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Albania Faces Protests Over Protected Area Development Project
๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ธ Serbia /Culture & Society

Albania Faces Protests Over Protected Area Development Project

From N1 Serbia · () Serbian

Translated from Serbian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Protests have erupted in Albania against a development project planned for the protected Sazan Island and Narta Lagoon area, which environmentalists fear will cause irreversible damage.
  • The project, potentially financed by a company linked to Jared Kushner, is planned within a vast protected landscape that holds multiple conservation statuses, including UNESCO recognition.
  • Activists argue the project would transform a critical biodiversity hotspot into an urban zone, sparking broader concerns about transparency and governance in Albania.

Albania is facing significant protests against a development project slated for the ecologically sensitive Sazan Island and Narta Lagoon area, with biologists and activists warning of severe environmental consequences.

We are talking about more than 12,000 hectares of protected area, which is actually the only protected area in Albania where all five existing protection categories are represented.

โ€” Olsi NikaBiologist Olsi Nika describes the vast ecological significance of the Narta Lagoon area.

Biologist and activist Olsi Nika highlighted the immense ecological value of the region, which spans over 12,000 hectares. This protected landscape encompasses multiple conservation categories, including a National Park, a former nature reserve, natural monuments, and was recently recognized by UNESCO as a Man and Biosphere Reserve. Nika expressed grave concern that the proposed projects, including one potentially financed by a company associated with Jared Kushner, would permanently alter this vital biodiversity area, transforming it into an "urban zone."

All in all, it is an area of exceptional importance for nature conservation in Albania, but also an area of great international importance.

โ€” Olsi NikaNika emphasizes the international significance of the protected area.

What began as a localized environmental protest against fencing and road construction within the protected zone has escalated into a broader public outcry. Protests have spread beyond the immediate site, with demonstrators in Tirana carrying flamingo symbols, a species native to the Narta Lagoon. The movement now calls for the government's resignation, citing issues of corruption and a lack of transparency in the approval of large-scale investment projects.

The projects that have been proposed - including this project that Kushner's company is supposed to finance - are just one of eight projects that would permanently transform this exceptionally natural area into another urban zone.

โ€” Olsi NikaNika outlines the threat posed by multiple development projects to the natural landscape.

The situation intensified following violent incidents involving private security personnel hired to guard the project area. Videos of these guards allegedly assaulting peaceful demonstrators circulated widely, fueling public anger and pushing the protests into the national spotlight. This has transformed the issue from a purely environmental concern into a wider debate about governance and the protection of natural resources in Albania.

It started actually as a small ecological protest, when part of this area was fenced off and road construction began within the protected area.

โ€” Olsi NikaNika explains the origins of the protests.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by N1 Serbia in Serbian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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