Flamingos or an Airport? - Nature Under Threat in Albania
February 27, 2024
But it will come at the expense of one of Europe's last untouched natural paradises.
A large international airport is to be built in the immediate vicinity of one of Europe's first wild river national parks, in Albania. According to the Albanian government, it will bring tourists to the country and create jobs.
But building an airport in the middle of this large, untouched wetland would destroy one of the last natural paradises in Europe, warns Zydjon Vorpsi, who works for an Albanian environmental protection organization. He’s particularly concerned about the many rare bird species that live and breed in the Narta Lagoon area, which he regularly counts and catalogs. Whether rare pelicans, flamingos or endangered species such as the wood sandpiper or the curlew - they would all be threatened by the project.
Although the Narta Lagoon enjoys national and international conservation status, construction is already underway. Zydjon Vorpsi and the PPNEA (Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania) initiative argue that the airport project in the Vjosa-Narta protected area violates Albania's own laws and also breaches international agreements on the protection of biodiversity, ratified by the country itself. They have filed a lawsuit against the project and are supported by foreign nature conservation organizations. Can they still stop the construction? It's a race against time. The airport is scheduled to be finished by 2025.
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