Final Meeting Ravenna Spatial Planning in Coastal Zone and Maritime Areas Vjosa – Narta pilot project ECAT Tirana

Final Meeting Ravenna Basic Facts about the pilot project Located to the south of Albania. The area represents an important lagoon in the coast (Narta lagoon) Main uses are agriculture, salt production, fishing, tourism

Final Meeting Ravenna Interested Groups Vlora municipality, district council, Narta community Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Water Administration, Ministry of Public Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications, Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports, inter-ministerial Council for Territorial Development. Non-governmental organizations active in local development, tourism promotion, environmental and cultural heritage protection Business community (salt production, fisheries, industry, tourism Inhabitants of coastal area

Final Meeting Ravenna Workshops and meetings Spatial Planning and Maritime Areas In the first national Spatial Planning and Maritime Areas workshop the PlanCoast project was presented to different target groups & stakeholders, including central and local planning authorities, representatives from universities and research institutions.

Final Meeting Ravenna Meetings with experts Several round table and seminars of experts & stakeholders have been organized by ECAT Tirana in order to: assess availability and quality of data present findings draw conclusions

Final Meeting Ravenna Workshops and meetings With the kind assistance and excellent presentation of Mr. Bernhard Heinrichs, ECAT Tirana organized on Sep. 6, 2007, wide participation national seminar on Spatial Planning within ICZM in Albania Spatial Planning within ICZM in Albania, to introduce principles and practices of spatial planning. This very successful participatory seminar maximized the understanding of the links between spatial planning and ICZM. In addition it showed that most of the stakeholders & experts involved acknowledged the conflicts in the area and were able to formulate them clearly

Final Meeting Ravenna Activities completed A review of the literature, data, and documents was carried out. A review & updating of the previous management plan of the area, completed three years ago, was taken into consideration. A methodology was developed that set out the principles and methods for the implementation of the pilot project The methodology was based on the following principles: - a sound management of scientific data - the ecosystem approach - the participatory approach It defined a model framework for local ICZM plans providing the opportunity to: -update the data of management plan -generate the new data for the area -revise the certain principals for the management of the area using the tools and concepts of spatial planning

Final Meeting Ravenna Activities completed A questionnaire was prepared to establish how far offshore and inland the boundaries for the area should lie whether there are specific studies, surveys and analysis to be carried out in the short term to support Narta planning establish a rank for the functions defined for the area The questionnaire asked to list three main problems for Narta Lagoon management and respective solutions and stakeholders that should be involved in planning process The questionnaire was completed by local stakeholders along with the group of related most qualified Albanian experts.

Final Meeting Ravenna Activities completed Reports were prepared to understand processes that impact on the area Shehu, A., E. Dindi Shehu, A., E. Dindi. Some Considerations of the Factors Affecting the Evolution of Vjosa-Narta Coastline. Lame, S. Lame, S. Dynamics of the Coastal Zone and Natural and Human Impacts. Lushaj, Sh Lushaj, Sh. Identification of Mutual Movement Land-Sea and Degradation Phenomena. Planning of Measurement related to Development and Protection of Land Space of the area. Eftimi, R Eftimi, R. Ground Water. Leka, Sh Leka, Sh. Spatial Planning Vision for the Narta Region. Beqiraj S. Beqiraj S. Lagoon and Marine Benthos. The findings of the reports formed the basis for a single report that set out a vision for the area, identifying potential sites for appropriate development and uses.

Final Meeting Ravenna Functions Ranking List of the Area FunctionsWeight Tourism and recreation 3 Habitat for wildlife 2.66 Shoreline anchoring and dissipation of erosive forces 2.5 Extraction of mineral resources (salt) 2.5 Urban development 2.5 Flood storage and desynchronization 2.25 Sediment trapping 2.25 Food chain support 2.25 Heritage value 2.25 Ground water recharge 2 Ground water discharge 2 Habitat for fisheries/fishing 2 Harvest of commercial timber and crops 2 Grazing1.37 Nutrient retention and removal 1.3 According to the impact and the importance on the ecosystem, a list of functions was prepared taking into consideration that the wetlands occupy the most significant portion of the area.

Final Meeting Ravenna Vjosa Narta is a highly dynamic area where the shoreline has often changed dramatically. A notable displacement of 310 m has been observed during the last few decades. The superposition of the data extracted from maps of the years 1938, 1985, or 2005 and satellite images produced the temporal and spatial variation of the shoreline. Facts & Findings

Final Meeting Ravenna In this particular coastal area sediments are loose and considerably thick, therefore the action of the waves on them is significant Geologically, the region continues to subside causing the sea to encroach upon the land.

Final Meeting Ravenna Some conflicts of uses in the area Reduction of the sediments due to creation of reservoirs Aggregate extraction along rivers, beaches and dunes Cars on the beach-beach as a parking area Cows on the beach-beach as the grazing area

Final Meeting Ravenna Dunes are few kilometers long, 30 m wide, and 3 to 4 m high running parallel to the shoreline directly inland from the beach. Illegal on the shore are destructing the natural defenses of vegetation of the dunes

Final Meeting Ravenna

Sea encroaching upon the land Coastal erosion The process of salinization has been increasing during the past 20 years.. Some processes on the coast taken into consideration

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The area shows a variety of natural wetland habitats. The lagoon is renowned and ecologically important as a breeding site for a number of bird species. A review of the literature concerning the wetland habitats was carried out.

Final Meeting Ravenna

Follow up activities planned Organization of the national conference to present results and conclusions of the plan coast project to present SP and ICZM. Presenting public bodies with the recommendations for using spatial planning for future distribution of uses in space. Ensuring that lessons learned from this exercise be applicable across regional space. Conclusions

Final Meeting Ravenna Lessons learned Eg. Was successful because... The ICZM approach was succesfully applied to a local master plan for a very sensitive coastal area, including spatial planning of the whole area Could be more successful if... The methodology has been tested The methodology has been tested with an Expert Group, but such local plan would be tested in a community-based process, involving local stakeholders in definition of functions and consequent spatial planning of the area. Final ICZM local plan Final ICZM local plan should be presented for discussion and legal recognition to all Local Authorities interested in Narta area. The hardest part of the work was... The longest part of the work was... In both cases, In both cases, involvement of different specialists, with very different scientific background and languages, for integration of functional analysis and evaluation of the area What surprised us the most was... All different specialists, after deep discussion and analysis, were really capable to connect their specific work and surveys to functional analysis and ranking, and to the related spatial planning We are particularily proud of... Definition of ICZM methodological approach for local plans

Final Meeting Ravenna Next time we would do different more specialists involved for preliminary complete area profiling - direct community involvement from the beginning in functional analysis - more direct integration with data collection and management by means of GIS tools We recommend other planners that... ICZM approach for local plans should be adopted also in absence of regional/national guidelines Discussion points Comparing with the PlanCoast Handbook messages: What has been confirmed Everything (but the below reported) What has not been confirmed Major importance to ICZM local approach New suggestions? (specific for my country, etc.) Put attention (and resources, both human and financial) on: data collection and management (GIS coordination at central, regional and local levels) general legal framework, aiming to integration between different government levels, inserting ICZM approach for all coastal regions planning tools.