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According to experts, with the new law, there will be no more protected areas in Albania, including all national parks that will not escape destruction and sale.
When last July the sisters Ivanka and Tiffany Trump visited Albania with their husbands, in two visits separated from each other but within a few days, the news spread quickly and aroused everyone's interest. It was thought that the influx of tourists who chose the south of the country as their destination, also attracted the attention of the Trump sisters, the daughters of the former American president Donald Trump. But what was seen with more interest was the vacation on the Ionian coast of Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, founder and head of the American company "Affinity Partners", an American investment firm. The couple had their second visit to Albania. after the first in 2021, during which they visited the south again, the year that coincides with the foundation of the company.
A few days ago, Kushner announced on his social networks that he was enthusiastic about sharing with his followers some preliminary images of the projects he plans to implement on the Albanian coast. The areas selected by "Affinity Partners" are the island of Sazan and Zvërneci, places located within protected areas in Albania.
Sazani and Zvrneci - the first 'target'
The news was a surprise, but it followed the turmoil of changing the Law on Protected Areas in Albania, which was warned as a danger by local and foreign environmental experts. "Law 21/2024 allows the construction of 5-star mega-resorts in Protected Areas.
In addition, with the decision of the National Council of the Territory, the construction of almost any other investment is allowed and there are no more red lines, as was said by the Minister of Tourism and Environment. Decisions are no longer made on the basis of management plans drawn up by experts, but by KKT, which is a political body.
The sub-zoning in the Protected Areas of category V - "Protected Landscape" has been removed. So, with the new law, it is now possible to build in the former central sub-areas of these protected areas, which was prohibited by Law 81/2017. Law the new one no longer protects nature and protected areas in Albania, but it is the most destructive law against the preservation of nature that has ever been approved by the pluralist parliament of Albania" - Mirjan Topi, environmental engineer, analyzes for Deutsche Welle.
The most destructive law to nature
Gabriel Schwaderer, head of the international environmental association 'EuroNatur', which has been lobbying for years for the protection of areas with rich biodiversity in Albania, says that he is shocked by the change in the law on protected areas. "The Narta lagoon, together with the Vjosa river delta, is one of the most important wetlands of the world's bird migration in the Mediterranean. If the presented and destructive project were to be implemented, it would completely undo the values of the area protected area of Vjosë-Narta and it will be a betrayal of nature.This protected area hosts 5 species of birds that make up at least 1% of their biogeographical total.
According to the Ramsar Convention, such areas require protection. Since Albania has signed this Convention, then this request is still in force. Furthermore, the Albanian authorities have defined the Vjosë-Narta ecosystem as an 'Emerald' zone under the Berne Convention. As a result, even if Albania changes the law, this area still remains under the protection of international law" - the head of 'EuroNatur' told DW.
Should the EU continue the membership agenda with Albania?
Another question raised by 'EuroNatur' is related to Albania's path towards the European Union. "Our question for EU policy makers is: should the EU pursue its membership agenda, if a candidate country clearly does not align with EU laws but instead changes the country's laws, making them worse? From our point of view , this is a very serious situation and requires a very clear message from the EU institutions to the Albanian authorities" - emphasizes Schwaderer.
Deutsche Welle also contacted the Delegation of the European Union in Tirana, for a comment about the situation. The European Commission has recommended in its 2023 report for Albania that the country should significantly improve the quality of environmental and strategic impact assessments in projects, as well as implement and monitor the recommendations derived from these assessments. Moreover, in the same report, the European Commission emphasized that the legislation on strategic investments raises concerns for the protection of biodiversity, as it may allow large touristic and industrial investments in protected areas' - said the EU's response in Tirana.
In response, the EU underlines that 'As we have conveyed to the Albanian authorities, the European Union pays great attention to environmental issues within the membership negotiations and will continue to discuss with the Albanian authorities on the proper alignment of the Albanian legislation with the EU acquis. of, as well as to monitor its implementation'.
Other protected areas at risk?
According to environmental engineer Mirjan Topi, the amendment to the law on protected areas has been changed in function of these investments. "It is now clear that the law was commissioned, because there is no other way to explain the rush of the majority to approve it, and even before the law was decreed by the President, the concrete projects came out."
But in contrast to the alarm and analyzes of environmental experts, Prime Minister Rama two days ago from the Assembly of the Socialist Party, mentioned geopolitics, in addition to tourism, and emphasized that the company that plans to build in Sazan and Zvërnec, has also built in other areas protected by UNESCO. But the truth that is important in the meantime, is not how unrelated these alarms are, about the danger that threatens Albanian nature from changes in the law of protected areas or from the landing in Sazan of the most prestigious hotel company in the world, Aman Hotels&Resorts, which has built a dozen structures in UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Asia and the Middle East. The truth that is important in the meantime is that Albania, the champion of tourism in the region in 2030, is not a slogan to feed the illusion of a bright tomorrow, but a geopolitical and economic project, which is being shaped with concrete plans and measures , which create the possible space for this historical development."
When asked if this law will "open the game" for other protected areas, Topi emphasizes that "now they are all endangered, mainly the Protected Landscapes.
While Schwaderer from "EuroNatur" is afraid of the former project in the Karavasta National Park, which was canceled years ago, after the opposition of environmental organizations. "It is already known that the 'Kingcoast Divjaka' project, which plans to build a giant tourist resort within the Karavasta National Park, is again on the agenda. It was promoted 7 years ago and then disappeared, but now it is back on the scene with the potential for destroyed one of the most important migratory bird resort areas along the entire eastern coast of the Adriatic. With the new law, there will be no more protected areas in Albania, including all national parks that will not escape destruction and sale". /DW
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