Costal Planning supported by Geo-Information:
the cse of the Southern Albanian Coastal Region

Ivica Trumbic

UNEP/MAP - Priority Actions Programme
Regional Activity Centre (HR)

Albania has more than 1,000 km of coastline. It exhibits two types of fairly different coasts: the very active Northern and Central Adriatic coasts, and a solid Southern Ionian Coast, which is typically the rocky one and largely resembling the Eastern Adriatic coasts of Croatia and Montenegro. The Albanian coast is the greatest national asset which attracts its population and activities. Furthermore, the coast is considered to be the most important resource upon which the future development of the country largely depends. The interplay between opportunities, driving forces and pressures is shaping the physiognomy of the Albanian coastal area today. The Southern Coastal region exhibits most of the features that could be found in the rest of the Albanian coast at present: fast development, uncontrolled construction, employment pressures, environmental problems, but also major economic opportunities.

The World Bank, one of the most important international institutional actors in Albania, has assembled multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder Integrated Coastal Zone Management and Clean-up Program (ICZMCP). The Integrated Coastal Development Study and Plan (ICD Study and Plan) carried out by PAP/RAC-SOGREAH Consortium is considered to be the strategic arm of the ICZMCP. It is based on the assessment of the socioeconomic potential of the Southern Coastal Region, and an evaluation of the sensitivity of its coastal, marine and terrestrial, ecosystems to accommodate the planned future development. It has three major phases. The Study, which is concerned with the analysis of the socio-economic and environmental situation in the area; an assessment of the development potentials in the area and an early projection of the future development trends; an analysis of the institutional response to coastal pressures and problems; and a proposed set of urgent measures that need to be taken. The Development Plan will develop a coastal development strategy and land-use planning proposals for the entire study area. In addition, 2-3 sites will be planned in more detail, particularly those where tourism development is expected in the future. The time horizon for the development study and plan is 10 years which will start at the time of its adoption by the Government. Finally, the Policy Action Plan will develop in more detail the most critical policy actions.

During the preparation of the Study and the Plan the most modern analytical techniques were used, notably the remote sensing images, on the basis of which an elaborate GIS database has been developed. It will, probably, be for the first time that this technique was used for such a concrete coastal planning project in Albania. All sectors relevant for the Southern Albanian Region were analyzed, and cross referencing and integration were carried out. Satellite images of the southern region, taken in April 2005, were acquired and processed, and a GIS database prepared. This database was an invaluable source of information, something that has never been done before in Albania for the purposes of land-use planning. This database has already been given to the responsible institution in Albania (National Institute for Urban Planning). It is expected that the GIS database will be used during the follow-up to this project.

The main physical and socio-economic characteristics and problems of the region will be presented. The use of satellite images for coastal planning and management will be elaborated in detail. It has to be pointed that the current level of planning and use of modern analytical techniques is relatively low. Therefore, the techniques used were sophisticated enough as to accommodate the level of current local knowledge.