TIRANA, April 18 – A German researcher assessing the effectiveness of the hunting ban that Albania has been applying for the past four years has collected evidence proving that illegal hunting in Albania continues even in protected areas although the cases identified are sporadic and significantly lower compared to early 2014 when Albania imposed the ban.
Hunters carrying rifles and hunting dogs caught on camera traps as well as gunshots heard and cartridges found in field inspections prove that hunting ban, initially scheduled for only two years but later extended for another five years until 2021, is only working in protected areas where controls are conducted regularly.
“That was only the case in the protected areas that received additional training and financial support by national NGOs and international organizations and where the leading structures were incorruptible and qualified,” says German researcher Daniel Ruppert who monitored six Albanian sites, four of which with a protection status, in the final quarter of 2017.
Only the Divjaka-Karavasta and the Prespa national parks in south and south-eastern Albania showed good results in the implementation of the hunting ban with almost no hunting activity observed or reported from October to December 2017.
Assisted by Albanian environmental NGOs, the German researcher managed to obtain evidence of ongoing illegal hunting in the northern Albania Shkodra Lake and Nikaj-Mertur nature parks where pictures of hunted wild boars, often damaging the local villagers field crops, are featured.
The endangered Dalmatian Pelican, Balkan Lynx and the Otter, whose population during almost a quarter of a century of massive illegal hunting have sharply reduced, are some of the species that breed in those parks.
Meanwhile, hunting in the Nivica southern Albania highlands, home to the critically endangered species, goes on as usual for locals with the ban having only curbed hunters from outside the region. The same rule also applies in Shala, in the outskirts of the northern region, where the hunting ban goes unpunished and locals hunt untroubled with hunting dogs, locally known as zagar.
Both Nivica and Shala are unprotected areas but home to endangered species, such as the Egyptian vulture and the Balkan lynx.
In his SWAT analysis, the German researcher identifies lack of financial resources and equipment by the state structures as the key weakness to the implementation of the full-scale seven-year hunting ban, which he describes as the world’s longest.
In addition, a draft law compiled by the Albanian National Federation for Hunting and Conservation aimed at lifting the ban and giving them the main responsibility to manage and monitor hunting is described as the key threat to preserving endangered species in the country.
Albania has about 15,000 hunters while about 150,000 illegal firearms are believed to be in circulation, the major part of which looted from army depots following the 1997 civil unrest triggered by the collapse of pyramid investment schemes where Albanians lost more than a billion dollars in savings.
Experts say the 2015 territorial reform and the decentralization of the forest management shifting the hunting administration to local government units have created overlapping responsibilities, increasing the risk for the unsustainable use of natural resources due to lack of knowledge, education, capacities, and short-term interests.
An expert quoted in the report even doubted the motivation of the government to enforce the ban, saying people in power like judges and governmental officials still engage in hunting activities.
The research paper also identified cases of illegal logging, despite a 10-year moratorium in place since 2016.
Albanian environmental watchdogs have earlier warned animal abuse and illegal hunting in the country continue despite moratoriums in place to protect endangered fauna species and declining forest areas.
Environmental watchdogs identified 25 cases of abuse in 2017, mainly related to illegal hunting and logging and animals held in captivity, also taking place in protected areas. Dozens of other unreported cases are estimated to have taken place as a considerable number of the identified abuses were advertised as trophies on social networks by perpetrators themselves, apparently unaware of the legal consequences that include heavy fines and even imprisonment.
Brown hares and bears being killed and advertised as trophies on social networks or endangered species such as the Balkan Lynx kept embalmed at restaurant bars in addition to caged bear cubs held in captivity are some of the cases the Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA) watchdog has identified on its dedicated syrigjelber.info portal serving as a hotline to report cases of abuse.
