Update #25: Trees for Lurë becomes Trees for Albania / March 24, 2025

2025 has become a year of incredible growth for us! For the past couple of years, we played with the idea of expanding beyond Lurë, dreaming of new tree nurseries and reforestation projects in other regions.

What started as a dream has now become a reality. Trees for Lurë is evolving into Trees for Albania, marking an exciting new chapter in our journey.

New name, new website

As we’re busy growing trees in Lurë and building a second nursery in Korçë, we are also working on our new website at https://treesforalbania.org!

We’re not moving - we’re growing

In Update #24, we shared the great news about our grant award from GreenAL, a project funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) with funds from the Swedish Government and implemented by Co-PLAN, Institute for Habitat Development in cooperation with VIS Albania and COSV—Cooperazione per lo Sviluppo.

We will be replicating the sustainable reforestation model we developed in Lurë-Dejës Mt. National Park at a second location, expanding our efforts to Korçë region as a start of creating a network that connects different regions and local communities across Albania.

This feels like a fresh start and as we now operate in two locations, we need a more fitting name. Therefore we began exploring alternative branding, knowing that, no matter the name or logo, our roots would always remain in Trees.

Joreld, the brains behind all our visual identity, came up with the new logo - maintaining key elements of the previous logo, such as the mountain peak and the water lily, while introducing some new elements like the letters T and A and, of course, the queen of our work - the Tree!

We are in love with our new logo and name, as for us, it is not about rebranding but about growth and improvement. It also means double the work and double the responsibilities, which is both scary and exciting!

We’ve already started scouting potential locations for the new tree nursery in Korçë (exploring options in Voskopojë, Vithkuq, and Lubonjë), introduced our project to the Mayor and representatives from the Municipality of Korçë, and received great feedback and support.

As we said, we are not moving, so we started our spring operations in Lurë already. As well as seed cleaning and stratification for spring planting in both nurseries.

What doesn’t change?

Growing trees - at this point, we are able to collect more seeds and grow more seedlings. Who can resist a baby tree grown in high altitudes?

Planting trees - planting trees is the grand finale of a year-long chain of activities, and we can’t resist the excitement of this final act.

The local community employment - we keep the same structure as in the past 5 years, offering seasonal employment to youth, women and men from both Lurë and Korçë villages.

Workshops with schools and NGOs - every time we host children or young people at the nursery or for planting trees, it feels like a celebration of a new friendship. Why would we change that?

What a year… and it’s only March!

As you can see, 2025 is on fire for us. Despite the challenges of the past year and a packed start to this one, the team is incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished so far and we feel energized for the new journey as Trees for Albania.

We must also thank GreenAL, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, and every long-term partner and individual donor who has supported us and allowed us to achieve everything you’ve just read about.

On behalf of the whole team,
Pavel