Forestry development in Albania – a travel report

An Albanian-Swedish meeting in Tirana 22–26 September 2008

Visiting/Travel report

This report has dual addresses, both Swedish and Albanian authorities. As will be seen in the following text Albania is now undergoing profound changes in ownership conditions of its forest resources and their management. The Swedish authorities are addressed for a plea of new or continued support to Albanian forestry. The Albanian authorities are addressed with suggestions of areas of collaboration, which might be of value in the development and implementation of measures under way as a result of the ongoing Nature Resource Development Project – NRDP. The suggested areas of collaboration will be of importance for Albania, both in the immediate future as well as in a long-term perspective.

The report is written in a way:

• that it gives a general background to the visit as well as to Albania and conditions in the country. This is in particular meant for readers with less insight into Albania (Chapters 1–4).

• that the Chapters 5–8 refer to the findings of the group. The findings are written with special consideration of those areas where Swedish experiences could be of value and used for the further development of forestry in Albania and in a future possible collaboration.

• that the findings are summarized in a priority list based on a comparison between Albanian suggestions and the findings of the group (Chapter 9).

• that there are conclusions and recommendations (Chapter 10).

This document was prepared by group members Folke Andersson (KSLA/SLU), Lennart Ackzell (LRF), Esbjörn Andersson (SLU), Bo Carlestål (KSLA) and Bo Thor (Skogsstyrelsen).