First report of environmental assessment of Tirana River

First report of environmental assessment of Tirana River (at Bregu Lumit) released by the project - Constructed Wetland for Nutrient Reductions in the Waters of Tirana River.

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About the project:

Overview:

The Institute for Environmental Policy (IEP), in partnership with Ekolëvizja and Tirana Municipality has started and is managing the “Constructed Wetland for Nutrient Reductions in the Waters of Tirana River in Albania” project. The project will reduce the nutrients that flow in Tirana River through a canal, by building a wetland which would capture, degrade, and process the excessive nutrients; the capture and processing of such nutrients will be done by the plants and bacteria of the constructed wetland, the wetland will also serve as a place where excess carbon is stored in plants.

This is the first project on nutrient reduction in Albania, a pilot project that will be disseminated in order to replicate it in many polluted rivers and streams in Albania.

Objectives:

The project aims at:

• reduction of the organic pollution in the lower course of Tirana River through the construction of a wetland that will serve as a biofilter for the polluted waters of Tirana River;
• creation of a wetland that will increase the biodiversity in Tirana River, attract different wetland species, and serve as a recreational place for inhabitants of the area and environmentalists;
• implementation for the first time in Albania of a nutrient and pollution reduction project, which will serve as a pilot project for other similar project in other polluted streams and rivers, or even used by small municipalities to treat their waste waters.
• dissemination and awareness raising on the nutrient reduction need and its benefits, and on practices that decrease the nutrients flow to the rivers and watercourses.

Activities:

The first phase of the project involves planning of constructred wetland, water analysis, and the first environmental assessment of the area where the constructed wetland is planned to be built.

The second phase of the project consists in building a constructed wetland at Bregu i Lumit, a location near the northern border of Tirana.

Upon completion of the wetland, IEP will organize a series of dissemination and awareness raising activities, in order to promote and replicate the project in Albania and the region. NGO leaders and government officials from the neighboring countries will be invited to come and see the project and attend the conference where the conclusions and the benefits of this project will be presented to the participants with the aim of promoting the project in other countries besides Albania.

A series of workshops will be organized with the local community that lives around the river, where there will be presentations and information on the project, benefits arising from the project, discussions with the participants in order to disseminate and get the support from the public on the constructed wetland and the nutrient reduction importance for the environment and the society.

Project leader: Mr. Edvin Pacara

Partners: Ekolëvizja, Tirana Municipality

Funding: Living Water Exchange Program, GETF on behalf of GEF/UNDP

Above article from: http://iep-al.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=84:constructed-wetland-for-nutrient-reductions-in-the-waters-of-tirana-river&catid=40