Second Environmental Performance Review of Albania

170(b) All municipalities, under the supervision of the National Council for Territorial Development, shouldurgently draw up spatial plans for land use, beginning with the rural municipalities located around largecities (Durrës, Tirana) which are subject to intense pressure from urbanization, in order to save the goodagricultural land in these regions. After public hearings, those plans must be implemented very quickly.There is no information on the implementation of this recommendation. Territorial adjustment is theresponsibility of the National Council of Territorial Adjustment which analyses and approves plans forterritorial development. There are such development plans for Tirana and Durrës.(a) The National Territorial Council (NTC), established by the provisions of the 2009 Law On TerritoryPlanning, No. 10119, is the decision-making body responsible for the approval of national instrumentsof territorial planning, according to the this Law.According to the provisions of the Law On Territory Planning, the Council of Ministers should start thepreparation a National Master Plan, no later than six months after the entry into force of the Law andshould approve it no later than two years after the commencement of the full effects of the Law.Other structures established by other laws also contribute in this field. One is the State Committee onSoil Protection, established with the implementation of the 2004 Law On the Protection of AgricultureLand, No. 9244. Under the chairmanship of the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Protection(MAFCP), this inter-ministerial body has the following duties and responsibilities: to coordinate thework of the MAFCP, the MoEFWA and other institutions, as well as of LGUs in charge of theimplementation of this Law regarding soil protection, for all activities that are carried out on agricultureland, are related to it and impact on agriculture land protection.(b) Under the provisions of the Law On Territory Planning, NTC promotes the elaboration of national andlocal territorial plans by relevant planning authorities and ensures that they fullfil technical andprocedural standards established in the Law. In terms of implementation of the law, local authoritiesshould start the preparation of local master plans and also start the elaboration of land use plans thatwill enter into force after their approval by NTC.Recommendation 10.3:The Ministry of Agriculture and Food should promote sustainable management measures for wildlife protection and for pastures, including a moratorium on the use of systematic fertilization and weed-control chemicals.There is no information on the implementation of this recommendation. This is the responsibility of MoEFWA.In recent years restrictions on some services, including the use of fertilizers and of weed chemicals, haveindirectly contributed to pasturs preservation.MoEFWA aims to allow pastures to be rented on a multi-annual basis in order to create pasture growth forlivestock farming. The Law On Pasture Management determines measures and rules for the well-being ofpastures in such cases.Recommendation 10. 4:(a) The Ministry of Agriculture and Food, through the Soil Science Institute, should collect and aggregate in amanner useful for decision makers all existing information about soil erosion and past soil pollution bymining and other industries so as to determine sound land use on the national level. Particular attentionshould be given to areas at high risk;(b) The Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food should jointly finalize the draft lawon soil protection and submit it to Parliament for adoption;(c) The Ministry of Environment, in cooperation with line ministries and National Council for TerritorialPlanning, should develop a strategy and action plan to combat soil erosion.There is no information on the implementation of this recommendation. Prevention of soil erosion is anobjective of the Intersectoral Rural Development Strategy (ISRDS) 2007-2013. Soil erosion measurements are