Lurë-Dejës Mt. National Park is one of the most beautiful and wild national parks in Albania. Unfortunately, it suffered massive deforestation due to illegal logging and series of forest fires which decimated its forests.
Our mission is planting trees to help the Lurë National Park to recover from these unfortunate events. We aim to plant 7 500 trees by the end of 2022. We are working together with local community, Lurë National Park authorities (AdZM Dibër) and our partners to achieve our goal.
During our events and development projects (tree nursery, information centre, forest management), we connect and support local communities.
The Trees for Lurë is a joint project by FAR&FURTHER based in the Czech Republic and Scout Tirana 1 in Tirana, Albania.
OUR PARTNERS
We hope the Trees for Lurë project will last for many years and brings not only trees back to Lurë but also new visitors who will enjoy the Lurë National Park. For quick, one page summary of our efforts this year check our 2021 Master plan as well as our Project Map.
Our activites not only help to recover the decimated population of endangered Balkan pine but also boost rural and economic development in the area, especially for people living in the villages within the Lurë National Park. Recovery of forests in the Lurë Nation Park is not a trivial task to execute, the damaged area has almost 500ha and is situated in difficult terrain. We are working together with local community and especially with the Lurë National Park authorities (AdZM Dibër) to coordinate our efforts.
Activities
Re-planting mixed coniferous forest in Lurë is crucial to the recovery of its ecosystem. Suitable native spieces include Pinus peuce, Abies alba, Pinus nigra and Fagus sylvatica. Trees also provide protection of the land from erosion and forest fires which are a serious problem at the moment.
Cleaning up old trees that have been left behind since the time of logging needs to be done before young trees can be planted. Old wood also poses a fire hazard as it is dry. At the moment no wood can leave national park boundaries to ensure the protection against logging.
Setting up a tree nursery would be hugely beneficial. At the moment sourcing young trees is both logistical and economical problem. It would also provide a connection with the local community as well as generate income for caretakers.
Rural and economic development in the Lurë National Park has enormous potential due to its tourist appeal. We work with the local community to execute our projects and aim to generate additional income streams from our activities such as cleanup and tree nursery.
Schedule
2021: 23th - 31st October
2 500
Our main event is scheduled for the end of October. We are planting 2 500 trees in the vicinity of the Borie-Lurë and use seeds at Liqeni i Zi.
Our goals
- Plant 2 500 trees in the A13 area (Borie-Lurë) are on our project map
- Test planting with seed in areas A1, A2 (Liqeni i Zi)
- Planning and scouting for 2022 events and tree nursery location
2022: Summer & Autumn
5 000
We learned a lot in 2021 and the 2022 will be all about putting that experience into practice. We try to double the number of trees we plant and start work on the Trees for Lurë tree nursery.
Our goals
- Plant additional 5 000 trees in the A13 (Borie-Lurë) and A7 area (Liqeni i Luleve, if suitable saplings can be acquired)
- Continue planting with seeds if evaluation of the A1,A2 areas is positive
- Prepare a project and start building the Trees for Lurë tree nursery in the Lurë National Park
- Inspection, maintenance and care for trees planted in 2021
DONATE
Planting trees costs money (and surprisingly a lot) despite the trees grow for free, you just have to plant them first!
We can plant one tree for as little €2. That's like one beer!?
Your donations are only used to buy trees, transport them to Lurë National Park, pay for tools, food and logistics to organise planting events.
VOLUNTEER
If you want to get your hands dirty, don't mind cold, snow or mud we welcome you with open arms, a tree and a shovel.
Trees won't plant themselves, especially not thousands of them.
We are looking for volunteers who could spare a few days. So if you want to plant trees, help with promotion, social media or anything else give us a shout.
OUR PARTNERS
Scout Tirana 1, Albania
Is covering everything related to camping logistics, organisation, food, tents and kitchen utensils & good scout spirit!
PhD Arch. Elvan Dajko, Albania
Is financially supporting the project.
THE TEAM
Pavel Kunc / FAR&FURTHER
IT, Management & Finance
Pavel manages the project, works on the IT support and handles finances, making sure we can execute our plans.
Dorjan Bulku / FAR&FURTHER
Coordinator for Albania, Fundraising
Dorjan is the primary contact in Albania, he is fundraising and looking for partners making sure we have money for trees.
Mirjana Pali / Scout Tirana 1
Events coordinator, Translations
Mirjana is handling the logistics as a team leader of Scout Tirana 1. She is translating the website into Albanian.
Florian Rizvanolli / Scout Tirana 1
Events coordinator
Florian is handling the general program of our events in Lurë, as well as curating the event's social networks.
Olgerta Puta / Scout Tirana 1
Finance, Accounting, Law
Gerta manages our finances and consults us on the Albanian law.
External consultants
Nazmi Ajazi / Independent
Forestry expert
Nazmi provides guidance and oversight of the tree planting, making sure trees are planted correctly.