French scientific vessel visits Albania

TIRANA, July 17 – French scientific vessel Tara is making a stopover in Vlora, one of the country’s oldest port city located on the Adriatic Sea, 100 kilometres south of Tirana. Although Tara has been crossing the seven seas for a long time now, the schooner had never made landfall in Albania before.
This stopover, organized in close cooperation with the French embassy in Tirana, will give the opportunity to keep on raising awareness and informing the public about the environmental issues that have been feeding Tara’s commitment for 10 years, especially during the Tara Mꥩterranꥠexpedition.
These four days will host many different activities with various conferences, an exhibition, boat visits and film screenings.
The exhibition “Our Planet Ocean” will be held from July 16th to July 18th in Vlora’s European information centre. It will give the public the possibility to understand that the Ocean is the cradle of life on Earth and covers three quarters of our blue Planet.
On July 16th, after visiting Sazan island, Albanian local authorities will come aboard to sign the convention between the French Coastal Conservatoire and the newly created Albanian Coastal Zone Management Agency. This island is currently under the rule of the Albanese military forces and its access is strictly regulated. Signing a convention between France and Albania represents a crucial step that might lead to change the island’s status and turn it into a Marine Protected Area.
On July 17th, scientists from Tirana, the country’s capital, as well as from the University in Vlore met Tara Mꥩterranꥧs scientific team. A seminar took place in the University. Albanian and French scientists, Sajmir Beqiraj and Fran谩s Galgani, presented the general situation about the Mediterranean’s health condition as well as the potential solutions for its protection.