Vjose – Narte Protected Landscape is located in Vlore, Southwestern Albania. Vjosa is considered Europe’s last wild river, Narta is the name of a lagoon on the Adria coast which is part of the protected landscape.
While walking through this magical landscape, one can hear the singing of birds, watch flamingos fly in the clear blue sky and experience the local culture of the communities which settled here. These communities don’t pose a threat to the natural biodiversity of the area but live alongside it, trying to protect and not intervene with nature.
The natural ecosystem of Narta is characterized by a rich diversity of habitats including wetlands, agriculture lands, forests and urban zones. Wetland areas cover 37% of the surface, agriculture land about 33% and forests only 6% of the area, the rest is occupied from urban area and other land use categories.
Vjosa-Narta is not only beautiful to the eye, this area covering 19738 ha is also known to be the home and habitat of numerous birds, insects, fishes and many other animals – some of them considered critically endangered, like the European eel (Anguilla anguilla)But not only animals find a refuge at Vjose-Narta, this ecosystem also enables rare plants such as the endangered Solenathus albanicus to grow and contribute to a truly unique variation of flora and fauna.
The region is listed under the V category of protected areas according to IUCN. Yet, an unprecedented plan of the Albanian authorities for constructing an airport within Vjosa-Narta Protected Landscape is critically threatening every natural value, and if implemented, the biggest home of migrating birds in Albania will be destroyed.
In order to prevent this, as many people as possible need to know about the lengths and depths of Vjose – Narte, its importance to an abundance of species, and the illegal status of this plan which violates the national law of protected areas, international conventions and the EU directive for habitats and birds.
This isn’t just about the loss of another protected area, it’s about the destruction of a one-of-a-kind ecosystem that can’t be found anywhere else in Albania.
For this reason, if you also think that this area needs to be protected and you want to join our mission, please share our articles and become a supporter of our cause!
We are fighting for what makes us human, the love for nature and biodiversity!