Free-flowing rivers and protected area governance in Albania

The year highlighted that achieving this target requires more than formal designation: it depends on effective management, precautionary decision-making and governance systems able to withstand development pressures.

The Vjosa River National Park continued to develop as a flagship protected area for free-flowing river conservation. IUCN provided technical input to park development processes, with a focus on maintaining ecological continuity along the river and its tributaries. A key contribution was a mitigation study related to the Albanian Rural Water Supply IV Project (Lot 1), which assessed potential ecological risks of water abstraction within the park. The findings emphasised the importance of considering alternative water sources outside the protected area to ensure compatibility with the park’s conservation objectives.

An important milestone in 2025 was the launch of the IUCN Green List process in Albania, in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment (formerly the Ministry of Tourism and Environment) and the National Agency of Protected Areas. The Green List provides a structured framework for assessing management effectiveness, governance equity and long-term resilience of protected areas, directly supporting national implementation of GBF Target 3. For selected national parks, including the Vjosa River, it offers a pathway to align management planning with internationally recognised standards. Following participation in two dedicated workshops, an introductory session in Tirana and a more advanced training for site managers held in Permet, all five participating sites successfully completed the first step of the process and submitted their applications for the Green List Application Phase. 

Albania’s river conservation experience was also shared internationally through the participation of a Vjosa delegation at the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025. Their engagement contributed to global discussions on freshwater governance and protected area effectiveness, while reinforcing the international significance of the Vjosa as a free-flowing river system. As part of the programme, the delegation joined the session launching the Green List Self-Assessment Tool (GL-SAT), which supports sites and management authorities in evaluating progress against the IUCN Green List Standard, helping countries and conservation actors advance GBF Target 3 through practical and measurable actions.

Progress continued in December through a Management Plan Workshop held in Gjirokastra, bringing together Vjosa River National Park staff, IUCN experts and external specialists. The workshop focused on operationalising the park’s Management Plan and developing a draft Operational Workplan for 2026, marking a practical step toward effective protected area management on the ground.