THE RESPONSE

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The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), was signed by Albania in January 1994. Although faced with the difficulties of a country in transition, Albania has endeavoured to fulfil its obligations under the Convention. In 1998, the Albanian government charged the National Environmental Agency (the former Committee for Environmental Protection) to prepare the Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (BSAP) as a step towards implementing the Convention. Albania has been, and continues to be, a participant in European and regional initiatives related with the CBD, especially in the PAN-European Strategy on Biological and Landscape Diversity (PESBLD).

In Albania, the main objectives for implementing the CBD and PESBLD are:

The World Bank, through the Global Environment Facility (GEF), provided financial support to the NEA for preparing the BSAP. As part of this process, an Advisory Board was created and headed by the Chairman of the NEA. Supervision, consulting, and co-ordination were the duties of this Board. Technical specialists, university staff, and representatives of central and local governmental and non-governmental organisations participated in the preparation and drafting of the BSAP.

The success in the implementation of the CBD and the BSAP can be achieved only through the integration of strategic principles and objectives to protect biodiversity in other sectors of the economy. These include agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, energy and industry, transport, tourism, and water management.

Development of inter-sectional co-ordination is also a high priority where the NEA had already made some progres in the last year. The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) in the NEA, aproved recently in the framework of the Nature Protection Directory, will be the most important co-ordination mechanism for the convention. The duty would be the co-ordination of work and programmes in the framework of the BSAP, and identification and securing of the financial resources for the implementation of the landscape and biological diversity action plan. Establishment of the National Council for Nature and Biodiversity is the first step towards the achievement of this objective.

Legislation, which is coherent and enforceable, will form the foundation for sound biodiversity management. Of particular importance will be the approval of the proposed draft-law on Nature Protection and Biodiversity and on the Protected Area, consulted also by foreign legal expert during the PHARE institutional strngthening project. These Laws, which create autonomous authorities that encourage wide participation, will form the cornerstone for future law enforcement. This process will be accompanied by cooperation between public and private institutions in the management of Protected Areas in accordance with management plans and the stated policies established by the central environmental authorities. These policies should consider the opinions of technical experts, and have public approval.

Power decentralization and a wider autonomy for the local authorities is necessary for the democratic development of the country. More regional autonomy as it is foreseen under the New Constitution will allow local and regional authorities to become increasingly active in the planning and management of the biological and natural resources they share. In this context, the implementation of the objectives of the CBD and the BSAP at the regional and local levels will be essential

In Albania there are several projects, dealing with biodiversity issue, that are running actually in different parts of the country. The most important are:

• The Lake Ohrid Conservation Projest (LOCP)
• Management of the Karavasta Lagoon
• Conservation of Wetland and Coastal Ecosystem in Mediterranean Region (MedWet 3)

LOCP consists of four components outlined below. The grant from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), executed by the World Bank, has been obtained to support the implementation of the LOCP, which will fund equipment, staff and consultants, studies and pilot projects, and public awareness and training programs required to implement the activities of the following components:

1. An institutional strengthening component that focuses on strengthening the capacity of public official at all levels in the lake Ohrid watershed for effective enforcement of each country’s environmental laws, regulations, standards and policies;
2. A monitoring component that focuses on establishing a comprehensive bi-national monitoring program to inform the public and local officials, and to provide the environmental information necessary for effective and rational planing and decision making;
3. A participatory watershed management component that aims to promote the information of a broadly representative watershed management committee, to pilot and demonstrate practical, participatory and cost-effective actions to protect and conserve lake Ohrid and adopt and implement a watershed action plan;
4. A public awareness and participation component that aims to create public awareness and increase community participation to enable the effective and sustainable implementation of the LOCP

The project on Karavasta Lagoon (the only Ramsar Site in Albania) has the specific objective to use Albania’s natural resources in a sustainable way and to protect the biodiversity by improving the protection of the environmental resources of this area. These objectives are:

1. Protection of the forest and its fauna and flora through improve fencing;
2. Preservation of the natural drainage to the sea through regular dredging of the existing two channels;
3. Creation of better access and scientific facilities:

- an information center

- a watching tower

- parking space

- rehabilitation of roads and bridges in the area.

The MedWet 3 Project have been just granted from GEF and will fulfil these objectives:

1. Promotion and capacity building for the development of central policies and tools to address the policy-related root causes of the loss of wetland and coastal biodiversity.

2. Protection and removal of root causes in key demonstration sites selected in view of their global significance and of the variety which they present in terms of threats and accompanying actions.

3. Contributing to "closing the Mediterranean circle" in terms of biodiversity protection and sustainable management of wetlands and coastal zones through cost-effective networking for transfer of lessons, interchange and training.

A number of Albanian NGOs, in collaboration with international ones, have developed sufficient expertise and experience to contribute to landscape and biological diversity inventory, planning, management, and monitoring. Creation of the legal mechanisms to promote a wider involvement of these NGOs in this process will better ensure the implementation of the CBD and BSAP in Albania.