Project title: Promoting Sustainable Land Management (SLM) in Albania through Integrated Restoration of Ecosystems
Geographical scope: Albania
Time frame: Ongoing
Partners: UNEP/ROE Vienna and Geneva Programme Office
Co-financiers:
- UNEP Europe Office
- The Albanian Ministry of Tourism and Environment
- Kolonja Municipality
- Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
- Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, Agricultural University of Tirana
- Faculty of Forestry Sciences, Agricultural University of Tirana
Contributions to SDGs:
Target 15.2: By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally.
Project:
This project aims to strengthen the capacities and skills of national and local government institutions and other stakeholders in Albania to manage land sustainably. The project aims to enhance Albania’s institutional and legislative environment to effectively mitigate the causes and negative impacts of land degradation .
The project aims to achieve its objective through two main components.
Component 1: Strengthened legal and institutional framework and capacity building for SLM: This component establishes a legal and institutional framework on sustainable land management where existing regulations on land and soil are strengthened bynew legal/sub-legal acts and the increased capacities of local and national institutions to carry out sustainable land management.
Component 2 - Demonstrating and Scaling-up of SLM Best Practices: This component focuses on scaling-up best practices for sustainable land management by a broader application of innovative tools and practices in Kolonja Municipality. Rehabilitation plans will be drafted. At least 120 ha of land owned by local government authorities where significant degradation has occurred due to illegal logging (by residents and commercial interests), as well as overgrazing and unsustainable agricultural practices, will be rehabilitated. Degraded land covering an area of 21,288 ha will furthermore be mapped in Kolonja Municipality.
Under the project, two sublegal acts have already been drafted outlining the criteria for forests to be classified, as well as for employees to be recruited to manage forests at municipal level. Geographic Information System maps have furthermore been submitted to Kolonja Municipality showing the location of degraded forest and pastureland, as well as priority sites for rehabilitation. Meanwhile, resource managers have been trained on how to understand levels of land degradation according to vegetation spotted there, the need for a common national vocabulary on forestry and vegetation, online tools for gathering data, ecosystem services, and more.
News and stories:
Any questions?
For more information please contact
Sonja Gebert
Associate Programme Management Officer
UNEP Vienna Programme Office
Valmira Bozgo
National Coordinator
UNEP Tirana project office
