizens with their own gear and their own free time get into the lake to pull out waste that shouldn't be there in the first place, it's a fine thing to do - but also a quiet line of accusation aimed at the system. Why do volunteers have to do what's the authorities' job?

Lake Ohrid is one of the oldest lakes in the world and under UNESCO protection - a status that comes with obligations, not just tourist fame. Every bag of trash hauled up from the bottom is both help and a reminder. The question that remains is whether the next action will again be led by volunteer divers, or whether the institutions will one day dive into the problem too.