1.4 Land and water management

Albanian wetland ecosystems have been characterized, until the 1940s, by a complex network of interlinked and rich areas.

In the early 1950s, the coastal areas of Albania included 250 000 ha of natural areas, of which 60 000 ha consisted in marshland (Gjiknuri and Peja, 1992). After this period, these areas have been altered within the framework of reclamation and agricultural land has been expanded against riparian woodland. More than 50 percent of coastal wetlands have been due to the development of drainage activities. This has resulted in a loss of surface and in a degradation and fragmentation of habitats that negatively affected flora and fauna.
Until 1990, lagoons were mainly used as military areas and communication channels between lagoons and the sea were managed through dredger boats placed at the mouth of the channels. Only authorized fisheers were allowed to exploit lagoon resources using fish barriers and various fishing nets.

After 1990, the State invested to maintain lagoon mouths and, in 2005, undertook a reform to change fishing licences. More recently, uncontrolled urban development due to important demographic settlements and illegal fishing practiced have seriously damaged lagoon surrounding areas and natural resources.