Hotel project accused of destroying nature in Albanian wetland

Environmentalists and scientists are sounding the alarm over irreversible damage inflicted upon a vital nature reserve along Albania's coast. The destruction is attributed to preparatory work for a luxury hotel construction project, with satellite imagery revealing extensive alterations to the landscape over a 25-day period in May.

The images depict the recent construction of a road and the clearing of a forested area within the reserve. Additionally, a bridge has been built, connecting the sea to a lagoon that serves as a critical stopover point for migratory birds. This development has severely disrupted access routes for various bird species and negatively impacted a threatened species of sea turtle inhabiting the wetland.

Olsi Nika, a marine biologist and head of the environmental organization EcoAlbania, condemned the work, stating that bulldozers have destroyed the nesting sites of sea turtles. "It is a regular massacre of biodiversity," Nika told AFP, highlighting the severe ecological consequences of the construction.

In response to the hotel project in Zvernec, protesters have taken to the streets daily in Albania's capital, Tirana, since late May. The movement, dubbed the "Flamingo Revolution," draws its name from the pink flamingos that migrate to the nature reserve annually. Reports suggest that members of former U.S. President Donald Trump's family, including his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, are associated with the construction project.

“

It is a regular massacre of biodiversity.