Zamir Dedej, from the Institute of Nature Conservation in Albania - INCA, is the Mentor for Albania of the Capacity Building (CB) Programme of the MedPAN South Project. In the framework of the CB Programme, a Mentors Programme was established to create professional trainers in the Mediterranean. Mentors are selected officers and/or experts from relevant institutions of each one of the eligible countries of the project, who will attend specific training courses to improve their facilitation and training skills. They will be closely involved in the development, implementation and evaluation of the CB programme. 

What are the issues in creating marine protected areas in Albania? 

Marine ecosystems and coastal wetlands of Albania are rich in habitats, animal and plant communities and species. They represent an important part of nature heritage not only for the country itself but also for the Mediterranean region as a whole. Marine waters of Albania, in spite of being very scanty and poorly studied and surveyed so far, are distinguished for their high level of biological diversity and very well developed littoral and benthic communities. 

From 1992, a rapid process of total transformation of social and economic features, which is changing the uses of the coastal area, characterizes the coastal regions of Albania. The growing pressure of urbanization together with an intensive agricultural production and tourism growth along the beaches could give rise to some new impacts on the coastal resources, in areas where degradation of the ecosystems has already been observed, caused in the past by land reclamation, mineral extraction and pollution by heavy industry. Actually about 60% of the Albanian population is living in the coastal areas. Environmental pollution, including the coastal water, was significantly diminished, because most of the industries are closed down, but there was an increase of urban pollution in the coastal area caused by the tourism development mainly in the Adriatic coast and by the increasing number of inhabitants in the main Albanian cities like Tirana and Durres. 

Most of the threats and problems phenomena on the coastal and marine area remain at the level of observations. It is difficult to made quantitative and qualitative assessment in the respect to environmental pollution of the coastal zone and marine environment. Because of the financial constraints faced by Albanian institutions, monitoring of environmental elements is not complete, neither in the space, nor in time, and indicators are still to be identified (including chemical/bacteriological content of sewage urban waters). The same happens with the studies for the environmental impacts in coastal zone and the marine environment from economic activities.

The designation of a possible Marine Parks and other marine protected areas is mention as a priority in the National Biodiversity Strategic Action Plan and potential sites are identified such as Kepi i Rodonit, Karaburun (Vlore) and Porto Palermo (Himare). These areas, as being well preserved in their natural conditions, are of a Mediterranean importance, and provide an attraction for recreation and specialized high quality tourism. They might provide models where conservation and recreation & tourism objectives can be combined and achieved jointly (short-term). The main issues that the designation of marine national protected areas should address and focus on are: (1) biodiversity protection and the maintenance of natural conditions of the marine environments; (2) preservation of its seascape and landscape beauties, and (3) preservation and rehabilitation of its cultural heritage. 

From the institutional and legal point of view, there are still gaps and unclearness. If we consider the coastal protected wetlands in the Albanian coast as Coastal Marine Protected Areas, then we can say that Albania already has this category on the national protected areas network, but if not than we should said that, at the moment, Albania does not have protected areas on the marine environment. To overcome the difficulties for the designation of Marine Protected Areas (MPA), the Albania legislation related to this matter should be clarified and improved. Secondly, having no experiences and equipment for working in the marine environment, it is not clear who should be in charge of protecting and managing those marine territories. Until now this work is covered by the forestry institutions under the Ministry of Environment. 

What strategies and/or solutions are foreseen? 

There is no country in the world to have full knowledge on its marine biodiversity as a whole. It is important to identify priorities for actions and investment in a short term. Among the three defined levels of the biodiversity, the more feasible and easy to be studied is the community/ecosystem level. That's because Mediterranean marine communities are already inventoried and their classification is well standardized. Mapping would allow the identification of very sensitive areas, where research and studies may focus in the future. The collection of data and valuable information on the marine biodiversity and later its analysis and synthesis in order to create a base for future planning is imperative. These activities should be conducted by local (national) experts, possibly with the assistance of foreign experts. The first action would be a checklist of species reported along the Albania's coast, preferably by indicating the locations of data collection. Based upon this checklist, it might be possible to identify the priority for protection. Locations where priority species have been recorded might be considered as priority sites for protection and management. 

An attempt for designating a MPA in Albania does exist and it regards the area of the Karaburun peninsula. The aim was to proclaim the Marine National Park of Karaburun area for improving protection and management of the marine and coastal biodiversity, involving the active participation of local stakeholders and authorities in the management system. Other supporting objectives and targets were:
§ the preparation and implementation of a technical management plan for the MNP of Karaburun area;
§ promoting, developing, and regulating eco- and cultural tourism and other recreational related activities so that all are compatible with the long-term sustainability of the marine and coastal ecosystem's biodiversity and its economic use;
§ establishing the legal and institutional framework for management, addressing the needs of the area;
§ undertaking the public awareness activities necessary for the marine and coastal biodiversity conservation objective of the sustainable management of the area; and
§ developing an eco-centre able to conduct training for Albanian professionals and civil society on the inventory and monitoring of the marine biodiversity. 

What is going on in Albania? Please, tell us the latest progress from your country. 

In the last four years the efforts of putting the marine issues on the top agenda have been increased. Due also to the support and push of the donors' community there are clear steps made in this direction.
In 2005, with the support of the EU Interreg Program Italy-Albania and the partnership of an Italian University Consortium (CoNISMA) and Albanian relevant institutions (including the Ministry of Environment), a project for the establishment of the International Centre for the Marine Sciences started. Although the centre was not established, a number of studies were produced, particularly for the Bay of Vlore, together with a full report. 

From 2004, an ongoing project aims at inventory and mapping the Posidonia meadows along the Albanian coast. Most of the work is finished and, for the first time, a complete map of the Posidonia oceanica sites will be produced in a GIS format.
But the most complete and related project is the UNDP one title ?PA Gap Assessment and Marine PA Development?, implemented through the support of the Global Environmental Fund. The project is undergoing and will produce the required text for the improvement of the legislation; contribute to the establishment of the institutional framework; organise training on MPAs; and support an international conference on marine protected areas and related issues. Furthermore, a more detailed analysis of potential sites for protection and suggestions for future management will be made. In the mean time, the UNDP already prepared and sent to GEF a project proposal on the same issue for a full size project (around 2 million). In spite of these major activities, a lot of small efforts and events have been organised by the NGOs that deal with this issue. 

I personally have the feeling that the common people are starting to be more knowledgeable about the risk and threats related to marine areas thanks to the awareness-raising and work done by experts. On the other hand, at the political level we are still far for being committed in this issue even if they try to establish the necessary policy and human capacities. 

In Albania, the process for the creation of a system of MPAs cannot be considered anymore at the starting point. However, more effort should be made to engage and attract the political level. 

Zamir Dedej
Institute of Nature Conservation in Albania - INCA