ALBANIA - Vlora Region

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VLORA REGION 2020:”ZERO EMISSIONS TERRITORY-ZET”

Natural Reserves Narta Lagoon In the southern part of Vlora Region lies the Lagoon of Narta, which has an area of 4.180 ha and is the second biggest lagoon in Albania. Narta Lagoon is another natural ecosystem with possibilities for development of eco-tourism, bird watching, fishing etc. The environmental value of the area is high, since it includes several different habitats: sandy dunes, Mediterranean pine forests, old fluvial beds, small coastal wetlands, brackish basins, saltworks and not cultivated salted lands, cultivated lands. The lagoon is included in the IBAs (Important Bird Areas) and represents the second area in Albania for seabirds. In Narta there are 195 kinds of birds. During the winter, about 23% of the birds that come to Albania nest there. Several types of fish live in Narta Lagoon waters, but the most typical are the eel and the Narta's bass.

Butrint Lagoon Butrint Lagoon is a lake of tectonic origins with a natural ecosystem with great environmental and touristic values. It has a total surface of 16 sq. km and is connected with the canal of Vivar which is 3.6 kilometres long. The lake has a

depth of 20 meters. It is a very suitable place for practicing sailing sport, due to the favourable wind direction. The whole Lagoon area is protected thanks to the constitution of a National Park. The protected area was increased to 86 km2 in 2005. Since 2002, this territory has the status of Protected Wetland according to Ramsar Convention. As for the fauna, drakes, black neck ducks, eagles, falcon, bats, etc live here. Here we can find a number of reptilian and amphibian that proliferated in the canebrake area, in the northeast shore of the lake. It is worth mentioning the Epirote frog, the only kind in Albania. The eco-system is also very suitable for bird watching: in the forest of Butrint archaeological area, near the side of lake, live 90 different kinds of birds.

STRATEGIC PLANNING IN VLORA REGION “TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT”

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