Albania’s pelicans return after wetland protections
TIRANA, Albania — With feathers on its head that make it look like it is wearing a wig, it does not go unnoticed — the Dalmatian pelican is back with a flourish in the Divjaka Lagoon in western Albania.
The expansive site is one of the most important wetlands in the Adriatic basin, key for migratory wildlife and as a breeding area for the large elegant pelican.
But like other spots in Europe, the picturesque lagoon has suffered extensive damage at the hands of man and the Dalmatian pelican came close to deserting it.
Now a return in force of the bird, whose wingspan reaches up to 3 meters, is down to a proactive policy by Albanian authorities, often criticized for being passive on environmental issues.
“The king has returned this winter,” said fisherman Fatos Jolla.
Since the 1980s, Europe’s bird population has declined by several tens of millions, according to ornithologists.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature has included the Dalmatian pelican (Pelecanus crispus) on its red list as it believes that 80 percent of its breeding sites in Europe have disappeared.
At the Divjaka Lagoon, the pelicans had almost completely abandoned their nests, although previously “the Divjaka-Karavasta National Park was considered its kingdom”, said its head, Adrian Koci.
“From 250 breeding pairs in the 1960s, we arrived at 17 in 2000-01. We returned to 52 pairs and 57 births in 2017.”
A small island of 22 square kilometers, in the middle of the lagoon, has been crucial to helping lure back the birds.
The nesting sites were raised so as not to be threatened by the rising water, barbed wire has been placed to prevent tourists from accessing and hunting was banned in 2016.
A pelican was shot in mid-February, but the hunters were identified and face two to four years in prison.
However, the recovery is fragile. The Mediterranean Wetlands Alliance, a gathering of some 20 associations from 12 countries for the protection of wetlands, last year voiced concerns over the possible construction of a tourist complex in Divjaka.
It cautioned that the planned development could “destroy the natural wealth and biological diversity of the area”.
Noting that 70 percent of the Balkan country’s wetlands have already been destroyed, ornithologists and environmental activists wrote to Prime Minister Edi Rama asking him to veto the project.
It was suspended, but the activists fear that the halt may only be temporary.
“It would mean the disappearance of the Dalmatian pelican and other species that make the diversity of this park,” said Koci.