Environmentalists demonstrated this weekend at the construction site of a new airport in southern Albania intended to boost tourism but which they say will endanger the sanctuaries of some 200 species of birds, including flamingos and pelicans.
The scenic Vjose-Narte Lagoon, near the Albanian Adriatic coast, is a crucial stopover for flocks of birds on their annual migration between Europe and Africa.
The government is building the airport just 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Adriatic coast with pristine sandy beaches which the impoverished Balkan nation hopes will attract more foreign tourists.
“For those who think this airport will bring development, in reality this airport will only bring destruction,” tourist guide Alben Kola told Reuters on Saturday as he and more than 100 environmentalists and birdwatchers protested.
The European Union, which Albania wants to join one day, said the airport project, launched in December 2021 and due to be completed by the end of 2024, was undertaken in contradiction to national and international laws on protection of biodiversity.
The Bern Convention committee which works to protect European wildlife and natural habitats has said Albania should suspend construction of the airport.
“It shows that this natural wealth does not belong only to us but to the whole of Europe and that foreign governments are doing more than us to protect it,” said Joni Vorpsi, of the NGO Protection and preservation of Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA). who has been fighting for years to protect the lagoon.
In November, an Albanian court dismissed a lawsuit filed by local NGOs against the construction of the airport, but they plan to appeal.
Vorpsi said the airport, which would serve the southern coastal town of Vlore, would not only destroy bird habitats but increase the risk of plane strikes with large birds.
The Swiss company leading the project, Mabetex, said the planes’ take-off and landing paths would not affect the birds’ routes. He said the track would be 3.5 kilometers from the bird sanctuary and 5 km from major bird migration routes.