According to the latest inventory, carried out in 2021, about 40 percent of Albania's surface is covered by forests, which proves a great asset for the country's economy and biodiversity. However, during the last 30 years this national wealth has been misused and mismanaged. The moratorium on forests, established in 2016 and still continuing, has curbed illegal logging to a certain extent, but without enough impact on the increase of the forest area. According to the forest and environment specialist, Mark Rupa, this is due to the inability of the responsible structures to manage and protect forest surfaces from damage, but also the almost annual fires.
“According to the European system of information on forest fires, in Albania for 2024 we have about 36 areas affected by fire in a total burning area of 11 thousand hectares. It is a considerable area. If we refer to the statistics from the neighboring countries, in Montenegro there are about 96 areas where there has been a fire, but the burnt surface is smaller”.
This year, more than 20 fires continue to be registered almost every day in Shkodër, Dibër, Kukës, Gjirokastër, Vlorë or Lezhë counties.
The climate changes of recent years have influenced the extension of the fire season in the forest areas in Albania as well. The dean of the Faculty of Forestry Sciences at the Agricultural University of Tirana, Professor Leonidha Peri, says that now the fires start in March and continue until the end of October, while years ago they started from June to September. According to the data of the Institute of Statistics, during a period of 13 years, from 2009 to 2021, more than 230 thousand hectares of forests were burned by fires in Albania.
“I am taking here the years 2007, 2011, 2012, 2017. In the years 2011-2012, we have burnt or crossed by fires about 50-60 thousand hectares. Yes, even in 2017, 2021, we are not at these levels, but we are at the level of 30 or 40 thousand hectares. So, climate change has increased the risk and will make this risk of fires even greater. So here, among others, is the responsibility of the forest sector”.
Due to the 2016 Forestry Moratorium, which stopped part of the commercial activities, currently the impact of forests on the gross national production is not that of the opportunities and capacities that this sector has. However, some families living in rural areas benefit from the collection of medicinal plants, forest fruits or auxiliary activities in the forest. From the studies of the Faculty of Forestry Sciences, according to Professor Peri, a family can generate up to 10-15 percent of income, precisely from the use of products or services from forests.
Albania's capacities for extinguishing fires in forest areas, especially in deep mountainous areas, are limited. The fire service has only 147 firefighting vehicles, most of them outdated and unsuitable for forest situations, and about 1,300 personnel, but no firefighting aircraft.
Forest and environment specialist, Mark Rupa, says that the preventive and response force for the protection of forest areas continues to be very weak.
“In Albania, we lack a professional training center for people who need to be trained to extinguish forest fires. We have an education at the Faculty of Forestry in Tirana, which currently provides only general information, but not a licensed training according to EU standards”.
During the last 30 years in Albania, there have been several attempts to restructure the governance system in forests, but despite this, the system continues to suffer, with the reform of decentralization in forests, in 2014, says Professor Peri, practically the whole was dismantled the central system of forest governance passing to the municipalities, which do not have the necessary capacities and infrastructure for their management.
“Of course, we are aware that today the country's municipalities have a great lack of both infrastructure and personnel. The number of personnel employed in the municipalities of the country today is in terms of almost 30 percent of forest engineers for almost 60, 70 percent of jobs for forest specialists, based on the parameters that the forest law requires. Therefore, the need for forest specialists today is extremely great”.
Meanwhile, according to Professor Peri, the interest of young people to study at the Faculty of Forest Sciences has increased in recent years. This year, an intergovernmental agreement was signed between Albania and Austria, which aims to reform within the next 5 years the entire educational offer, including the restructuring of educational programs in accordance with European standards.
