Minister of Tourism and Environment Mirela Kumbaro has been invited to the two-day international conference "Our Ocean" being held in Athens, where she presented Albania's model supported by sustainable development. Minister Kumbaro was a speaker on the panel dedicated to sustainable tourism and the blue economy, alongside her Greek counterpart Olga Kefalogianni and ministers of entrepreneurship from the tourism industry.
Kumbaro stated that Albania is a country that does not pollute globally and relies on 100% renewable energy, while building a sustainable tourism model. The Minister of Tourism and Environment focused on the Vjosa River model, protected as a National Park, where a project for cleaning and treating polluted waters discharged into it will soon commence.
"The Vjosa River, having its source here in Greece, from the Pindus Mountains, is not just a National Park, but an important symbol because Albania, as a small country, that pollutes no one, can create models and symbols. For small countries, the concept of sustainability is not a luxury but a way of life. And the challenge is: How do we protect the coexistence between nature, biodiversity, and people?
In Albania, with 21.5% of the protected area, people are part of ecosystems, so ecotourism and nature tourism are not just ways to generate income, to develop the economy, but to give people who have lived there for centuries an opportunity to live and not abandon that place. This is Albania with 2.8 million inhabitants that welcomed more than 10 million foreign tourists in 2023, promoting Protected Areas, biodiversity, distributing tourism throughout the country. We compete with no one, but share the same tourist map where sustainability will be our common flag," said Minister Kumbaro.
She reiterated that Albania focuses on water quality protection, not only with the project for treating polluted waters discharged into the Vjosa by 8 municipalities, but also with all measures that all coastal structures must implement to improve the quality of bathing waters, through the "EU4Rivers" project with the European Union and legislative initiatives that reduce single-use plastics, as was the case with the ban on single-use plastic bags and soon the adoption of the extended producer responsibility law.
The "Our Ocean" conference has brought together ministers and high-level politicians from around the world, with former US Secretary of State John Kerry as the honorary guest who greeted the event by speaking about common plans for effective management and protected marine areas.
The 9th edition of this conference taking place in Athens aims to highlight the central role that the Mediterranean plays in shaping the dialogue for ocean preservation. With the participation of states and non-governmental actors, this event aims to undertake concrete commitments to protect the health and safety of the ocean, stemming from the problematic areas discussed during the conference.
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