Albania: the inexorable erosion of the coasts among the most affected in Europe

Albanian coasts among the most affected by massive erosion in Europe.

Here in Qerret in 2017. AFP - GENT SHKULLAKU

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

Rising sea levels and accelerated erosion due to climate change are pushing back the coasts and threatening entire islands and villages.

In Europe, the situation is particularly alarming in Albania. 

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One to two meters per year is what the sea takes every year from Albanian lands.

More than a third of the coasts are affected by this

massive

, in places eleven times greater than what it is on average in European countries. 

The bunkers that dot the coasts are gradually disappearing.

In 2009, the submersion of several structures had given rise to unusual currents and vacationers had drowned.

Seven of these remnants of Enver Hoxha's paranoid dictatorship had been brought up to the beach, but they are again underwater.

Just like a water tower, or a sports ground in the Seman region. 

Too costly solutions to fight erosion

Global warming is the cause, but so are wild urbanization and deforestation.

Especially on the northern coasts of the country, where many fir forests have been cleared. 

The government has just strengthened the legislation by introducing into the texts an environmental crime.

Five years ago the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) estimated that the solution to fight against erosion would be to build rock structures parallel to the coast, and to reconstruct the dunes.

Extremely costly measures, while Albania is one of the poorest countries in Europe. 

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• Albania

• Climate change

• Environment