The Balkan lynx and some endangered bird species

2024-12-07 21:15:00, Kulturë CNA

The Balkan lynx and some endangered bird species

Balkan lynx photographed in the mountains of Kosovo. Photo: ERA Group

With brown and spotted fur, a special species of cat called the Balkan lynx is becoming increasingly rare in the mountains of this region.

With less than 40 individuals left of this species, the lynx inhabits the mountains of Kosovo, North Macedonia and Albania.

As of 2015, it is listed as critically endangered, one category ahead of extinction.

Worried by the dwindling number, organizations for the preservation of biodiversity in the region and Europe have raised an immediate alarm to preserve the animal "which is disappearing before our eyes".

In a report published on November 21, the environmental organization "EuroNatur", based in Germany, criticizes the Balkan states for inaction in the protection of biodiversity and in some cases intentional damage to it.

Balkan lynx in the mountains of Kosovo (Era Group)

The main reasons for the decline in the number of lynxes, according to the report, were illegal hunting, the main cause of killing these animals in the last two decades.

Another reason is habitat destruction from deforestation and poor enforcement of conservation laws.

In Kosovo, according to the "Era Group" organization that monitors this animal, lynxes are "counted on the fingers" and have been encountered after many years of forest camera monitoring.

"From 2014 until now, only two individuals have been counted. One in Bjeshke and Nemuna and the other in Sharr", environmentalist Fatos Lajçi from ERA tells Radio Free Europe.

According to environmental activists, there has been no significant intervention in the protection of this animal in the environment, causing the consequences to be felt.

"Nature has its own mechanism to keep things in balance. And of course the disappearance of this animal means biological poverty and truncated biological diversity", says Lajçi.

A lynx in the mountains of Kosovo (Era Group)

The main food of the lynx is roe deer and wild goats.

"If we had 1,000 roe deer in a forest of 2,000 hectares, the damage to forests and vegetation by roe deer would be devastating for nature," he explains further.

Although protected by law in Kosovo, there are no data or institutional studies regarding this animal.

The Ministry of Environment of Kosovo has not answered the questions regarding the concrete actions that have been taken to protect this animal or its habitat.

According to the data of the non-governmental organization Sustainability Leadership Kosovo (SLK), between 2000 and 2022, Kosovo lost almost 16 thousand hectares of forest land or from 2 to 3.5 hectares per day.

Similar problems with lynx conservation, according to Euronatur, are also experienced by Montenegro and Albania.

"None of the countries [with lynx habitat] have adopted a national action plan [for lynx protection], while a transboundary conservation strategy is also lacking," the report states.

According to Lajçi, the efforts of conservation organizations, although large, "cannot be efficient without respecting the laws of nature protection".

"This makes us feel very alone in the protection of this species which is disappearing before our eyes", says Lajçi.

Lynx in North Macedonia. (Official publication)

"Iron birds" that endanger the wild birds of Albania

However, the Balkan Lynx is not the only species facing extinction in the Balkans.

At the edge of the Vjosa River and the Narta Lagoon, well-known natural landscapes in Albania, a large infrastructure project is being prepared.

Vlora Airport, the third in Albania, according to the Government of Albania, is expected to start flights in 2025.

This airport, which began construction in 2021, has become a point of conflict between environmental organizations and the Government, as it is located in the middle of a protected natural landscape.

The Pishë Poro-Nartë landscape is home to more than 200 species of birds, dozens of them internationally protected, which according to environmental organizations could be seriously endangered by the construction of the airport.

In 2022, the Albanian Government changed the boundaries of the protected area, excluding 310 hectares which includes the airport construction area.

The Balkan lynx and some endangered bird species

"So, a protected area was created with a hole in the middle," Joni Vorpsi from the Center for the Conservation and Protection of the Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA) tells Radio Free Europe.

"We also see the loss of bird populations, especially those that had nested in the area where the works for the airport are being carried out", he says.

Bird of the protected area on the perimeter wires of Vlora Airport. Source: Joni Vorpsi (PPNEA)

The PPNEA organization was part of a lawsuit filed against the Albanian institutions that demands the cancellation of the airport project as well as the return of the protected area as it was.

The case is still in court.

According to Vorps, however, the risk to biodiversity does not end only in the area of ??the map where the airport is located.

"It is known that the construction of the airport does not come as a single infrastructure, but a development that will destroy everything natural that surrounds it, in a wide range", he adds.

The curly pelican, a protected bird that lives in the area near Vlora Airport. Source: Joni Vorpsi (PPNEA)

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism in Albania has not answered questions about the criticisms related to the construction of the airport or the organizations' claims of legal irregularities in this project.

Meanwhile, in several public statements, the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, defended the project as an investment that will bring increased tourism to Albania, as well as employment for the Vlora area.

The EuroNatur organization also requested the immediate stop of the construction of the airport in its latest report.

"This step is critical to prevent further environmental damage and to reassess the suitability of the project with environmental conservation goals," the report's recommendations state.

The EU also criticized the airport in the last annual report for Albania after a preliminary finding that the environmental impact assessment for this project was not adequate.

Construction area of ??Vlora Airport.

"The construction of the new Vlora Airport in the Pishë Poro-Nartë Protected Area... is continuing, despite the request of the Permanent Committee of the Berne Convention in December 2023 to suspend the works until a new and sufficient procedure is carried out for the development of an environmental impact assessment report", the report states.

Albania signed the Bern Convention for the Conservation of Wildlife and Natural Habitats in Europe in 1995 and became a full member in 1999.

Joni Vorpsi also says that the procedures for construction permit and environmental assessment were carried out in a hurry and after the construction had already started.