Dr. Velibor Spalevic from the
Biotechnical Faculty at the University of Montenegro arranged for us to have a
meeting with four professionals from the Albanian Ministry of Agriculture,
Food, and Consumer Protection. We met
with them at the offices of the Inspectorate of Land Protection in Tirana, the
Albanian capital, on September 7.
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I’m speaking about IECA and the SOIL Fund with Arben Mukaj (left) (Chief of the Drainage
and Flood Sector and an expert on irrigation and drainage systems) and Reshit Uruci (center) (Agronomist, Department of Land and Water Management) (photo by Klaas Annys)
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I was pleased to have a
chance to meet them and find out about erosion and sedimentation issues in
Albania. I also wanted to let them know
about IECA and the SOIL Fund and explore possibilities of IECA members doing
volunteer work in Albania.
For Velibor, it was an opportunity
to acquaint these Albanian specialists with the Biotechnical Faculty’s
research, the journal Agriculture and
Forestry (published by the Biotechnical Faculty), and IntErO, the model he
developed to predict the volume of soil erosion within drainage basins.
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Dr. Velibor Spalevic (left) demonstrates use of the IntErO model to predict soil erosion volume. Looking on (L to R) are Albanian Agriculture Ministry specialists Alfred Omuri, Arben Mukaj, Reshit Uruci, and Dr. Veli Stafa. (photo by Klaas Annys)
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Responsibility for
environmental protection in Albania is divided between the Ministry of Environment,
Forestry, and Water Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and
Consumer Protection. Our hosts explained
that Albania passed a Law on Land Protection in 2004. It aims to provide protection from erosion
and flooding. However, it does not cover
chemical contamination, and they felt the law needed to be strengthened to
cover this issue.
We learned that the Ministry
of Agriculture has an extension service much like the USDA’s NRCS. However, they are understaffed and lack
sufficient funding to provide the kind of assistance that Albanian farmers need
to improve agricultural productivity and profits and address problems such as
erosion and sedimentation.
Soil scientists and other
environmental specialists are educated at the Agricultural University of Tirana
which includes a school of Agriculture and Environment. There are also five Centers of Agricultural
Technology Transfer scattered around the country, each specializing in
different types of crops and farming systems.
The gentlemen we met with
expressed an interest in, and the need for, erosion and sediment control in
Albania. Unfortunately, they have
neither the staff nor the funds to address these issues. Therefore, this seems like and ideal
opportunity for an IECA member to work with them to develop a demonstration
project sponsored by the SOIL Fund, especially if we can find some European
manufacturers and distributors of erosion control products who want to participate.
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Following our meeting, Klaas Annys and I had a chance to sample a couple of
Albanian beers at an Italian restaurant in Tirana. It was pretty good stuff!
Veli Spalevic, our “designated driver”, had to settle for a glass of water.
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| Our route south from Tirana through the mountains where we saw severe erosion problems. |
After the meeting, Velibor
drove us south through a mountain range toward the industrial city of Elbasan. Here we had an opportunity to see some
examples of serious erosion and sedimentation problems associated with a new
highway and tunnel project, the existing highway, and a power line. It was obvious to me that there are some
great opportunities for the SOIL Fund to provide assistance in a rapidly
developing country where erosion and sediment control are virtually unknown.
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Construction in, and adjacent to, a floodplain south of Tirana.
No sediment controls in sight.
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Ouch! Spectacular erosion and sedimentation below an Albanian highway.
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| Erosion in a power line right-of-way south of Tirana. |
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We saw several areas along the highway where trash had been
dumped and burned. An obvious long-term solution is to teach
school kids to respect their nation’s beautiful landscapes
so they don't tolerate such behavior when they become adults.
Note dramatic, uplifted bedrock cliffs in the background.
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