THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION REPORT RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN AIRPORT WITHIN VJOSË-NARTË PROTECTED LANDSCAPE

The European Commission Report regarding EU Enlargement Policy aims to investigate and monitor the policies of candidate countries, or those still in process, for aligning their legislation with that of EU. In the last published report for Albania, on 6^th October 2020, are highlighted crucial problems into the field on environmental protection, which threaten the territory of protected areas through planning massive infrastructures, such as constructing an airport within Vjosë-Nartë Protected Landscape. Such problem, raised by our organization since 2018, is of crucial importance because building these infrastructures will threaten the ecological values of the area, while conflicting with national laws and with international biodiversity protection conventions that Albania has ratified. The lagoon of Narta and the surrounding ecosystem represent one of the largest and most important wetland ecosystems in Albania and even further, in the Mediterranean. Being a key part of the East Adriatic Migration Corridor, and because of its importance towards the conservation of wildlife, this wetland is officially nominated as a candidate Emerald Network site, under Bern Convention. Furthermore, following the directives of Habitats and Birds, as a precondition for Albania’s integration to EU, this area is under an in-depth evaluation regarding the Natura 2000 habitats. Vjosë-Nartë Protected Landscape is home to a large number of birds, which find in it perfect conditions for breeding, feeding and resting along migration. If these plans are implemented, this area will lose every natural and biodiversity values, a catastrophic loss of a unique ecosystem that can’t be found elsewhere in Albania. Find here the link to the official report.