Albania is proud of its long coasts, lagoons and unique biodiversity. But about one-third of the approximately 430-kilometer-long coastline is affected by erosion.
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00:00 Albania's lagoons in the north of the country seem like paradise.
00:06 Damus Cesja comes here to work.
00:08 He's been a fisherman for 40 years in Kuna Vajn,
00:11 but the fish population has started to decline, he says.
00:15 Since the moment this crab entered the lagoon,
00:20 there have been fewer fish, fewer eels.
00:22 From one year to the next, we catch less.
00:25 This lagoon was amazing in the past.
00:27 You could catch thousands of kilos of fish of all kinds.
00:31 Only this small strip of land separates the Adriatic Sea from the lagoon.
00:40 The sea level is rising, allowing more blue crabs to enter the lagoon.
00:45 They are replacing the natural fish population, Yak Gini says.
00:50 He's an environmentalist in the region and observes biodiversity.
00:56 Over there is the Adriatic Sea, and this is the lagoon.
01:00 The land in between the two is shrinking, he says, due to climate change.
01:06 We have more maritime storms, erosion, high temperatures, floods.
01:12 All of this has been affecting the lagoon.
01:15 The sea will swallow more than the lagoon, Yak Gini says,
01:20 if there is no governmental intervention.
01:23 Albania's coast also will keep shrinking.
01:26 An estimated one-third of the country's coastline is already affected by erosion.
01:31 This bunker was built during the communist era, four decades ago.
01:36 Back then, it used to be at least 40 meters away from the seashore.
01:40 Many of these bunkers are already underwater.
01:44 Others are close to being immersed by the sea.
01:47 And there is less beach for tourists to enjoy as the sea advances inland.
01:53 Last year we had more umbrellas.
01:56 This year we have one row less.
01:59 Who knows what happens next year, maybe we will lose another row.
02:03 New hotels are also being built, locals fear the construction will speed up erosion.
02:10 Fatih Onoka is concerned this restaurant, built by his father in the late 1990s,
02:16 will disappear into the sea.
02:19 The landscape here used to be different.
02:22 Dense woodlands, pine trees, as his private footage dating back to 2005 shows.
02:28 The locals from the village used to come here.
02:34 Back then everything was green.
02:36 It was like a forest, like the Amazon.
02:39 But now you can see for yourself.
02:45 Not much is left from that time.
02:49 Most of the trees are gone, taken by the sea and by people,
02:53 local villagers who illegally cut them down.
02:56 Fewer tourists come here to visit, which means less revenue for his restaurant.
03:02 My entire family has invested all the money here in the business.
03:09 And we are very sad about what's happening,
03:12 because it's our life's investment at stake.
03:15 The Albanian government should be doing much more to stop erosion, he says.
03:24 We are headed to the capital, Tirana.
03:28 In the environmental ministry we meet Klodiana Marika.
03:31 She is tasked with coastal conservation.
03:34 What we suffer is the implementation, the lack of the financial resources,
03:39 and also of the human resources.
03:42 Because when we are talking about the financial resources,
03:46 this is also linked with the human resources that are needed to work on the implementation process.
03:54 Less than 1% of the national budget is set aside for environmental protection, she says,
04:01 and estimates Albania would need to spend 30 times as much money
04:06 that the impoverished country lacks.
04:09 Back in the lagoon Kunevain,
04:12 the existential threat is growing for people who make their living here.
04:17 This lagoon already gave first signs years ago,
04:27 but we did not take it seriously that everything here is coming to an end.
04:33 We need to degrade it.
04:35 Dimouche says the times when he pulled in kilo after kilo of fish are long gone.
04:42 More and more fishermen are quitting.
04:45 Blue crab, that's the only thing now abundant here.
04:49 (water bubbling)