Albania
Saving Beaches For Others And Itself
Tirana - Albania has launched a new programme
to save its beaches for tourists - and from
tourists. Given its need for income from tourism,
Albania cannot turn away from development of
infrastructure for visitors. Which means that
"
Albania is not in a position to make great sacrifices
for the environment," Arian Gace, national
coordinator for the Global Environment Facility
(GEF) small grants programme told IPS. But there
is still much to preserve.
Home to 3.2 million people, Albania is among
the poorest countries in Europe. Most of its national
industry collapsed with the fall of state socialism
in the early 1990s. Much hope for revival
now rests on tourism. Foreign visitors are still to
discover the pristine beaches in the south or the
inhabited fortresses in Berat and Girokastra. "This
country has astonishing nature, which is entirely
unknown to people who come here," says Gent
Mati from the tourism agency Outdoors Albania.
Mati mentions primarily the "great sea coast,
sandy, rocky and very different."
Strategy and action plan
The coast stretches 470 km along the Adriatic
to the west and the Ionian Sea further south. The
popularity of the Dalmatian region in Croatia and
of the Italian and Greek Mediterranean coasts
suggests that the economy of Albania could benefit
enormously from exploitation of its seashore.
But mass tourism has a flip side; it damages the
environment and disrupts the rhythm of local
communities. And that has led Albanian authorities
to promote eco-tourism, and not just mass
tourism.
The government launched a 'strategy and
action plan for the development of the Albanian
tourism sector based on cultural and environmental
tourism' last year. The United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) is supporting
this programme with more than 3.5 million dollars.
Preserving natural habitat will not be an easy
task. "Albania cannot afford the luxury to keep
the entire coast undeveloped and in a natural
state," Gace said. Mass tourism will be unavoidable
in some areas, he said. But some income from
mass tourism could pay for preservation of other
regions for eco-tourism, he said.
Regions for eco-tourism
damaged already, and Gace is looking to programmes
to preserve the south. Efforts are being
made already to preserve the coast, he said.
Wastewater processing facilities are being set up
in most cities on the southern coast. But eventually
the coast can be protected only if more areas
are granted protection status, Gace said.
According to a study published by the Council of
Europe, protected areas in Albania cover a surface
of 166.611 hectares, 5.8 percent of the country's
area. Some parts of the coast are far too damaged
to be presented as attractions. "Swimming in the
sea at Durres is like entering a lake next to an oil
distillery," said Giorgos Adoniu, a Greek tourist
travelling along the Albanian coast. "The water
was greenish, and the bottom of the sea covered
in slime."
Protection of remote shores
Situated less than an hour's drive from capital
Tirana, Durres is the second largest city in
Albania. It also has the second largest concentration
of industry. The beaches around Durres are
the most popular holiday destination for Tirana
residents. People have learnt to ignore the poor
quality of the water. "Pollution from sewage that
comes straight into the sea from nearby houses
and hotels is alarming for the future of tourism
here," says Xhemal Mato, executive director of the
Ecomovement Centre. But conditions improve radically as one travels
south. Vlora and Saranda are surrounded by
beautiful, unspoilt beaches. But construction is
now booming here too. Many of the new hotels
and restaurants are unauthorised, as in many
parts of Albania. This is where Gace suggests authorities
could intervene to tax builders, and use
that revenue for protection of remote shores. The
drive on a narrow mountain road along the southern
coast offers breathtaking views. The only
signs of human presence are the traditional villages and, in a rather different way, some of the half
million bunkers Communist leader Enver Hoxha
built during the Cold War years.
If kept unspoilt, the small beaches of the south
will remain ideal destinations for eco-tourism. In
Ksamil, a small beach close to Saranda, one can
rent a water bicycle for less than three euro to little
islets, all uninhabited. Few foreign tourists
come here. "It's not necessary to over-develop in
order to attract tourists to such wonderful places,"
says Adoniu.