Study: Reforestation proposal for the Vjosa catchment

This study defines clear steps and locations to start an afforestation project in the Vjosa catchment. For centuries, the floodplain and its slopes of the Vjosa valley have been heavily deforested mostly due to pastoralism and firewood extraction, which still continues. This has not only negative impact on the ecology of the Vjosa river, but also on the flood risk in the lower part of the Vjosa due to sediment aggregation. The authors propose ten pilot areas to start the afforestation. As there is no autochthonous planting material available on the market, it has to be grown from diaspores / mother plants from the region in a forest garden to be established on site.