Lezhe: Vain Lagoon in northern Albania, long considered a paradise for migratory birds, has been increasingly abandoned by various species due to climate change damaging the country’s wetlands.
Millions of birds pass through the lagoons and rivers of Albania every year on their northern flight, creating an important environment for migratory species traveling between northern Europe and Africa.
Wine Lagoon covers an area of more than 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) stretching along the Adriatic Sea and home to 196 species of migratory birds.
Long-legged flamingos, pink flamingos, black-headed herons, delicate egrets, whistling ducks and teal are among the species that frequent the area.
According to experts, the number has dropped drastically.
According to a recent survey, at least 40 percent of the total number of migratory birds disappeared in January. For years, mallard ducks have been disappearing.
“There are many reasons, but mainly global warming has affected migration and the breeding season,” said Toni Kresnik, who oversees the protected nature reserve in Leze, which includes Wain Laguna.
Local fishermen blame the warming waters for declining fish populations in the area, depriving the birds of an important food supply.
“Water temperature, sea level rise and other factors are causing fish stocks to decrease,” said Nicole Lukaj, who has been trading in the area for 35 years.
Sel Arifi, who oversees fisheries in Wain Lagoon, said that due to the situation in the area, the number of suitable predators for many bird species has decreased by 80 percent.
Invasive species, such as the blue crab native to western Atlantic waters, also threaten the biodiversity of Albania’s wetlands.
“They attack the birds and they are very angry with the flamingos,” Lukas told AFP.
Mirjan Topi, author of the first field guide for birds in Albania, warns that destruction and destruction of bird habitats by humans is also a major risk.
A young pig carrying a GPS device that tracked its movements in real-time died after crashing into a power pole in Greece last year.
– ‘Global Problem’-
According to conservation experts, some birds, such as endangered species, have spent time in Africa this year.
Scientists have also been monitoring nesting pairs in Albania for the past seven years.
“But another pair of ostriches chose to spend the winter in Albania rather than risk a long and dangerous migration in Africa,” said Taulant Bino, head of the Albanian Ornithological Association (ASO).
Concerned Albanian ornithologists are also awaiting the return of Egyptian vultures from Chad, equipped with GPS devices.
The now-threatened pharaoh’s sacred bird “faced many threats during its journey of more than 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) through three climates,” said Ledi Selgjekaj, conservation and conservation biologist. Environment in the Albanian group.
Egypt’s vulture population alone has declined by 50 percent since the 1970s. According to Topi, who wrote a field guide to Albanian birds, it has declined 80 percent in the last 30 years alone in the Balkans.
Topi said there are only five pairs in Albania.
To protect the declining population, ornithological groups from Albania and Greece have established safe havens aimed at eliminating threats during the breeding season.
“No country can fight alone,” ASO’s Bino said. “Climate Change and the Risk of Migratory Bird Migration is a Global Problem”.
