Albania

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Date :24-09-2006

Warm fires, gracious hospitality, and stunning nature are just a few of the things tourists can expect on a visit to Theth, a remote mountain village in the Shkodra region in northern Albania – and a national park.  The surrounding mountains are full of hiking trails and natural beauty. Theth valley is truly a land of plenty, rich enough to sustain residents with livelihoods, where the grapes hang heavily off the vines, blackberry bushes pepper the trails, and fresh mountain streams provide fish and nurture the land. 

 

The Global Environment Facility’s Small Grants Programme (SGP) has teamed up with the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) to promote small-scale tourism development in Theth. This partnership is providing initial funds to seven households for structural renovations that will allow the buildings to operate as guesthouses. 

 

On 23-24 September 2006, the village hosted a roundtable discussion with GTZ, SGP, other potential donors, and residents of the community. Also in attendance were architecture and tourism students from the universities of Shkodra, Albania, and Hamburg, Germany. The students performed assessments on the seven selected homesteads and how to improve the tourist experience. These assessments resulted in recommendations such as ensuring that guest rooms are decorated in the traditional style; that the family’s living quarters are separate from the guests’; and that if larger groups are visiting together, they will be able to stay in close proximity to one other.

 

Villagers are eager for sustainable improvements, and understand that tourism development must be approached with gradual changes, such as signage and improvements to guest lodgings. They are also concerned about their quality of life, and the impact that the local infrastructure will have on tourism development, specifically the erratic supply of hydroelectricity, which is managed locally.

 

Despite the challenges to tourism development in Theth, the potential is enormous. Residents young and old can benefit from increased tourism by becoming local tour guides, while others can produce and sell traditional handicrafts as souvenirs. The hospitality is unsurpassed in Theth, with families offering fresh meals in front of a fireplace, on sheepskin rugs, with fresh food from the farm – cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, honey, cornbread, onions, and fresh trout from the river – all washed down with home made wine and raki.  The villagers are generous in spirit and ready to welcome visitors from near and far.

 

Development facts for Theth

 

When citizens and local governments prioritized their development needs in the Shkodra Millennium Development Goals Regional Report of 2004, they pinpointed the need for a reliable power supply,  (for Theth, the investment needed for the power supply is approximately $50,000); development of road infrastructure; and management of natural and tourism resources. Theth Park is one of two protected areas in Shkodra, and covers 2,630 hectares, distinguished for diverse habitats, plants and animal species, and for beach, chestnut, pine, and fir forests, alpine meadows, and mountain springs. Protected species within Theth include the brown bear, wolf, lynx, wild boar, and eagle.

 

More photos from Theth.

 

GTZ’s current projects in Albania focus on economic reform. The main aim is to enhance the competitiveness of the Albanian economy and more in line with EU standards. Supplementary employment promotion measures, particularly in rural regions, help to reduce poverty and improve living standards.

 

For more information, contact Ismail Beka, GTZ Programme Manager

E-mail: ismail.beka@gtz.de

 

The GEF Small Grants provides financial and technical support to projects that conserve and restore the natural world while enhancing well-being and livelihoods. Grants are made directly to non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations in recognition of the key role they play as a resource and constituency for environmental and development concerns. The Small Grants Programme sees itself as forerunner and complementary to larger GEF environmental projects.

 

In Albania, Small Grants has been funding a broad spectrum of projects in most GEF focal areas. The project portfolio of this programme is diverse, consisting of sage cultivation, monitoring marine turtles, protecting a rare breed of cow in Prespa, a geothermal greenhouse project, and some small-scale eco-tourism, among many others.

 

For more information, contact Arian Gace, Small Grants Programme Manager

E-mail: arian.gace@undp.org