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Damage to the natural ecosystem of Lake Skadar

2025-03-10 19:44:16Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Lake Skadar

The National Inspectorate for Territorial Protection ( IKMT ) has launched a large-scale operation in the Albanian part of Lake Shkodra and the Buna River to remove illegal structures that have been damaging their natural ecosystem for years. The shared Lake Shkodra, which is shared between Albania and Montenegro, is considered the largest in the Balkans, with particular importance for its natural ecosystem, tourist values, and diversity of birds and fish. As Voice of America correspondent Pëllumb Sulo reports, over the past 30 years, a number of foreign organizations have funded projects to protect the ecosystem of the shared Lake Shkodra, but their effectiveness has been low.

The intervention of the National Inspectorate for Territorial Protection (IKMT) in Lake Shkodra comes after ongoing concerns from experts about the damage that the ecosystem of Lake Shkodra in the Albanian part has suffered over the years, due to illegal interventions.

Over the years, fishermen have built, on both sides of the lake's shores, a fence that prevents the lake from communicating with the Buna River and, further, with the Adriatic Sea.

"The National Inspectorate of Territorial Protection has begun intervention in the entire surface of Lake Shkodra to move all fishing structures, which are located in Lake Shkodra as well as Dajlan, which is located across the entire width of the Buna River bed. Since last year, they have not been equipped by the relevant authorities and, under these conditions, the intervention is being carried out as they are illegal."

Even three years ago, the Municipality of Shkodra tried to remove these illegal structures from the lake, but without success, due to the lack of appropriate means.

According to experts, the construction of these structures by local fishermen, as well as many other constructions along the shores of the lake, have severely damaged the natural ecosystem of the lake in both the Albanian and Montenegrin parts.

"In recent years, it seems that fishermen have not removed the fishing structures placed in the lake. They have constantly left them, creating a very large ambush, preventing the movement of fish from the sea to the interior of the lake and vice versa. At the same time, they have also caught small fish, which is not allowed."

Lake Shkodra, with a length of 45 kilometers, constitutes an important asset for the entire region from an economic, ecotourism and ecological perspective. For this reason, in 2005 it was declared a Ramsar Protected Area of ??International Importance.

The lake has 45 species of fish and 40 species of waterfowl, some of which are rare. Due to its importance, over the years, a number of foreign organizations, including the World Bank and the German Agency for International Development (GIZ), have funded dozens of programs and projects to protect the natural values ??of the shared Shkodra Lake, but their effectiveness has been limited, due to lack of capacity and mismanagement.

"In recent years, the fishing situation in Lake Shkodra has changed, due to the large influxes to the shores of the lake during the years of democracy, where some people switched to the fishing sector. Understandably, without initial knowledge, fishing in prohibited forms, with harmful methods and in periods and places prohibited for fishing. This caused fish resources to decrease significantly, turning Lake Shkodra into a shock absorber for social problems."

Experts say that although the ecosystem of Lake Shkodra is the same, it does not have the same appreciation on both sides, in the Albanian and Montenegrin parts. While in early 2022 the Albanian government declared the Albanian part of the lake a "Managed Nature Reserve", the Montenegrin part has held the status of "National Park" for many years./VOA


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