Infodoc : Sciences, Techniques et Culture

Forests and pastures in Albania are still counting for more than 50% of the entire territory, with roughly 1,5 million ha of forests and wooded lands, placing Albania among the most wooded countries of the Balkan Peninsula (ANFI, 2005). However, these resources have been intensively exploited for many decades. During communist period, a large scale policy of new agriculture land creation was undertaken, with the amendments of almost all costal and lowland wetlands, but also at the expense of forests and pastures, especially from the 1960s. These land use transformations resulted in a signicant loss of forest and pastoral areas. In addition, the development of forest logging on an excessively productuvity-based model, exceeding natural regeneration rates of natural forests, had signifi[...]

Forests and pastures in Albania are still counting for more than 50% of the entire territory, with roughly 1,5 million ha of forests and wooded lands, placing Albania among the most wooded countries of the Balkan Peninsula (ANFI, 2005). However, these resources have been intensively exploited for many decades. During communist period, a large scale policy of new agriculture land creation was undertaken, with the amendments of almost all costal and lowland wetlands, but also at the expense of forests and pastures, especially from the 1960s. These land use transformations resulted in a signicant loss of forest and pastoral areas. In addition, the development of forest logging on an excessively productuvity-based model, exceeding natural regeneration rates of natural forests, had significantly degraded the forest cover, leading to an unbalanced age structure of albanian forest stands. Since 1991, Albania has been entering a phase of double transition, first towards market ecenomy and a multi-party political system, and second, towards its integration to the European Union.