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VOA: Tourism in Albania facing man-made threats

2023-02-12 21:02:07Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

VOA: Tourism in Albania facing man-made threats

In Albania, natural tourism has recently seen an increase as a result of the increase in visitors, especially from abroad. Only the Divjak - Karavasta National Park was visited last year by about 500 thousand tourists.

But environmental organizations and researchers are increasingly expressing concern that protected natural areas are threatened by politics and unsustainable economic activity, and especially by construction.

The Divjakë-Karavasta National Park is one of Albania's greatest natural assets that year after year sees an increase in visitors, both local and foreign.

Large areas of temperate pine forests, with a wealth of flora and fauna, are combined with lagoon landscapes and the possibility of beaches in the coastal area. The director of the park Ardian Koçi says that last year about half a million visitors were in Divjak.

"It has been a successful year, I would say, with over half a million tourists visiting the Divjakë-Karavasta National Park, of which about 65,000 were foreign tourists."

Mr. Koçi says that the goal is for tourists to stay a few days in the park and this through the addition of tourist attractions.

"We ask that the tourist who arrives here does not stay a few hours, but a few days in the park. And this is done by adding tourist facilities. We are working to add destinations. On the other hand, the priority is the protection of the environment of the park and its resources. We had a difficult year with a very dry summer and with the danger of fires in the seasons that followed, this was handled quite well by the park staff."

The Ministry of Tourism and Environment estimates that over 7.5 million foreigners entered Albania last year, mainly for tourism purposes. A large part of the visitors have been to the natural destinations of the country.

Albania has not had this opportunity before, says Mirjan Topi, a bird and environmental researcher.

"Albania has never had such an opportunity, it already has, taking into account the developments taking place at the global level and the galloping increase in the demand for natural tourism. Therefore, today's biodiversity in Albania is an asset, above all, economic, and it has to do with the direction that the country should take in terms of tourism development".

In the conditions where Albania is today, says Mr. Topi, natural tourism should be strongly supported instead of mass tourism. But along with the growing interest in natural tourism in Albania, there is growing concern about its development models.

Alkesandre Trajçe, who heads the PPNEA Nature Protection organization, expresses himself in critical tones.

"Albania is at a crossroads. One of the most used slogans by local authorities is 'Albania is the last unexplored treasure of Europe' and with this slogan we want to attract tourists from the rest of the world. This slogan is based on a very factual truth which is the natural values ​​of our country. And it is precisely these natural values ​​untouched over the centuries and over the decades that have hope to change the face of the country in terms of positive tourism. But the reality we are seeing is that tourism is turning into a destroyer of nature and a sustainable environmental tourism that goes hand in hand with nature is not being encouraged. A tourism that the profits generated return to the local population itself, but we see the birth of a tourism that many European countries have seen before,

While the pedagogy of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Tirana, Ermelinda Mahmutaj, says that the contradictions in Albanian decision-making damage the environment more.

"It is thought that we who protect the environment are fanatics of non-development, but in fact it is not right. We think that we should develop, but simply when we develop, we should look behind the eyes and from the green. I think that in Albania there are very good development models, there are very good tourism development strategies protecting the environment as it is and immediate decisions that go to its detriment. So these contradictions, even in Albanian decision-making, condemn the Albanian nature more than the development of tourism."

Last year, the Albanian government revised the map of protected natural areas, removing large areas in some national parks and wetlands where construction projects are now appearing. Several environmental organizations have sued this decision in court, demanding the annulment of the new limits.

Meanwhile, 49 national and international environmental organizations through a joint statement in recent days expressed concern that natural habitats in protected natural areas are threatened by politics and unstable economic activity.

In their response, the organizations mention the construction of the international airport of Vlora in the Vjosë-Nartë Protected Landscape area, residential constructions in the Kune-Vain Nature Reserve, hydropower plants in Zall-Gjocaj and Valbona, strategic investments in the form of intensive agriculture in Divjakë- Karavasta, as well as planned rest centers and some under development in the former protected area of ​​Butrint National Park./VOA


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