“Stop the Airport” is the title of a documentary film that portrays the efforts of a community to halt the construction of an airport near the Narta area in Vlora.
This documentary film will air on June 28th in cinemas.
It depicts the riches of the protected area as well as the battle to save it. It also informs about the arguments used so far in favor of building the airport.
According to representatives of the Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA), the authorities in Albania have gone into a race with the climate changes, as to which could damage the natural environment more.
“This time, the front of destruction has shifted to the virgin fields of the protected landscape of Narta, where the largest airport in the Balkans is being built… Thus, on one hand, there is a threat by the rising sea levels due to global warming, and on the other hand, by the increasing urban pressure caused by the chaotic displacement of the population towards the coast.”
“In thirty years, we have witnessed the degradation of the landscape, but now we risk the extremely rapid disappearance of wildlife. Instead of fighting for its preservation, driven by greed for more money, we are offering more support to disaster. The construction of the airport marks the beginning of the end for Protected Areas in Albania,” says Aleksandër Trajçe, Executive Director of PPNEA.
Vlora International Airport has been under construction since 2021 in the Vjosa-Narta Protected Landscape, 10 km north of the city of Vlora in Albania.
The airport will be the third international airport in Albania and includes the construction of a marina and agritourism site as part of the airport.
The new airport is planned to accommodate wide-body aircrafts and will be the biggest in the country, with an expected major impact on economic growth and tourism.
However, environmentalists have expressed their concerns on the grave impact on the biodiversity of the area, as the airport will be located entirely in the Narta Lagoon, which is also a candidate for the Emerald site network, which provides shelter to more than 62 species of birds listed in the EU Birds directive. They raised the issue of possible collision of airplanes with birds, as the Narta Lagoon is a major breeding and living place of migratory birds.
The Bern Convention previously called on the Albanian Government to review their plan of building an airport inside the protected area.
