Press release from the Coalition of environmental organizations in defense of PK Divjakë-Karavasta
++ Mega Resorts – Mega Problems! Experts raise the alarm: We are losing National Parks!++
Tirana, November 21, 2017.The second public forum was held on the negative impacts of the “Mabetex Grup” urbanization project in the Divjakë-Karavasta National Park. In the second civil society forum, there was the participation of young people, experts, the deputy of the area and environmental activists, who got to know some of the aspects not addressed in the first public forum held on November 9, 2017.
Experts in geomorphology, cultural-historical heritage and sustainable management planning of protected areas explained how this project would affect the existence of the Divjakë-Karavasta National Park
and how important the assessment of costs and benefits is in this case. PK Divjakë-Karavasta has exceptional environmental, cultural and touristic values, which can only be used through sustainable and environmentally friendly planning in the long term.
“The Divjakë-Karavasta National Park is a rich place from the archaeological point of view, the cultural and monumental heritage and is located at a very favorable intersection from the cultural point of view. It is not only a powerful and brilliant asset in terms of biodiversity, but also in terms of its cultural values,” said Ols Lafe, archaeologist.
The urbanization project of “Mabetex” aims to occupy and alienate 10% of the territory of the Park, while the accompanying, supporting infrastructure (roads, lighting, electrical network, breakwaters, etc.) “This development in the Divjakë-Karavasta National Park is in opposition to the National Spatial Plan and the national vision of the development of the territory. Any intervention of this nature will spread like a cancer, ultimately destroying the balance of this delicate area,” said Besnik Aliaj, urban planning expert.
Stretched over 12 km of coastline, the project envisages the construction of 2400 apartments, 370 villas, a tourist resort of 90 ha with a maximum capacity of hosting 18,000 tourists/day. According to Ardian Shehu, Geological Engineer, the construction planned by Mabetex will artificially change the entire coastline. In this area, the sedimentary dynamics is very high, therefore the coastline will be constantly changing and as a result, Mabetex will intervene further, ultimately destroying the area, he added.
Additional information:
This forum is organized as part of the awareness campaign “Stop Urbanization of the Divjakë-Karavasta National Park”, undertaken by a group of national organizations (AOS, EcoAlbania, LexFerenda and Pseda-Iliria) which is supported by LëvizAlbania and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation ( SDC).
This is the second public forum that the coalition of civil society organizes to make the public aware of the negative impacts of the urbanization project in PK Divjakë-Karavasta, which will be followed by 1 other forum as well as a media campaign.
Find here awareness spot no. 1 as well as here Awareness spot no. 2, produced within the “Stop Urbanization of the Divjakë-Karavasta National Park” campaign.
