Update #18: 10,081 planted in Autumn 2023 / December 15, 2023

For 2023, we set high goals for ourselves: another 10,000 trees to plant and expand our tree nursery. It was not easy, but thanks to our team’s dedication, supporters and new partners, we achieved all our goals and more.

The year began not with reforestation but with the expansion of our tree nursery in the early spring of 2023. The nursery is crucial for the sustainable production of saplings locally in Fushë-Lurë, providing trees grown from local seeds and adapted to the local climate.

We have been working with the AKZM and AdZM Dibër on the 2023 planting proposal (location, tree species, methods). During summer, we obtained permission for our planting operation.

2023 planting area

The planting area for 2023 is close to the previous planting areas. It also suffered damage due to a forest fire in the past.

The area is significantly steeper than the last areas and features a stream (with rocky slopes) passing from top to bottom. The total area of the allocated zone is 14.72 ha. However, due to existing vegetation and terrain constraints, only around 9 ha is available for reforestation, out of which we managed to plant 10,081 trees in the area of 6.38ha.

10,081 trees planted

We executed the planting operation in two phases, and this year, we managed to plant 10,081 trees within two weeks instead of the four weeks it took in 2022.

We prepared the area by digging holes during the first week, and the team planted trees in the second week.

Unpredictable weather (rain, snow) caused the planting operation to be delayed by a week and put time constraints on the team as the temperatures dropped quickly.

Of 10,081 trees, 1,081 came from our nursery, and we purchased the remaining 9,000 trees from Fidanishte Xhepi Sh.p.k. in Fushë-Krujë.

We planted the first trees from our nursery

This year was special for us as we planted the first 1,081 trees from our tree nursery, a huge milestone for the project.

The saplings planted this year were grown from seeds collected in 2021 and planted in the nursery in the Spring of 2022. Saplings from the nursery are smaller than commercially available ones but have a massive advantage in acclimatisation to the local climate.

We planted these trees in a separate planting area, allowing us to monitor and evaluate the survival and growth rates easily.

Record number of local workers

We were pleased with ever increasing interest from the local community to work with us.

During our first planting operation in 2021, we had 6 workers, and 35 joined us this year. This huge increase has various reasons. However, the main one is that the project has gained the local community’s trust by operating consistently and transparently for the 3rd year.

During our planting operation, we provide equal opportunity for seasonal work to men, women and youth. At the end of each planting day, we pay salaries based on the amount of work done by each worker.

After three years of working with the local community, we have a well-trained, stable team of workers who work with us yearly (which also grows annually), with additional people joining us based on availability.

This primary factor allows us to finish the planting operation within two weeks.

Bringing schools and students

This year, we introduced a new way to involve schools with kids from the village of Lurë and around Albania.

The main scope was to have educational activities during the planting season as an additional program to the project. We had an opportunity to show the kids the whole process, from the seeds - to saplings in the nursery - to planting trees in the National Park. We managed to have three separate events with three different schools. Read more, in Update #17.

The interest from schools was higher, but due to the rainy weather during the first days of November, we had to put many on the waiting list.

On behalf of the whole team,
Pavel