Second Environmental Performance Review of Albania

54 Part I: Policymaking, planning and implementationCooperation on civil protection is an important aspectof subregional environmental cooperation. BothAlbanian law on civil emergencies and the nationalcivil emergency plan include provisions forinternational cooperation. The nature of thiscooperation includes professional capacity-building,the training of personnel and exchange of experts, theestablishment of regional centres for the preparationand development of assistance operations, and dataharmonization. The Civil Emergency Service hassigned cooperation agreements with the CivilProtection Department of Italy and the Fire-fightingService of Greece, and similar agreements areunderway with other countries such as Austria,Croatia, Montenegro and the former YugoslavRepublic of Macedonia.Environment and Security InitiativeENVSEC is working towards improving regionalcooperation for the management of risk frompollution hotspots. Since 2006, ENVSEC partnershave focused on programmes and projectscontributing to reducing environmental and securityrisks from mining in SEE by providing in-depth riskassessments for decision-makers, identifyingpotential hotspots and recommending prioritymeasures for mitigation and risk management atnational and regional levels. The ongoing projectManagement and Reduction of Transboundary Risksfrom Hazardous Activities aims at prevention andmitigation of transboundary environmental risksarising from hazardous pollution hotspots.Remediation work implemented with support fromUNEP and UNDP in the project framework resultedin improved safety at two non-active mining sites inReps and Rrëshen in Albania.Another project, Ensuring Public Participation inEnvironmental Impact Assessments in Albania, ledby OSCE, supported the Government of Albania incomplying more fully with its obligations under theAarhus and Espoo conventions.4.4 Multilateral environmental agreementsBiodiversity protection and natureconservationAlbania is a party to main MEAs related tobiodiversity and nature conservation. MoEFWA isthe designated competent authority for most of theseagreements. Focal points for all biodiversity-relatedMEAs are within the MoEFWA’s Directorate ofBiodiversity. This contributes to more coherentmanagement of biodiversity-related MEAs and tobuilding synergies among them. The countryparticipates in the conferences and meetings of theParties and regularly prepares nationalimplementation reports. The national legalframework incorporates most of the obligationsderiving from the ratified MEAs.MoEFWA has prepared four national reports to theConvention on Biological Diversity (CBD). TheNBSAP was approved in 2000. It remains the mainpolicy document on nature and biodiversityprotection, covering the period 2000-2015. Many ofits recommendations have been implemented, notablythe increase in protected areas coverage andmodernization of the legal framework. However,implementation needs considerable improvement.Illegal logging and hunting and unauthorizedconstruction in nature reserves remain significantconcerns. An effective monitoring and informationsystem has yet to be developed. In line with theCBD’s Strategic Plan for Biodiversity for the period2011-2020, Albania intends to revise and update theNBSAP. Future plans for fulfilling the Convention’sobligations, as identified by the country’s lastnational report to CBD, include: (i) increasingprotected areas coverage to 17 per cent in 2013, (ii)developing and implementing management plans forprotected areas and action plans for globallythreatened and endemic species, (iii) implementingnew legal provisions concerning biodiversitymonitoring, (iv) implementing the Emerald networkof the Areas of Special Conservation Interest(ASCIs) in preparation for Natura 2000. These aregoing to be challenging tasks given the considerableamount of financing required.In 2004, Albania adhered to the Cartagena Protocolon Biosafety to the CBD and is taking first steps increating a functional legal and institutionalframework for its implementation. Within theUNEP/Global Environmental Facility (GEF) projectDevelopment of a National Biosafety Framework forAlbania for the period 2005-2008, an interim nationalreport on the implementation of the CartagenaProtocol was prepared in 2005. The project alsoassisted in developing the draft law on biosafety toregulate the management of genetically modifiedorganisms (GMOs) and to define preventivemeasures to reduce potentially adverse effects, whichcan occur during their use, intentional exposure in theenvironment and introduction into the market. TheNational Plan for the Implementation of the SAAdefines GMO management as a priority area. TheGovernment has assigned competent authorities onGMO management: MoAFCP for crops, foodstuffsand marketing; MoEFWA for introduction into theenvironment; MoH for micro-organisms in sealedcontainers and impact on human health; and MoES