Identifying sustainable financing solutions for the Vjosa National Park in Albania

Implementation

Albania

June 2022 – December 2022

Official project name

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Affiliation project

Vjosa Wild River National Park Declaration Planning

Financing

Coordinator(s)

Partner(s)

Project background

The Vjosa, the last wild river in Europe

The last major wild river in Europe outside of Russia is the Vjosa River in Albania. From Greece, where it is known as Aoos, the river and its tributaries flow freely all the way to the Adriatic coast.

The Vjosa and its free-flowing tributaries form an ecosystem with considerable biodiversity of national and global importance, and the valley’s outstanding scenic values are the result of undisturbed natural processes.

These values provide great opportunities for ecotourism and other economic benefits to the people of the region. The surrounding watershed provides fertile land for villages to engage in agricultural activities.

As the expert in charge of financing, BlueSeeds proposed the most suitable funding schemes for the implementation and the sustainable management of conservation activities in the future Vjosa Wild River National Park.

© E.C.O. Institute of Ecology / Anna Kovarovics

Project background

Establishing a national park in Albania

The Albanian government committed to establishing a Vjosa Wild River National Park that would encompass and protect the entire course of the Vjosa River from the Greek border to the Adriatic Sea, including its free-flowing tributaries.

The Ministry of Tourism and Environment and Patagonia established a working group composed of several experts in protected areas, communications and stakeholder engagement to begin planning for the establishment of the national park. The experts participated in the preparation of the draft contents for the Declaration.

On the 15th of March 2023, the Vjosa Wild River National Park was officially declared. The National Agency of Protected Areas (NAPA), in charge of supervising all activities related to protected areas, will be at the forefront of implementing management activities on site in the coming years.

The expert meeting in Albania in pictures

Our achievements

Our role as sustainable financing expert

BlueSeeds, national and international experts gathered during 5 days in Albania to exchange on the objectives and the timeline of the study to understand the conservation issues, and to meet the actors involved (ministries, protection agencies, municipalities and economic actors).

BlueSeeds worked to understand conservation financing schemes and opportunities in Albania. With the support of the experts, we provided recommendations for the development of a sustainable financing strategy for the Vjosa Wild River National Park.

Among the proposed scenarios, we explored a legal and regulatory framework for a funding mechanism, outside of the state budget to enable effective management. BlueSeeds reviewed many including but not limited to tourism revenues, payments for ecosystem services (e.g., water supply), establishment of trust funds, and other mechanisms. We also explored some models of sustainable financing that are already successfully contributing to protected area management budgets in Albania.

© E.C.O. Institute of Ecology / Anna Kovarovics

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© BlueSeeds 2023

Développé par l'Agence Dewey

Design par Paul Groleaud

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Elle offre un condensé d’actualités en conservation, les derniers appels à projets et des nouvelles sur nos activités.