Newsletters
Bulldozers clearing land for a vast luxury resort tied to the Trump family have already inflicted irreparable environmental harm on one of Albania's last unspoiled stretches of coastline, scientists and activists warn, as weeks of mass demonstrations have drawn tear gas from police and thrust the small Balkan nation into international focus.
Satellite images obtained by AFP show that within a 25-day window in May alone, a road was carved through the area, an entire zone stripped of its tree cover, and a bridge erected over the channel connecting the Narta lagoon to the sea.
Scientists who visited the site in mid-June documented damage to loggerhead turtle nesting grounds, bird habitats and coastal dunes.
Marine biologist Olsi Nika, who leads the environmental NGO EcoAlbania, described the toll as "an absolute biodiversity massacre."
The 4.5 billion-euro ($5.1 billion) project, first proposed in 2024 by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, envisions luxury hotels built among flamingo colonies and on an uninhabited island.
Ivanka Trump, speaking on a podcast, described the site as encompassing not only the island but "five miles of beach front directly across from the island with a beautiful peninsula with a lagoon on one side, the ocean on the other."
The ecological stakes at the Narta lagoon are considerable. Loggerhead sea turtles, a species listed as threatened with extinction, nest along the beaches now being graded by heavy machinery.
Access roads punched through coastal dunes have disturbed nesting grounds for numerous bird species, while construction activity on the channel linking the lagoon to the Adriatic has severely disrupted the water flows that sustain the broader wetland ecosystem.
Ferdinand Bego, a professor at the University of Tirana who has assessed the site, said the harm inflicted well before any formal construction began is "largely irreparable."
Friedrich Schiemer, a professor from the University of Vienna who also visited in June, called for urgent action to limit further degradation, warning that large-scale tourism development there "could irreparably compromise its natural integrity."
Public anger ignited roughly six weeks ago when barbed wire appeared to demarcate the planned complex's perimeter.
Private security guards moved to suppress an early protest, triggering a cascading series of demonstrations that have since grown into nightly gatherings estimated by AFP journalists at thousands of participants.
No official crowd counts have been released.
The unrest reached a flashpoint on Thursday morning when Albanian police deployed tear gas and water cannon against demonstrators attempting to push through security cordons outside parliament in Tirana.
In recent weeks protesters have also hurled eggs at lawmakers during clashes near the building.
The protests have broadened beyond the resort itself, channeling wider public frustration over perceived government corruption and a lack of transparency.
Adding to the anger, parliament was expected Thursday to approve a 4 million euro ($4.6 million) public subsidy for a Kanye West concert held in Tirana earlier this month, a payment Prime Minister Edi Rama said was needed to prevent the event's cancellation.
Rama, whose government has held power for 13 years, has stood firmly behind the development, branding it "Europe's finest project" and arguing it will help Albania compete with coastal neighbors Montenegro, Greece and Croatia by drawing international investment and creating employment.
Daily demonstrations have succeeded in halting some work, but the project has attracted scrutiny from well beyond Albania's borders.
British pop star Dua Lipa, who is of Kosovar origin, has voiced public support for the protesters.
The European Union, which Albania hopes to join by 2030, has also weighed in.
Marta Kos, the European Commissioner for Enlargement, said in July that the bloc had already reached agreement with Albania this year on repealing 2024 amendments to the law on protected areas and scrapping a separate law on strategic investments, both linked to concerns under Chapter 27 of the EU accession framework, which covers environment and climate obligations.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
1 min read
