Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 17
Impact of Macroeconomic Changes
and Property Rights on Forest Degradation,
Land Use and Environmental Situation
in Albania
Fatbardh Sallaku, Odeta Tota, Bujar Huqi, Etleva Jojic,
Enkeleda Emiri, and Shkelqim Fortuzi
Abstract
Over the past 20 years Albania has moved from being a predominately
rural society to one in which the majority of population lives in urban areas. This
population movement fuelled the rapid urban development and at the same time led
to absentee landownership in rural areas. Albania has among the lowest amount of
agricultural land per capita (0.22 ha) in the region. Only 24% of Albania consists
of agricultural land, while 36% is forest, 16% is meadows and pastures and 24%
is unproductive land, as urban land and inland waterways. Environmental changes
are linked to land reform. Conversion of agricultural land to residential plots has
increased in Albania as a consequence of land privatization and decentralization.
The land reform in Albania was constructed at the national level. The decision of
the Albanian government to redistribute the land on a per capita basis was framed by
political and economic considerations. From a global perspective, the effects of for-
est degradation and forest-cover loss on biodiversity may be significant, as Albania
is located within the Mediterranean Basin that is recognized as a global biodiver-
sity hotspot in terms of endemic flora and fauna species. The loss of cropland and
forest cover in Albania indicates that the transition and the associated macroeco-
nomic recession led to dramatic changes in the landscape. The main objective of the
proposed chapter is to identify the relationship between land reforms, land tenure
and macroeconomic changes on forest degradation and land use and environmental
impact in Albania. The chapter provides a conceptual framework for understanding
the relationship between land tenure, property rights, land reform, environmental
impact as well as forest quality in Albania during the post-socialist period. A system
approach is used to describe land-use changes in Albania, addressing the complex
and dynamic nature of the relationships among the subject matter areas.
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