Illegal bulldozers are destroying one of Albania’s most precious wild places

The Albanian coast in spring is a sight to behold. Flamingos wading through lagoons. Dalmatian Pelicans gliding overhead. Millions of migratory birds resting in the shelter of ancient pine forest before continuing their journeys between Europe and Africa. This is Pishë Poro-Nartë: one of the finest remaining wild coastlines in the Mediterranean, and a place of global ecological importance.

Right now, bulldozers are tearing through it.

Without an approved project, no public consultation, no environmental impact assessment, and no sign of a construction permit, heavy machinery moved into the protected area at the end of April. Trees are being felled. Sand dunes shaped over centuries are being levelled. And nobody knows who authorised it. That, in itself, is part of the scandal.

A place worth fighting for

Pishë Poro-Nartë sits within the Vjosë-Nartë Protected Landscape – part of the delta of the Vjosë, one of the last wild rivers in Europe. The broader protected area is home to over 70 endangered species and more than 200 bird species. The pine forest is ancient, irreplaceable, and lies on one of Europe’s most critical migration corridors, the Adriatic Flyway. Lose it, and the consequences ripple far beyond Albania’s borders.

A window deliberately exploited

The Albanian government previously amended its Law on Protected Areas to permit luxury resort construction within protected zones – directly contradicting EU nature protection standards. Albania is in EU accession negotiations, and the European Commission has made clear this law must change. The government has given assurances it will.

But while legal reform is debated on paper, works are racing ahead on the ground. As the Director of our Albanian Partner PPNEA, Aleksandër Trajçe has explained, the apparent logic is stark: build now, before a stricter law makes it impossible.

What makes it even more shocking is that the works appear to be illegal even under the current, already controversial legislation. No environmental assessments, no public consultation, no transparent permitting, and no official explanation from any authority about what is being built, or by whom. A major development project linked to Jared Kushner has also been planned for this area, though whether the current works are connected remains unclear.

Our message to Albania

This week, BirdLife Europe’s Regional Director Ariel Brunner and Head of Policy Anouk Puymartin travelled to Tirana. Conversations with Albanian authorities were constructive, and we received assurances that legislation will be updated this year. We welcome that.

But good intentions on paper mean nothing while a protected area is being dismantled in real time. As our regional Director said during the press conference: “Bulldozers are operating in a completely illegal way, based on unclear decisions and a total lack of transparency – and this needs to stop.”

By the time a reformed law comes into force, the forest it was meant to protect may already be gone.

We are calling on Albanian institutions to halt all works immediately, publish every permit and project document related to the site, and launch a full legal investigation into what has already taken place.

Albania’s wild coast is one of its greatest assets. Destroying it in secret, without permits, inside a protected area, is a betrayal of the Albanian people, of European commitments, and of the millions of birds that depend on this place every year.

Photo and video: PPNEA