The regional alliance Let’s Defend the Nature of the Balkans expresses its full support to environmental activists, local communities and citizens in Albania who these days defend the areas of Vjosa-Narta and the island of Sazan from a new investor attack on a natural public good and one of the richest ecosystems of our Balkan peninsula and the wider Mediterranean.
In recent days, thousands of people took to the streets of Tirana demanding the halting of the project of a luxury tourist complex financed by imperialist elites, planned in the immediate vicinity of the protected areas, after private security attacks on numerous gathered activists and attempts to limit access to the coast were recorded at the location itself.
Vyosa-Narta is a common fight!
Vjosa is also a powerful symbol of the wider Balkan struggle to preserve free rivers, wetlands, lagoons and coastal ecosystems. After decades of struggle by citizens and organizations, Vjosa was declared the first European Wild River National Park in 2023, becoming an inspiration to communities across the region fighting against dams, mines and other harmful projects.
The Vjosa-Narta area represents a unique mosaic of river, wetland and marine habitats of international importance. Narta Lagoon is home to thousands of migratory birds, including flamingos, pelicans and numerous other protected species, which is why it is recognized as an important area of biodiversity. Wetlands are often seen as empty land – until they disappear. Only then do we realize what they have been quietly providing us all along: clean water, flood protection and a home for thousands of species. The Narta and Zvernjeca wetlands are not waiting for investors to be “developed”. They are already performing their important role!
Like many others throughout our region, the pressures on these areas continue despite long-term warnings from the scientific and professional public, international organizations and bodies such as the Bern Convention, which even earlier called for the suspension of projects that threaten this precious biodiversity. The forest does not raise its voice when it is threatened, and the birds cannot vote. The trees of Zvernjec cannot stand before the decision-makers and defend themselves. That’s why people need to speak up for this place – before it’s too late!
This model sounds familiar to us.
The same investor pressures and even the same investors are known from before in other locations in the Balkans. This struggle is part of a wider conflict between the public interest and a development model that views nature exclusively as a resource for profit, and which is enabled by “our” local “elites”. In the Balkans, we know very well what false promises about ecological resorts, green mining or energy look like in practice, which leave behind destroyed rivers, cut forests, damaged cultural assets, displaced communities, irreversibly damaged ecosystems, and welfare exclusively for the investor.
The fight is common!
That is why we are telling our comrades in Albania: you are not alone! The communities gathered in the alliance “Let’s Defend the Nature of the Balkans” recognize your struggle as their own. For years, we have been proving together that nature knows no borders, so there is no solidarity among the people who defend it! By defending Vjos-Narta and Sazan, you are defending the idea that the natural resources of the Balkans belong to citizens, future generations and the living world that does not have its voice in institutions.
We stand with you and invite everyone who can come to the protest on June 20 in Tirana, as well as to inform their surroundings about this case, because tomorrow such a project can knock on everyone’s door.
We call on the institutions of Albania to respect domestic and international obligations of nature protection, to prevent activities that can cause irreparable damage to this area, to stop attacks on environmental activists and demonstrators, and to put the voice of their people before the interests of investors.
Vyosa-Narta and Sazan are not for sale. The nature of the Balkans is not for sale!
In solidarity,
Alliance Let’s Defend the Nature of the Balkans
#handsoffVjosaNarta
