Albania's National Forest & Pasture Environmental Services Programme

Albania's Environmental Services Project (2014-2021) built on the 1996-2003 Albania Forestry Project and the 2005 Natural Resources Development Project, transferring forest and pasture user rights to municipalities and financing the Ministry of Tourism and Environment's roll-out of participatory management. The project was backed by an $8.34 million IBRD loan, a $2.88 million Global Environment Facility grant, and $9.66 million in Swedish (Sida) trust-fund financing, around $20.9 million in total. A further EUR7 million in follow-on funding (2022-2027) via the IPARD-III programme is continuing the underlying model.

The programme aimed to shift management of Albania's upland forests and pastures from unmanaged or informally used land to participatory, community-based stewardship by rural user associations. It sought to reduce erosion, improve silviculture and livestock water infrastructure, and generate carbon and ecosystem-service benefits, while working toward a formal national framework for ecosystem-service payments.

The programme funded 153 grants for erosion-control works, including check dams covering 1,133 hectares, alongside silviculture on 5,580 hectares and livestock water-point improvements on 3,325 hectares. It supported 229 rural upland communities, representing 85% of the country's forest and pasture user associations, in developing management plans covering 191,066 hectares. Direct labour payments were made to 3,858 people, including 1,058 women, for implementation work.

229 communities now sustainably manage 12,320 hectares of forest and pasture, and the World Bank estimates the interventions will avoid roughly 811,262 tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions over 20 years. Female participation on forestry boards rose from 31% to 50%, and GEF and World Bank sources report about 400,000 tons of erosion reduced. As of 2023, a formal government decree establishing rules for ecosystem-service benefits, compensation and payments was still awaiting endorsement by the Council of Ministers.

The programme demonstrates a workable model for transferring forest and pasture stewardship to communities with measurable erosion, carbon and livelihood outcomes, but Albania's shift from donor-funded grants and labour payments to a codified national payment-for-ecosystem-services law remained incomplete as of 2023. Continued IPARD-III financing (2022-2027) is sustaining the underlying model while the legal framework is finalized.