By: Edisona Xhani
On April 30, 2024, COSV Albania organized a roundtable in the city of Vlora, as part of the second phase of the GreenAL project. This activity aimed at consulting with local actors about the most pressing environmental issues in the region of Vlora.
In total, 28 representatives from environmental organizations and public institutions participated. Participants included individuals from tourism businesses, non-governmental environmental organizations (NGOs) and public institutions, such as from the sector of Integrated Waste Management, the Regional Coastal Agency and Vlorë Municipality.
At this meeting, the second phase of GreenAL was presented along with the three main topics that GreenAL will focus on over the coming years (Climate Change, Nature and Pollution), the staff that will facilitate this phase in the South Region and the four types of grants that will be offered to NGOs to respond to issues identified in the communities where they operate.
During the discussions, Mrs. Aulona Veizi, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of the Vlora Municipality, presented the structure and emphasized the need for drafting local action plans and the desire for cooperation with NGOs. She underlined that the municipality owns the means to monitor noise levels, an element that can be taken into consideration by local organizations when applying for GreenAL grants.
Furthermore, the participants:
• discussed the need for seawater analysis, especially for bacteriology, which affects the health of residents and tourists;
• discussed the importance of monitoring Law No. 111/2012 for the Integrated Management of Water Resources and the Barcelona Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea from Pollution;
• suggested the greening of quarries as a positive practice for the revitalization of those areas;
• emphasized the importance of receiving specific monitoring data from each institution;
• expressed their concern about the increase in the number of street animals in Vlora, which pose a risk to the safety of citizens and affect the pollution of the environment.
The #GreenAL project is financed by the Swedish International Agency for Cooperation and Development (Sida) with funds from the Swedish Government Embassy of Sweden in Tirana and implemented by Co-PLAN Institute for Habitat Development in cooperation with VIS Albania and COSV – Cooperazione per lo Sviluppo
