After the controversial change in the law, the Ministry of Environment paves the way for constructions in protected areas

Drehni i Drenova is a forest massif of 1,380 hectares located in Korça County on the border with Greece. This area, declared a national park in the distant year 1966, is an important bio-corridor between the two countries for large vertebrates, such as bear, wolf and roe deer.

But a series of draft decisions announced for consultation by the Ministry of Tourism and Environment in June violate this status.

"Even today, the Drenova Fir National Park tends to return to the Protected Landscape Area, a decision by which this area loses the sub-isolation system and goes from first-degree protection to third-degree protection," said Taulant Bino, head of the Association of Albanian Ornithologists (AOS). "Practically, any kind of protection is lost," he added.

The draft decision on the Drenova Fir is not an isolated act, as there are at least nine similar draft decisions issued for consultation by the Ministry of Tourism and Environment, which according to environmental organizations, if approved, risk irreparable damage to natural ecosystem in Albania.

According to AOS experts, the draft decisions affect nine existing protected areas – Bredhi i Drenova, Rrushkull, Bune Velipojë, Pishë-Poro-Nartë, Lake Pogradec, Kuturman-Qafë Bush, Kratse, Guri i Nika Valamarë, Bjeshket e Oroshi – and a new protected area, Bisht Kâmez.

"Drenova's Fir has been rumored for a long time as an area for so-called recreational constructions," Taulant Bino, head of the Albanian Ornithologists' Association, told BIRN. "The last obstacle - the status of the protected area - falls with this draft decision", added Bino.

Amendments to Law 81/2017 on Protected Areas, approved in February against the objections of the European Union, remove from these areas the system of internal zoning, which previously offered different levels of protection under the old law and International Union for Conservation of Nature regulations of Nature (IUCN), and give them only the third degree of protection.

Bino told BIRN that the approval of these ten draft decisions risks, among other things, the loss of the "protected area" status for these areas with natural values.

The main authority responsible for these areas is the National Territory Council (NKT), responsible for sanctioning regulations, illegal structures, and alleged strategic investments and various other activities.

Article 5 of the draft decisions announced for consultation, which lists the actions allowed in these areas, includes, among others, the installation of renewable energy projects, the establishment of fish breeding centers, as well as other activities such as construction, treatment of water on farms, construction of canals, highways, urban areas and similar activities, provided they have permission from KKT.

"KKT already knows no limits in the range of strategic investments it can authorize in these areas", said Besjana Shehu, co-founder of AOS.

"The investment can be made in the lagoon, in the canyons, or even in areas that were previously 'core areas', implying the implementation of the highest level of protection", she added.

According to Taulant Binos, project decisions are at the service of plans for urban development.

"For a long time, Bredhi i Drenova has been rumored as an area for so-called recreational constructions," he emphasized. "The last obstacle - the status of the protected area - falls with this draft decision", concluded Bino. Reporter.al