Greece and Albania agree to turn the Vjosa River into a cross-border park

The vjosa river in the Albanian segment, 10 km before it flows into the Adriatic 

 The Albanian and Greek Ministries of the Environment have agreed to work together to create the first cross-border park of the "Vjosa" river that crosses both countries.

After a meeting of the Greek Minister of the Environment Kostas Skrekas with the Albanian Minister Mirela Kumbaro in Athens, was announced the creation of a cross-border committee to work in this direction.

The Regional Office of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced in October of last year the preparation on the Greek side of 4 studies on the best protection of the watershed of the "Vjosa" river and the promotion of cross-border cooperation for a cross-border Greece-Albania park.

 Map of the length of the vjosa river

The Albanian government, for its part, has recently committed to declaring within this year the course of the Vjosa river with its branches in the Albanian territory, a National Park.

Both on the Greek and Albanian sides, the concerns of environmental organizations are particularly related to projects for diverting the flow of the "Vjosa" river and projects for the construction of hydropower plants.

The "Vjosa" river has a length of about 272 km, of which 80 km in the Greek territory and about 192 km in the Albanian territory and is considered "the last wild river of Europe" due to the non-construction of hydraulic works in the course of the river.