Man and Nature: a difficult, but possible, cohexistence in Albania

Man-nature coexistence: is it possible? We believe in it.

This aim guides our work in Albania, where we want to contribute to the building of a sustainable development mechanism, which will allow rural areas to emerge on the market in a participatory manner, while preserving the immense natural resources available to the Country.

For more than a year, together with the communities of south-eastern Albania, we have been carrying out awareness-raising, environmental education and capacity building actions. Meanwhile, we build.

We build awareness on participation and environment protection, we build sustainable instruments, such as the tank completed a few weeks ago on the Permet highlands. This small basin will be the perfect habitat for the proliferation of red and green frogs, reptiles and amphibians, salamanders and newts, and at the same time a source for watering the herds of local shepherds.

A simple thing, with an important meaning: the tank shows how, also in Natural Reserves, man activities (such as breeding) can live in compatibility with wild nature.

The ACAP project, which we carry out with CELIM, INCAS Albania and Kallipolis, develops completely around this logic of peaceful coexistence, in which, if on one hand farmers and shepherds are offered tools such as electricity grids to protect domestic animals and fields from predators (bears, wolves, wild boars …), on the other hand we work to protect the life of wild animals, so for example they are placed on the roads mirrors that reflect the light in order to warn them of the passage of the cars.

Furthernore, we have launched a census of the local fauna! Using drones and a large number of cameras in the woods, we can:

  • monitor the passage of large mammals and other volatile species such as pelicans, flamingos, wading birds …
  • keep the coast under control when the turtles deposit their eggs and when they hatch
  • prevent poaching and fire.

We will continue to work for the protection of the environment, in Albania as in the rest of the world, strongly convinced that a healthy environment is among the primary sources of wealth and development of all communities.