FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
UNESCO declares it a Biosphere Reserve, but Vjosa is drowning in plastic, sewage, and gravel from excavators
Strong winds blow plastic debris from an open dump into the Vjosa River in southern Albania. A few hundred meters above, a large pipe discharges untreated sewage into the fast-flowing river. Meanwhile, excavators continue to scrape gravel from the bed to feed concrete construction sites, altering the natural flow of the river and risking the banks collapsing.
This is the bleak panorama that clashes with last month's glorious declaration, when UNESCO officially declared the Vjosa Valley as one of 26 new Biosphere Reserves in the world – part of an initiative to protect the richest and most fragile ecosystems on the planet.
On the surface, the valley looks like a natural gem: with its pristine valleys, deep tree-lined gorges, and unique biodiversity that includes otters, endangered Egyptian eagles, and rare plants found nowhere else in the Balkans. In 2023, the Albanian government declared it the first wild National Park in Europe.
For Albania, a country of 2.4 million people, this is an achievement of great symbolic and economic value. Tourism on the coast and in the mountains has grown rapidly in recent years, and UNESCO status is a golden ticket for international promotion. At the same time, Tirana is trying to accelerate the process of joining the European Union within a decade.
But despite this diplomatic success, on the ground, the situation is dramatic. Open landfills, industrial pollution, plastic waste and the lack of a functional infrastructure for treating wastewater have turned the Vjosa into a river that is slowly drowning under unnatural weights.
Environmental activists have been warning for years that “international praise cannot solve the country’s structural problems.” While the government raises the banner of international success, pollution remains a daily reality for communities along the river. In some stretches, the Vjosa has become an open collector of waste, from sewage flowing unfiltered to plastics caught in the branches of trees along the banks.
The Minister of the Environment, Sofjan Jaupaj, openly acknowledges the problem and has promised an investment of over 150 million euros to close landfills and build wastewater treatment plants. But time is not on nature's side: wild encroachment on the riverbed, uncontrolled pollution and lack of law enforcement continue to leave deep scars on an ecosystem that should have been protected, not exploited.
For the locals, everything has become a bitter irony. Generations who swam in the Vjosa during the summer now see their children banned from the pollution. Pastures are polluted, the water is no longer drinkable, and the smell of sewage is part of everyday life.
And while Tirana graduates with international awards and UNESCO photos circulate in the media, Europe's last wild river continues to be abused, not by foreigners, but by ourselves. /Adapted by "Pamphlet" from "Reuters"
Sa miliona euro janë hedhur për mbrojtjen mjedisore në lumin Vjosë? Ministri ri Z.Sofjan Jaupaj ka qenë në mos gaboj ZV/ministër i Znj.Mirela Kumbaro. Kur i doli emri për ministër Mjedisi, ngritje në detyrë, Znj. Kumbaro u gëzua më shumë, se kur dëgjoi se vetë do bënte lëvizje paralele. Do administroni me efikasitet, fondet që merrni, qoftë edhe ato që vijnë nga BE apo keni vendos ta shuani këtë vënd.
Bashkitë, që lag Vjosa dhe të gjitha Shoqatat Mjedisore janë përgjegjëse. Organizohen vetëm takime e bëhen Konferenca, por në terren situata është e rëndë. Akoma biznesi merr zhavor nga lumi, akoma derdhen mbetje gjatë natës, akoma priten pemë e shkurre dhe gjithçka është jashtë Ligjit. Kjo praktikë duhet ndryshuar urgjent. Deri kur ?
Ne dijme sa rruajme e jo sa hedhim.
Fjalen malok e ka analizuar shume bukur Ismail Kadare ne nje ese te tij ku ben fjale per Molokun Perendia e Shpellave ne mitologjine greke. Natyrisht e spiegon qe fjala ka origjine Ilire nga fjala malok (njeri mali ose shpelle mali). Te me ndiejne verioret e Shqiperise qe kur permendet fjala malok e marrin per poshterim. Jo malok do te thote njeri i pa civilizuar e pa shkolluar, dmth dru me pre. Se ca Shqiptaruce u thone atyre te veriut maloke. Joooo! Maloke ka ne cdo vend te botes, njerez te paditur e barbare. Keto plehra qe hidhen ne Lumin E Vjoses, Shkaterrimi i pyjeve e liqeneve te Lures, mbani mend katandisjen e Lanes ne Tirane, shkerdhimi i plazheve te virgjera e ndertimet e "bukurive" te Adriatikut, shkaterrimi i pyjeve, i pemetoreve te hijshme ku nuk gjen nje rrenje molle Starking aromatike, limonat 7 heresh e lista nuk mbaron. Bota e kultivon rigonin e ne maloket e shkulim nga mali deri sa ta zhdukim. Keto plehra qe hidhen pa um menduar jane te njellojta me ato plastikat qe hidhen nga popujt kafshe te pagdhendur neper brigjet e Paqesorit e lumenjte qe derdhen atje. Dhe duam te hyjme ne Europe, ha, ha, ha!