enhancing tenure security in albanian forest land
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ILC-NACFP:-Final Report on Enhancing Tenure Security on Communal Forest and Pastures in Albania
Financed byEnhancing Tenure Security Through Support the Communities
to Improve the Laws on Transfer of State Public Property
(Forest and Pasture) to the Communes
FINAL REPORT
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ILC-NACFP:-Final Report on Enhancing Tenure Security on Communal Forest and Pastures in Albania
Acknowledgements and Working Team
Acknowledgements
There are too many people to mention here, whose kindness and help provedso crucial in the completion of this work.The preparation of this Report wouldnot have been possible without the strong support given to the consultantsnot only by the project experts and staff but alsow by SNV Tirana, Dibra andKorca offices, Communal Forest and Pasture Regional Federation of Kukesi,
Puka, Elbasani and Dibra, FPUA-s of selected communes and regions, DFS,DFPP and other Government Institutions, to Mr. Rexhep Uka, Idriz Xhumara,Rahim Kaleci, members of parliament for they very good support andparticipation on the activities of project implementations,
At the International Land Coalition (ILC) Bruce More and his fine staff wereextremely welcoming and helpful, especially Annalisa Mauro BarbaraCodispoti, Hedwige Croquette and Stefano Di Gessa.ILC-s staffs energy,insights and warmth were outstanding. For Albanian NACFP this cooperationis a good preparatory step to apply for being member of ILC and an opendoor for more cooperation in the near future,
Working team:
Mr.Thimaq Lako
Mr. Abdulla Diku
Mr. Rexhep Ndreu
Mr. Pashk Prendi
Mr. Trifon Cfarku
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CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1. S ETTING THE SCENE
1. INTRODUCTION
2. COMMUNES: THE BASIC ADMINISTRATIVE UNIT OF COMUNAL FORESTRY
3. PROJECT DESCRIPTION
CHAPTER 2. METHODOLOGY
1. CHOICE OF THE REGIONS
2. MAJOR ASPECTS OF THE METHODOLOGY
3. STEPS FOLLOWED
3.1. Review of the existing literature, reports and materials
3.2. Field surveys and establishment of contact with local people and
representatives.
3.3. Preparations, sending out and evaluation of questionnaires
3.4. Building the local structures for project implementation (Commune and
village commissions)
3.5. Data collection
3.6. Demarcation of boundaries at village forest
3.7. Certification of users of forest and pastures4. LOBBING AND ADVOCACY
5. SCHEDULE OF PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
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1.2. Government and relevant sector policy(ies)
1.2.1. Legislature
1.2.2. Judiciary
1.2.3. Administration
1.3. Land tenure policy(ies)
1.4. The current status of land tenure
1.4.1. The status of inventory and transfer of state properties
1.4.2. Unresolved policy issues
1.4.3. Restitution of property rights to former owners1.4.4. Taxation of land and property
1.4.5. Rural land administration
1.5. Progress on land reform in Albania
1.5.1. Rural land and property reform policies
1.5.2. Refused agricultural lands
1.5.3. Pastures and meadows
1.5.4. Forests1.5.5. Transfer of communal forests and pastures
1.5.6. Protected Areas
1.5.7. Village lands and properties
1.5.8. Rural poverty and Land Holding
1.5.9. Inventory and transfer of state properties
1.6. Communal forestry [(from the top to the bottom: Ministry, DFS,Communes, Villages (fshati), Neighborhood (mehalla), Clan (fisi), Household
(shpija)]2 HISTORICAL AND CURRENT MODES: SHARED AND ASSIGNED ACCESS TO
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2 .2.4. From study to implementation: Transfer of forest and pasture
process
2.3. Transfer of State Forest and Pastures of Bazi Commune (District of Mat)
2 .3.1. Geographical position
2 .3.2. History and tradition
2 .3.3. Bazihouseholds structure2.3.4. From study to implementation: The process of transfer of forest and
pastures 2.4. Transfer of State Forest and Pastures of Gore Commune (District of
Korca)2.4.1. Geographical position2.4.2. History and tradition2.4.3. Gore households structure2.4.4. From study to implementation: The process of transfer of forest and
pastures
CHAPTER 4. COMMUNAL FOREST: RELEVANCE AND SUSTAINABILITY1. FROM CONFLICT TO COLLABORATION
2. THE VILLAGERS PERSPECTIVE
3. THE ALLOCATION OF FOREST AND PASTURE RESOURCES
4. EXISTING INFORMAL TYPES OF OWNERSHIP
5. CUSTOMARY LAND RIGHT AND NEW LEGAL PROMISES
6. FOREST REVENUE AND FEES
7. THE FOREST TRANSFER: AN IRREVERSIBLE PROCESS
CHAPTER 5. LOBING AND ADVOCACY
1. NACFP LOBBING ON LAND TENURE SECURITY
1.1. Chronology of Activities on Advocacy and Lobbying
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LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix 1 : For the creation of the Commission of Forests and Pastures of theVillage (Template document)
Appendix 2 : For establishing the communes commission for forests andpastures
Appendix 3: Approval of activities for transferring communal forests and pasturesin use of the village (Template document)
Appendix 4: Certificate of users right (Template document
)
Appendix 5. For Settling the Boundaries of Forests and Pastures for the Village
(Template document
)
Appendix 6: Sketch of a parcel division with the users names and signatures
Appendix 7: Population, Households structure, Agricultural land, and theLivestock structure in the commune of Blerimi
Appendix 8: Population, Households structure, Agricultural land, and the Livestock
structure in the commune of Stebleva
Appendix 9: Population, Households structure, Agricultural land, and theLivestock structure in the commune of Bazi
Appendix 10: Population, Households structure, Agricultural land, and theLivestock structure in the commune of Gore
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ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
AFP Albania Forestry Projecta.e.u Agricultural Economic UnitANFI Albanian National Forest InventoryCFPUAs Communal Forest and Pasture Users AssociationsCFPM Communal forest and pasture managementCFPMp Communal forest and pasture management planCOM Council of Ministers
DGFP Directorate General of Forests and PasturesDFPP Directorate of Forest and Pasture PoliciesDFS Directorate of Forest Service in DistrictEU European UnionFAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsFPRI Forest and Pasture Research InstituteFS Forest sectorGDP Gross Domestic Product
ILC International Land CoalitionINSTAT Institute of StatisticsLGU Local Government UnitMEFWA Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Water AdministrationMIA Ministry of Interim AffairsMOAF Ministry of Agriculture and Food
NACFP National Association of Communal Forest and PastureNATIA National Agency of Transfer of Immobile Assets
NGO Non-Governmental OrganizationNPO Non Profit OrganizationNRDP Natural Resource Development ProjectNTFP Non-Timber Forest ProductNWFP Non Wood Forest Product
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of Order, NRDP consultants, to the Local Government throughout the projectimplementation.
For the commodity of the reader in this report Forest shall unless otherwisespecified, designate forest, shrubs as well as associated biocenosis
Communal Forest is Forest in use/ownership of commune, used by the communesinhabitants for firewood, grazing, and other every day needs of villagers
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CHAPTER 1
SETTING THE SCENE
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1. INTRODUCTION
Bounded on the west by the Adriatic Sea and sandwiched between former Yugoslavia
to the north and Greece to the south, Albania is a mainly hilly and mountainous country,
with a beautiful but rugged terrain. The GDP per capita is US$ 1,196. More than 60% of
Albanias rural households own less than 0.8 ha of land. Out of this number, three
quarters of the households living in mountainous areas have less than 0.5 ha at hand.
Only 16% of the total land area lies below 100 m, 55% falls between 100 and 1,000 m
and 29% is above 1,000 m. As such, the land used for agriculture is often sloping, with
only ca. 44% of the agricultural land having a slope of less than 5%. In many parts of the
country, climatic and soil conditions are favorable for forest and pasture growth.
The majority of land resources consist in areas covered by forest and pastures (ca.
52% or 1.5 million ha). Traditionally in the Mediterranean region, forests have provided a
large variety of other products, with revenues sometimes exceeding the value of wood
(Scarascia-Mugnozza et al., 2000). Albanian forests are the primary source of wood and of
the many of non-timber forest products that include medicinal and aromatic plants, food andbeverages, fodder, perfumes, cosmetics, fiber, gums, resins, and ornamentals and materials
for dyeing and tanning, plant protection, utensils and handicrafts. Historically, forests in
Albania were spared the devastation that occurred in other Mediterranean countries. In
the 1930s industrial harvesting began on an unsustainable level (Bosworth, 1975) and
has continued since then. In contrast to arable land, most of the forest and pasture land has
always been public. According to Ottoman law, all land was owned by the state. Communal
ownership occurred in areas that had certain autonomy from Ottoman rule. While arable
land later became private, forests remained state-owned and with open access. Forests
belonging to religious institutions were another form of communal ownership. This tenure
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transition of the country from a command to a market economy has accelerated the
degradation of the forest resource due to ambiguous property rights and lack of funding
for management and protection. Natural and human potential is not used efficiently
because of inadequate infrastructural, organizational, and financial structures and
arrangements. In contrast to the importance of forests, their contribution to the Albanian
economy, based primarily on wood production, seems to be very lowonly 6 percent of
the total agricultural output in 1990 (World Bank 1996). The estimate does not include
significant amounts of forest products harvested individually or illegally and therefore
not recorded. Furthermore, marketable NTFPs such as medicinal and aromatic plants
(currently an important export item) are not included, since they are considered part of
the food industry. By taking all these into account, plus non-market values of the forest
ecosystems, the importance of the forests is considerably more than the above published
value. This undervaluation of the forest sector is one of the reasons for the neglect by
politicians and bureaucrats.
Forest and pasture types are diverse because of local weather patterns and ecological and
topographic conditions as well as millennia of anthropogenic influences. Despite differencesin vegetation, habitat types, and human usage, Albanian forests and pastures also have some
common features. Most of these ecosystems are particularly fragile, unstable, and
unsustainable because of the interaction of natural factors (steepness, summer droughts, and
torrential rains) and social forces (fire, grazing, and over-cutting). Considering specific
climate and vegetation criteria, naturalists have identified five phyto-climatic zones in
Albania, which range from the maquis in the coast to alpine grasslands at the elevations
above 2000 m (Nako, 1969). Such an extent of the forest and pasture land demonstrates
the enormous potential that Albania has for the development of forestry (Naka et al.,
2000).
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(Sjoberg, 1989). As can be depicted from Figure 1, forest resources of the country have
paid so much in the last 5 decades, most of them being transformed in agricultural lands.
Figure 1: Changes in population, forest and pastures during the last decades
Figure 1a. Distribution of human populationin Albania according to the altitude.
Figure 1b. Development of Forest andPastures areas and the human population inthe period 1945-2005.
Population (%)
Altitude (m)
Source: Adopted from INSTAT 2001
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uncertainties. A thread running throughout the story of Albania's rural land privatization
experience has been the failure of government authorities to enforce the law. Ownership-
related problems generally had in one way or another to do with insistence that pre-
collectivization ownership rights be restored. Such demands could lead to conflicts
between villagers, between entire villages and the state, and to a refusal to sign the deed
unless such rights were recognized
Under such circumstances, Albanian farmers try to obtain those natural resources that
bear a relatively low cost (not to say without cost at all), out of which they get a sufficient
level of satisfaction/utility to meet the families perceived basic needs. One naturalresources meeting those requirements is the everlasting partner of man, the forest, which
in the case of Albania occupies 36% of the total land area. Through the privatization of
agricultural land and the constant trend of livestock sub sector expansion, the pressure on
Albanias natural resources, in particular in rural areas, has increased substantially. This
pressure is exerted not only by the fulfillment of local needs but also by profit interests,
and this national natural asset continues to be undervalued not only by the general public
but also by regulatory owners and authorities; as a consequence it will be misused.
Those difficulties were augmented by the claims of ex-land owners, which led to
many other problems that continue to the present day. On the other hand, the entry of
many agricultural products into Albania from neighboring countries found unprepared
and unprotected Albanian new owners. Under such circumstances, many members of the
labor force from those agricultural units turned their attention to the possibility of
emigration and working on farms and in other jobs in neighboring countries. Accordingly
part of the land in Albania was transformed into non-arable or abandoned land (that were
naturally converted to poor quality pastures).
Albanian forest and pastures resources have been degraded significantly over the last
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Firewood production is actually a very complex social and ecological problem. Forest
harvesting in hilly slopes followed by non-controlled grazing, has lead to land
degradation which nowadays is a common phenomena. Data in the Figure 2, shows that
60% of families interviewed get the firewood directly from the forest. These are families
with low levels of income, often using plots of forest set aside for that purpose by the
communes.
Figure 2. Sources of firewood used in household in Albania
Source: Social Economic Survey, ACER, 2001
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Considering the main criteria where the land reform was based and relatively uniform
size (an average 55 km 2 ), the communes can be considered as relatively homogenous
units in the land resources. Map No.1 shows the Administrative Divisions of Albania,
with borders of all units: Communes, Municipalities, Districts and Regions.
The process of forest and pastures transfer in Albania started with a pilot project in
three communes on Elbasani district in August 1994. After the pilot phase in 1996, World
Bank through Albanian Forestry Project (1996-2004) supported the forest transfer to the
communes. The Communal Forest and Pastures Management (CFPM) can be considered
as very successful in terms of achievements made but also for its pioneer role in thissector. Never before has been the local forestry developed in Albania. During the
Ottoman period, the land and natural resources were recognized as God present and
during the communist period they belonged to the State. Nevertheless, traditional land
ownership has always been kept at village level and is today used for defining the
boundaries and users of the communal forests and pastures. The CFPMp is pioneer in
communal forestry as it developed the instruments and applied them to realize the
transfer of forests and pastures foreseen in the law. The proposed methodology hasproven to be supported by the communities and from 30 communes planed the transfer
was realized in 138 communes in the end of AFP.
3. PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The common good is placed before private damage. ( E mira e prbashkt i
paravehet damit t veant). (Kanuni i Lek Dukagjinit)(Fox, 1989: 81-82)
The sentence taken from the Kanun (customary law governing the daily life for
centuries in Albania that held the culture together for generations providing certain
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(kujrit) of a village; beyond this of the bajrak (district). There were several layers of
government: clan chiefs, village elders, minor elders and the people themselves.
An important point emerging from this account of pre-Communist local government
is the close relationship between individual and community: The community sense was
fostered by every art the mountaineers knew. The humblest man was encouraged to
regard his village or group of villages as his personal property. If home, village or group
of villages prospered, he rejoiced as if he himself had been advanced (de Waals, 2004)
As seen from these litle passages, people in Albania had a long tradition of common
use and/or family use of forests and pastures. This early tradition, amongst others, hasbeen the motivation for the support of the program of the transfer of state forests and
pastures for communal use during the 1995-2004, an important component of the
Forestry Project funded by the World Bank and the Italian Government. By the end of
2005, the transfer process was completed for 140 communes (from the total of 309
communes). For a better use of the investments, the Communal Forest and Pasture Users
Associations (CFPUA) were established in all the Communes where the transfer process
was completed. Among the main achievements of this process, one can mention: (1) participation of villagers on the transfer process and on management plans
implementation; (2) the change of attitudes of local communities and foresters toward
communal forests and pastures; (3) slowing down or stopping the further degradation of
natural resources and beginning of their rehabilitation; along with (4) the impact over
poverty reduction in the related areas.
However, mainly because of the property rights issues, not everything has gone asexpected. Property rights issues represent at the moment key challenges faced by Albania
in moving toward sustainable resource management and use and repairing some of the
enormous environmental damage done over the past 5 6 decades As shown from many
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elders of the bajrak, and as many young people and children as possible from the villages
of the district so that the boundary will be retained in memory. Every tract of land,
whether field or meadow, garden or vineyard, small forest or copse, woodland or pasture
or house grounds, village, bajrak or house, all are divided by boundaries ( Guri i kufinit
k per rreth dishmitar. Kta jn a gjasht a dymbdhet paperdhok (gur t vogjel), t
cillt vorrohen nen dh rreth e rreth prit t kufinit. N t ngulun t kufijve, pos shpijave
nder fjal, duhet t jen edh pleqt e katundit, pleqt e flamurit e sa m shum prej t rish
e fmish e edh prej katundesh t rrethit, qi t mbahet n mend kufini. Se e cilla tok, po
kje ar a livadh, kopsht a vsht, prozhem a zabel, xn a ograj, a rrethi i shpis,
katundi me katund a Flamuri me Flamur e shpija me shpi, kan t damet me kufi).
Significantly, throughout the Communist period village families had continued to
transmit knowledge of traditional clan boundaries in the forest. This was despite the ban
on such customs and the fact that wood was supplied by the local Communist
administration. Although most of the demarking boundaries were known, many problems
arose in post-communsit era and fixing and demarcating boundaries between districts,
communes and villages has been a chronic problem. Ex co-operative boundaries whichserved as the initial basis for communal boundaries, frequently failed to line up with the
pre-1945 boundaries of their component villages because the forest and pasture land were
not part of ex-cooperative boundaries. Prior to 1946, some villages held title to several
hectares of forest land that were later owned and managed by the state forest service.
After de-collectivization, there was no attempt to restore the original boundaries, between
Communes and Forest Service until project intervention raised the approach of
communal forestry. The philosophy of the transfer of State forests and pastures tothe communes has been the recognition of the needs of forests products and services
by the local population and their rights on their use. In addition, the transfer is
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The law and procedures applied, have not taken into consideration the traditional use, real
users, village representatives, and has not set up any criteria and regulations for process
implementation in participatory way. There have been several reasons that have hindered
the progress, but perhaps the most important have been:
Differences between DGFP and communes on how much and which land should
be eligible for transfer.
Slowness of communes in preparing their inventory lists, often due to a fear that
they may end up worse off or simply because of a lack of capacity.
The requirement that the DFP approve forests that the commune requests fortransfer, something that has occasionally been slow in coming. Communes have
also been tending to ask more than the MOAF is willing to authorize transfer for.
Difficulties in setting communes boundaries in several cases, with the biggest
conflicts arising over pasture boundaries among villages and communes and over
control over water sources.
Lacking legal personality within the current local government framework, villages assuch, are excluded from land ownership and any say, except in an advisory capacity, on
how common village resources such as pastures should be used or allocated.
Based on the previous experiences gained during the last years, National Association
of Communal Forest and Pasture has undertaken this project aiming on sheding light on
the reasons why the process of transfer of forest and pasture from state to the communes
is going slow, identifing the bottlenecks and to propose the solutions to help solving
some of the above-mentioned. The overall objective is preparation in participatory way
clear guidelines and criteria on fixing and demarcating boundaries between state owned
forest and communal forest and share of the rights and responsibilities between them,
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Map No. 1: Administrative Divisions: Communes, Municipalities, Districts and Regions
in Albania
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CHAPTER 2
METHODOLOGY
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1. CHOICE OF THE REGIONSIn choosing the regions where the project was to be implemented, several factors such
as the geographical location, total area, area covered by forest, number of communes etc.
were taken into account. Apart form those above-mentioned criteria, a very important
role played the historical traditions especially in forest and pasture ownership and
management, as well as historical bias. Regions were chosen to be representative of the
whole country as can be seen in the Map 2.
Insert the Map of the country with the representative communes.
Puka District is part of Shkodra region and represents more or less the traditions of
Lezha, Shkodra, and Kukesi. Located in Albanian Alps, the commune of Blerimi
represents the typical northern village with scattered houses that are usually apart from
each other and accessible only by rugged footpaths. These footpaths are often not
passable in bad weather. When houses are found in clusters, they are usually inhabited byfamilies of the same clan. Good quality of agricultural land in this area is minimal, and
farms are small with high level of land fragmentation. This makes farming very difficult
since the use of large machinery for ploughing and harvesting is not cost-effective on
such small plots. Generally in northern areas the infrastructure such as roads and access
to market is relatively undeveloped. The area is commonly cited both in ethnographic
literature and by Albanian people today as having maintained more tribal customs than
other districts due to mountains locations and relative isolation from outside influence.
Field trips to the area provide evidence of cultural patterns that are distinct from middle
or south mountain Albania and especially from western plain
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located in the east part of the region just in the boundary with Macedonia. The commune
shares the boundaries between the districts of Librazhdi and Bulqiza.
On the southern part of the country, the district of Korca was chosen as the one
displaying the characteristics of the whole region. The topography in this district is
various; plain fields, hills and mountain. Almost all the Korca plain areas are surrounded
by hills and mountains. An exception of this classification is the Commune of Gora (the
word Gore comes from the Slavic language and means mountain with forest). In
Albanian history and culture, Korca is known for the first school in Albanian language (7
mars 1871). In term of agriculture, Korca has been well-known for high level of tree cropproduction especially apple trees as well as the agricultural and diary products. Typical
crops are wheat, maize and some vegetables. Sugar Beet was typical for the Korca plain
in the communist regime and ruins of sugar production factory are part of the plain
landscape. Animal farming is predominantly comprised of cows and sheep. Korca was
chosen due to the distinct differences from other parts of the country in forest and pasture
use and in the same time for his high level of emigration in Greece. Remittance income
accounts for large part of total house hold income in the district.Short surveys were undertaken in the regions of Durresi and Mirdita to compare the
differences in tradition and the actual decisions taken by the village commissions in land
use.
2. MAJOR ASPECTS OF THE METHODOLOGY
The methodology associated with the transfer lied on two major aspects:
1. The organization of the implementing structure (Forestry Village Commissions, Forest
U A i ti DFS l f t i li t d Di t t f C l
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overall picture of the communes. But the interpretation of these plot descriptions by
villagers is not an easy task.
In addition, the first operations supporting the implementation of the management
plans are giving to them their real dimension of a working document. As most of the
communal forests and pastures are much degraded, the success of first measurements
confirms the rehabilitation potential with simple actions and demonstrates the value that
the forests may have in future, if correctly managed. This is an important issue in
changing the attitude of the locals as most people lack the experience of forest growth,
and are sometimes reluctant to accept the transfer of a desert, as some said.Often taken for granted, the involvement of the DFS staff is playing a major role in
developing the transfer. But the major success of the CFPMp lies probably in the degree
of awareness amongst the rural population about the transfer process and what it implies.
The aim, the methodology and the executing bodies are to date known not only by the
population benefiting directly form the transfer, but these are also known in other
communes where the Program is not yet active. This creates a huge demand to in deeper
reforms: clarifying the legal concepts, definitions, duties, rights, obligations andresponsibilities; allowing commercial activities with communal forests and pastures
products and services; bringing more support to the protection of natural resources
(forests and soils); recognizing land property, etc.
3. STEPS FOLLOWED
To successfully achieve the overall objective of the project The preparation in
participatory way of clear guidelines and criteria on fixing and demarcating boundaries
between state owned forest and communal forest and share of the rights and
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3.2. Field surveys and establishment of contact with local people and
representatives
Working groups were established for each of the four communes under investigation.
After their familiarization with the projects objectives, the work started by collecting all
the existing documentation and other materials to be used during the field works. The
main documents used by working groups were the old forest management plans which
were found at respective Directorates of Forestry Services of the districts. For the local
unit and village boundaries, maps which include the territory of communes and the
villages were collected. The working group used the following thematic maps: Topographic maps of the scale 1:25000 or 1:10000
Agriculture cadastral maps used by the Commissions of Land Distribution
Maps of forests and pastures of the management plans or inventory
Different documents that contain earlier boundaries.
Based on these partial topographic maps, a new map was prepared containing the
following information: Local government unit and village boundaries, as they are traditionally known,
as well as based on different documents.
Agricultural land boundaries according to villages (used by the Land
Distribution Commissions), extracted by the cadastral maps or those of the Real
Estate Registration Units, to ensure compatibility between the boundaries of
forests and pastures and agriculture land, with resident areas or other territories.
Forests and pastures boundaries according to maps taken from the DFS and
local government unit defined in the preliminary agreement on the forests and
t th t th l l it t k i i hi
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leadership of FPUA; and (iii) the DFS Offices. This type of survey based on
questionnaires was focused in the districts of Korce, Elbasan, and Diber.
3.4. Building the local structures for project implementation (Commune
and village commissions)
The implementation of this project was foreseen through a participatory approach. As
such, we considered crucial the participation of local community. Thus, one of the first
steps was the establishment of local structures for project implementation which
represent the main partner of consultancy in the first stage of the transfer process. These
structures include forest and pastures commissions at commune level (responsible for
setting the boundaries villages of the same commune) and at village level (responsible for
defining the users and setting the boundaries between and within the parcels and users of
the same parcel). The commissioners were trained in one-day training, on the issues
dealing with the identification and legalization of the village boundaries on forest and
pastures, and the certification of the use and users of the forest. Commissions werecomprised of 5-7 people who represented the users groups and were elected in the general
meeting of the village.
3.5. Data collection
The aim of this process was to get a better impression on the socio-economic status of
the villagers, forest and agriculture land, forest use and the inhabitants view of forest.
The collected data included:
Geographical positions site characteristics and road infrastructure
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3.6. Demarcation of boundaries at village forest
Demarcation of village boundaries was carried out by the working groups in close
collaboration with representatives from the DSF, the village commissions, and with
boundary villages commissions. The working groups started the ascertainment with the
well-known or documented boundaries, and walked along the boundaries discussing and
marking in the field and in the map the boundary lines. After agreeing on the boundaries,
the commission and the working group filled out and signed a written agreement in
several copies for all interested parties (village, registration office, local government unit,
district cadastre, office of real estate registration and the directorate of forest service).Each copy of the written agreement was accompanied by a copy of the map with the
drawn boundaries. (See Appendices 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)
The same procedure was followed for every village. In cases when the headman of
the village was not a member of the commission, he was always present during the
process of boundaries demarcation together with other individuals (elderly people) who
know them good enough.
3.7. Certification of users of forest and pastures
Division of the communal forests and pastures to the users was a decision taken by
the villages commissions. If they decided to divide them, users were identified and
certified by village commissions. As a rule, they collected the requests or traditional
claims of neighborhoods, clans, group families or separate families for the forests and
pastures they have used in the past, and then decided accordingly.
Two forest maps were the tools used by working groups in consultation with the
i i d i di id l i th f id tifi ti f f il th
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forest use and increase of public awareness on this process. The methodology of this
process included:
Seminar at regional level with explanation of the process.
Discussion at commune level.
Preparation and distribution of leaflets and posters at Communes offices, public
places, shops, schools etc.
Media campaign through delivery of interviews on TV, articles in newspapers etc.
Organization of National Conference on Reform in Albania Forestry.
Meeting with National Agency on Inventory and Transfer of Immovable
Properties to the Local Government Units.
Meeting with Deputy Minister of MEFWA.
Formal and Informal meeting with parliament members.
Preparation of draft for Law(s) to be amended and sending them to the
responsible Ministries.
5. SCHEDULE OF PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
The agreement between ILC and NACFP was signed on August 1, 2006. After
signing the agreement, NACFP started to organize its human resources in National and
Local level. Implementaion of the majority of the activities followed the action plan and
schedule presented in the project proposal (see below); however, in few cases it wasreviewed and changed taking into consideration the operational timetable, political
changes and different problems faced during the project implementation.
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The activities implemented underthe Projectwere diverse and linked to specific issues such
as: assessing the ongoing process of forest and pasture transfer in region scale; selection of pilot
communes; selection of local experts on the level of district and commune; establishment of
working groups in each commune; presentation of the project to communes; establishment of
village commissions, including representatives from each stakeholder group within the
communes; training of working groups and village commissions to implement the project on the
village level; identification of current boundaries of forest and pasture transferred to the
communes; identification of traditional boundaries of the communes; identification of legal and
institutional constrains to fit in traditional boundaries; collection of the information on the
traditional use of forest and pasture; preparation and evaluation of the questionnaires for
identification traditional use of forest and pasture; defining historical and current modes of both
shared and assigned access to all resource areas; identification of the users group in each parcel
boundaries in village, through combination of topographic maps 1:25 000 with forest and
pastures cover maps; organization of regional or national workshops; advocacy and lobbying on
reviewing and/or amending certain laws and creation of legal spaces for preparation of new
regulations; etc.
1. LAND TENURE AND COMMUNAL FORESTRY
As human populations and their demands on forest resources grow, citizens and
officials search for solutions to the problems of forest degradation and deforestation.
Many factors contribute to make forests very challenging to govern effectively. Most of
these challenges emerge from the biophysical characteristics of forest resources. From
that point of view, community forestry has become a popular movement, challenging
foresters to change their thinking. The message is simple: people are the key to success
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1.1. Historical background of land tenure policiesHistorically, community forestry activities have been important to the livelihoods of
most rural people in Albania, even though formal state governments have not always
been supportive of such activities. This has a much a do with the Albanian roots.
Albanians generally trace their history back to the Illyrian tribes, which evolved from the
Stone Age to reach their power peak around 400 BC (Woods, 1918;Wallace, 1998). The
Illyrians resisted assimilation into the Roman culture, however, the roman land tenure
judicial regime was forced in plain zone (Haxhi, 1988). When the Roman Empire divided
into east and west, Albania became a part of the Byzantine Empire.
The first Byzantine agrarian law, called the Justinian law, was approved in the VII
century, later amended following the socio economic changes. Agrarian law contents one
summary of provisions arranging relations between villagers as small land owners, as
well between villagers and their overlords, and it was extended up to the IX century
(Haxhi, 1988). In the occupied part of the country the common ownership under theagricultural land started to be disorganized from the VIII century. The law provides
disintegration of the common ownership and division of it to villagers. In case of the
communions, the law defined the equal taxes for all shareholders. If any member of
communions abandoned, the others were responsible for paying his tax. Based on this
law, all the families had the right to heritage their land. In addition, they could exchange
the arable land and had the rights of leasing and to use them for agricultural products. If
someone paid taxes to the empire cashbox, he was regognised as the owner of the landeven if he was runway (Anonymous, 1978).
Prior to the end of the Byzantine time, few changes occurred on the land tenure
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land, circumscribed. Generally, the response was agricultural intensification, perhaps
through terracing and irrigation (Schon and Galaty, 2006).
As Ottoman power began to decline in the 18th century, the central authority of the
empire in Albania gave way to the local authority of autonomy-minded lords. The most
successful of these lords were three generations ofPashas of the Bushati family, who
dominated most of northern Albania from 1757 to 1831, and Ali Pasha Tepelena of
Janina (now Ionnina, Greece), who ruled over southern Albania and northern Greece
from 1788 to 1822. These Pashas created separate states within the Ottoman state until
they were overthrown by the sultan.
In 1831 Turkey officially abolished the Timar system. In the wake of its collapse,
economic and social power passed from the feudal lords to private landowning Beys and,
in the northern highlands, to tribal chieftains calledBajraktar, who presided over given
territories with rigid patriarchal societies that were often torn by blood feuds. Peasants
who were formerly serfs now worked on the estates of theBeys as tenant farmers. Land
tenure regime was based on military feudal ownership, with kanunamente (body of
Ottoman Laws based on the Kuran and the Sultans Codes, adapted especially for theoccupied part of the country, in concordance with some traditional customs). During that
time, a land inventory was performed and all the land was registered. All the land
(agricultural and other lands such as forest, pasture, meadows, rangelands), independently
from the owner, were declared as state owned. Judicially, the owner was called God
and was administered by Sultan. All the lands proclaimed Mirie. Land was distributed
according to the Ottoman feudal system, in which the holder of a Timar(estate) had to
report for military duty, bringing and supporting other soldiers. A wide range of taxes
was imposed, including the hara, a graduated poll tax on non-Muslims. The villagers
used the land called Bashtina and apart from it the villagers had the ownership right to
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ancestor thereby forming exogamous segmented clans (fisi). Several neighborhoods and
fisi together compose a single village. Political power is vested in the person of the family
patriarch (zot i shpi). Family heads are appointed or elected to a village council (kuvend)that makes decisions of importance to the whole community. A single council member is
elected headman or kryeplak. In Ottoman times, several villages and fisi might be
politically joined in a bajrak(a banner) led by a bajraktar(a banner chief ). Bajraks
formed loose tribal confederations; e.g. those of the Shala tribe joined Shosh, Shalas
nearest neighbor to the south, and several other tribes, to form the Dukagjin
confederacy (far), one of ten tribal confederations in northern Albania (Durham, 1910;
Frazer and Durham,1912; Hasluck, 1954; Kastrati, 1955; Schon and Galaty, 2006).
At the beginning of the 20th century, the land ownership system in Albania was
dominated by the iflig; land tenure system which was characteristic of the Ottoman
Empire where peasants were obliged to contribute labor and produce either for a private
landlord, for the state, or for religious institutions. After independence from the Turks in
1912, land distribution was very unequal. The vast majority of agricultural land was
controlled by five families each owning about 60,000 hectares of farmland and forests.Further, the large estates were not substantially affected by two attempts at land reform
before 1945. In July 1924 a peasant-backed insurgency won control of Tirana and Fan
Noli became Prime Minister. He set out to build a Western-style democracy, including
major land reform and modernization, but there were no funds in the treasury and no
international recognition. His approach on forest land was to divide it between local
communities to fulfill their needs, the accessed by local communitys part, and the
remaining part to be owned and managed by the state (Pollo and Puto, 1981).
Between 1925 and 1945 during the King Zogs ruling time and inter-war time, the
concentration of land ownership was only affected by the development of an embryonic
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Forest policy began with the establishment of the countrys forest service in 1923.
Those hired to fill the available positions were Albanian foresters who had studied in
Western Europe (France, Italy, and Austria). Their approach was technocratic andcentralized, shaped by the idea of the national state, which the Albanian political class
was so desperate to build during the inter-war period. To provide revenues for the state
budget, in the late 1930s, the government began giving concessions to foreign companies,
a period that marks the beginning of industrial harvest of the forests in Albania. The
unsustainable rate of removals continued during the World War II to supply the Italian
and German armies. Because of difficulties in accessibility (roads were absent and rivers
are too turbulent to transport timber) forests in the northern and central part of Albania
were spared (Fernow, 1913). However, as in other parts of the Ottoman Empire, in
central and southern Albania, deforestation continued because of neglect on the part of
the authorities. The detrimental influence of forest destruction was repeatedly experienced
in floods and droughts.
After the communists came to power (end of 1944), the technocratic legacy combined
with the communist ideology became the basis of the forest policy. In 1946, as part of theagrarian reform, all the forests in Albania were nationalized and with few exceptions, are
still state-owned. The communist government put emphasis on extraction of natural
resources, especially timber and firewood, to meet the demands of an expanding controlled
economy. The government's first major act to build socialism was swift,
uncompromising agrarian reform, which broke up the large landed estates of the southern
Beys and distributed the parcels to landless and other peasants. This destroyed the
powerful class of the Beys. Shortly after the agrarian reform, the Albanian governmentstarted to collectivize agriculture, completing the job in 1967. As a result, peasants lost
title to their land. In addition, the leadership extended the new socialist order to the more
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In October 1992 a new forest law was passed, which came into operation in 1993.
This law was passed against the advice of forest experts who argued that the new law
would lead to loss of state control and large-scale abuse. It was also fiercely contested bynorthern communes leading to several problems. Widespread absence of authoritatively
demarcated administrative and inter-village boundaries has stymied land registration and
precipitated sharp disputes, particularly between villages over pasture and grazing rights.
These problems derive in large part from misalignments between pre-1945 village
boundaries and those drawn after 1990 within communes defined according to ex-
cooperative boundaries, not those of their constituent villages in the pre-communist era.
The coexistence of state ownership of the forest and customary law usage rights as
exercised by villagers did not pose a problem where domestic wood needs were
concerned. The traditional adherence to clan boundaries enabled villagers to meet their
domestic needs more efficiently than the cumbersome official system could have done.
By contrast, the coexistence of state and customary law, once a state decree granted
certain areas of the traditionally communal forest to licensed wood fellers, was a source
of conflict. This was not because there was any real doubt as to licensees rights, butbecause sale of wood was the only means of financial survival for villagers, nearly all of
whom were unemployed. Had the original proposal put forward by the communes been
approved at the start of the 1990s, the forest might have been no less depleted, but at least
replanting and maintenance would have reduced damage (de Waal, 2004).
The alpine forests do not unfortunately enjoy this community involvement. Nor are
they protected by a state at once distant, weak and indifferent. Unscrupulous unlicensed
felling and sawmill businesses flourish, their activities large scale enough to buy them
protection from prosecution. Destruction of these forests is not the result of overlapping
rights or blurred boundaries but rather state weakness or indifference that allows people
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1.2.1. Legislature
Albania is a parliamentary democracy. The parliament (Peoples Assembly) is
unicameral. There are 15 permanent standing committees or permanent commissions thatdeal with respective laws and administrations. The committee involved in forest policy is
the Parliamentary Commission of Agriculture and Food. Although almost all political
parties have expressed concern about environmental degradation, low priority is given to the
resolution of the problem. The two parties that have run on an environmental platform, the
Agrarian Ecological Party and the Green Party, are too small to have a significant impact on
forest policies.
Despite this generally grim picture, the parliament is a very important participant in
the forest policy process, especially at the current transitional stage when every law of the
land is going through radical change. Considering the constraints, the role of the
legislature with regard to forest and pastures was categorized as positive by most
interviewees, but they had expressed concerns about the implementation of the laws
already passed. Forest policy-makers must be aware that the parliament is a complex
institution. Deputies come from a variety of backgrounds and have distinct motivationsand characteristics. Some of them are more adept at forest technical issues than others.
Loyalty to the party remains the most important factor in the decision-making process of
the Albanian legislators. Other factors influencing voting decisions include parochialism,
personal beliefs/goals, and nepotism.
1.2.2. Judiciary
The judicial system consists of district courts, six courts of appeal, and the Supreme
Court. The Constitutional Court (a separate body) reviews cases requiring interpretation
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that rely less on judiciary would be preferable. Some situations where it is appropriate to
avoid the involvement of the courts on forestry issues (adopted from Horowitz 1977) are:
Cases where there is insufficient incentive for the parties in question to abide
and implement a courts ruling
Cases in which it will be very difficult to determine what would happen after
the ruling
Forestry issues that are rapidly changing and have yet to be addressed by the
legal system
Narrow issues and low stakes.
1.2.3. Administration
The Council of Ministers is the highest institution responsible for the implementation of
policies by directing and controlling the activity of ministries and other state agencies. The
sector of forest and pastures acts under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment,
Forestry and Water Administration.
The local government consists of 12 prefectures, set up after the French model, but is
still frail following four decades of communist abrogation. Each prefecture is divided into
districts, which were the major administrative divisions during the communist regime.
Districts are further subdivided into cities and communes. The average area of communes is
9 000 ha and covers, on average, about nine villages. District, city, and commune councils
are elected by popular vote, but rely on the central government for funding, because theirpower to impose taxes has remained only on paper.
Although communes are administrative divisions, the central government and
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1.3. Land tenure policy(ies)Since 1991, Albania has pursued a process of land and property reform. The main
elements of state administrative reforms have included:
organization of new units of administration to regulate and manage
agricultural lands, forests and pastures, urban development lands and properties,
and tourism-development lands and projects
division of state-owned lands and properties between direct state agency
control and municipal ownership or right of use
incorporation of new concepts and procedures of environmental regulation
and environmental impact assessment
re-organization of related administrative systems, including local property
taxation, mortgage and finance mechanisms and valuation.
Over the last 16 years, substantial progress has been made in carrying forward the
civil law reforms and the programs of ownership transfer. Almost all families and some
juridical persons have received documentation giving ownership rights in land and
housing units, and most families and enterprises now occupy and use their land premises.
On the state side, progress in establishing the new administrative structure of regulation
and management of land has been slow because of the need to bring new concepts and
methodologies into the law and administrative practice. This has required re-training, re-
organization and public outreach. It has also required transfers of power and resources.The next stages of reform, therefore, will need to confront these problems of mismatch
between the revised structures and laws, on paper, and functions and practice on the
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Agricultural fields (arable land), previously controlled by collective and state farms,
were to be divided into plots of equal size/value and distributed to the collective
members and farm employees in family ownership (" No. 7501; Law No. 8053). Alegal document (deed) called tapi gives evidence of ownership in the name of the
"head of household."
Families that were owners of land and property prior to 1945 have been able to
claim restitution of their non-agricultural properties, or alternatively to receive other
property or financial compensation (Law No. 7698; Law No. 9235).
State and municipal ownership also is distinguished among several land usecategories. In rural areas, these encompass forest, pasture and water-related lands (Law
No. 7623;Law No. 7917; Law No. 8093). In addition, the state has retained some land of
former state farms, "refused" agricultural lands (lands that eligible families have rejected)
(Law No. 8047). All state-owned properties are subject to inventory and a process of
division in which municipal governments may acquire ownership or right of use (Law
No. 8743; Law No. 8744). In particular, communes administration are acquiring control
of forests and pastures, located close to the villages, for subordinate use by theirresidents. Taken together, programs of creating private property rights, state properties
and illegal actions have subdivided Albania into 4.5 million land parcels and separately-
owned immovable property units.
1.4.1. The status of inventory and transfer of state properties
The process of determining state-owned land and property holdings and their division
between state agencies and municipalities has been under way since 2001, but is being
completed slowly than expected. This process has been managed by the State Agency for
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1.4.2. Unresolved policy issues
As noted above, several reform programs have made substantial progress, but no
program is completed and unresolved policy issues remain. National Strategy for Socialand Economic Development (NSSED) is the main policy document of this framework,
giving guidance to subordinate, sector plans and strategies and to the formulation of
budgets (Ministry of Finance, 2004).
Reform of land and property has not been the subject of its own comprehensive
policy document. However, the main elements of land reform transition to civil law and
market relations, modern management of state lands and properties, environmentally
sustainable use of land resources are found in various parts of the inter-related policy
documentation. For example, the "Green Strategy for agricultural development and the
strategies for poverty reduction in rural and mountain areas emphasize the completion of
land reform as a way to support citizen welfare and economic opportunities (World Bank,
2004).
1.4.3. Restitution of property rights to former owners
The unresolved issue of restitution/compensation has been the major obstacle
preventing completion of tenure reform. The debate over the restitution of agricultural
land began in 1993 when the original Law No. 7698 exempted this category. The law
provided that former owners whose grant provided by the Law No. 7501 was not equal to
their ancestral property rights could be compensated either by an alternative grant of land
or else by a financial entitlement.
Continued delay in resolving the restitution and compensation issues causes a circular
dilemma hindering land and property rights in many regions On one side the number
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authority of local governments to levy taxes on land and buildings, including on
agricultural land. Also subject to local taxation is the transfer of the right of ownership in
immovable property and the hookup of a new building to infrastructure.
1.4.5. Rural land administration
In rural areas, there has been an effort to consolidate the regulation and management
of the different regimes of law covering agricultural fields, pastures and meadows,
forests, lands related to water bodies, and specially-protected lands into two systems.
Two hierarchical administrative structures have been created. Under the auspices of
Ministry of Agriculture and Food which deals mainly with agricultural lands, a two-level
structure for Land Administration and Protection has been created (Law No. 8752; CoM,
2002). Within the Ministry, the sections of Land Management and Land Protection
operate in 12 offices under regional (qark) supervision, and 36 Land Management and
Protection Offices are linked to the communal administrations.
Forest Directorate operates under auspices of the Ministry of Environment, Forestryand Water Administration. The directorate has jurisdiction over (1) the upland forests and
pastures remaining in direct state control, (2) communal forests and pastures, and (3)
specially protected areas. The Forest Directorate has field personnel in 36 district and 103
local offices called forest sectors, while a separate unit of Forest Police has inspection
and enforcement powers. At Ministerial level, this structure deals with private, state and
communal lands without distinction in methodology.
The tasks of management and regulation of the two organizations are much the same.
In the case of the regional Forest Directorate, Sections create the management plans for
the areas within their direct jurisdiction and they negotiate, finalize and archive the
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The critical elements of the land management system are the methodologies for data
collection and analyziation and maintaining the cadastres. The Land Administration and
Protection staff are expected to study and record information on the physical attributes ofland; in particular, its fertility.This should distinguish their work from the IPRS, which
assembles legal data, and from the Forest Directorate, which is primarily concerned with
resources (flora and fauna) rather than land. In practice, of course, there is overlap,
duplication of effort and competition for data sources and "customers." The
methodologies for land management remain the Communist-era techniques of "bonitimi"
measurementthat is, the assembly of indicators of soil fertility, moisture and productive
capacity as the basis for the resource valuation of land. In theory, these methodologies
allow accurate guidance to be given on farming and forestry practiceschoice of crops,
rotation schedules, fertilization, thinning, etc.and on projects and programs to prevent
degradation and enhance soil quality. They also allow the fixing of baseline conditions in
the cadastre, against which the results of subsequent inspections can be measured, for
enforcement purposes.
Recent evaluation of the capabilities of the Cadastre office in the Directorate ofForest and Pasture Policies in the MEFWA and the Land Administration and Protection
agencies under the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and Consumer Protection highlights
skepticism about the effectiveness of their methodologies and a need to build the
capability of the administrative staff.
1.5. Progress on land reform in AlbaniaThe situation of rural land and property relations remains in transition with competing
fundamental policies, land rights and administrative status defined in categorical terms;
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agreements of ownership transfer, leasehold and rights of use had several
restrictions and were conditional. More recently, with introduction of such
principles as sustainable development and biodiversity protection, the policiesenvision a multi-faceted system of management, planning and regulation. Rather
than strict division of categorized lands, the new management and regulatory
strategies involved areas such as wetlands, watersheds, coastal zones, in which
several types of land and multiple resources co-exist and development is to be
balanced with preservation, conservation and limited use (Ministry of the
Environment, 2002).
Most recently, a new policy strategy of poverty reduction has emerged in response
to studies that have measured the impacts of other policies on rural families,
children, women and society in general (World Bank, 2003). Such studies have
found that for many families, the size, location and quality of their agricultural
holdings is inadequate and they are unable to benefit from the resources of forests,
pasture and other lands controlled by the state. Rural family well-being is also
linked, through migration, to the status of land and property holdings in urban areasand to international economic relations.
These various policies found in difereent plans and strategies, are being adopted by
the government to guide rural development and its evolving relationships with the
European Union and other international organizations. Strategy for Agricultural
Development (called the "Green Strategy") incorporates most of the contemporary
principles for balanced development, environmental protection and preservation in rural
areas (UNECE, 2000). At the detailed level in particular laws, regulations, administrative
processes and practice, these competing policies have not been reconciled. The
fundamental structure of categorized law and administration continues to be the
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lands. Generally, this land encompasses mountain fields, remote from villages, and poor
quality, terraced hillsides, which have been degraded by erosion. This land remains under
state ownership with control exercised by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry andWater Administration of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food (Law No. 8047).
Communal administrations have taken control of this land by right of use (Law No.
8312). In the process of inventory and transfer of state lands, the communes will take
ownership of these lands, with power to transfer them into private ownership or into
subordinate rights of use by citizens. The refused lands may also be available for transfer
in restitution or as alternative land grants to fulfill restitution claims.
Before deciding on the status of refused lands, it is necessary to inventory and assess
their quality, value and suitability for use. The law prohibits any sale or lease of these
lands prior to the determination of restitution claims, for which some of this land may
provide alternative land grants to satisfy restitution claims (Law No. 8312). After
determination of the restitution claims, these lands will become available for re-
distribution or sale to rural families. Since the quality of most of these lands is poor,
however, it is unclear whether rural families will want to take ownership and controlunless changes are made in the status of these lands. It may be necessary to re-categorize
some of these lands from agricultural to pasture or forest, or to categories of land for
housing or other development. If they remain in agricultural designation, it may be
necessary to exempt the land from taxation, reflecting its low productivity.
1.5.3. Pastures and meadowsThe Law No. 7917 For Pastures and Grazing Lands, based on their
ownership/control, subdivides these land areas into three categories:
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villagers (Law No. 7917).The same law specifies that a commune or municipality must
manage the pastures under its control accordingly to the management plan. The commune
is obliged to monitor the condition of the pastures, periodically assess their carryingcapacity, and register changes in the pasture use and conditions in the cadastre. A small
amount of pastures has been transferred to private ownership in the program of
restitution.
In practice, the regime of common use of pastures does not appear to be effectively
managed and conflicting policies are evident. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food has
reported that the total amount of pastureland is insufficient to supply the fodder needs of
all the livestock and that forest resources are being used to fill up the gap. Seen from the
perspective of food supply and agribusiness, the Ministry reports the substantial increase
in livestock as a positive trend (MOAF, 2002; IFDC, 2004). From the standpoint of
environmental quality and resource protection, there is significant concern about the
deterioration of the pastures from overgrazing, the resulting soil erosion and the removal
of forest cover to expand grazing lands.
1.5.4. Forests
The Law No. 7623 For Forests and Forest Police, subdivides the forests into three
categories:
state forests, owned and managed by state
state forests, owned by the state and given in use to communes and municipalities
for the common use of their residents; and
forests on privately owned land.
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Meadows and Law No. 7623 For Forests and Forest Police and resulted in the
transfer of lands to communes and municipalities by right of use. It is anticipated that, in
the process of inventory and transfer of state owned lands under the Law No. 8744, therights of use will be transformed into ownership rights. However, based on the provisions
of Law No. 8743, this land will remain classified as public use properties and will not be
eligible for subsequent sale in ownership to families, individuals or enterprises by the
local administrations. It appears that the communes and municipalities will continue to
offer subordinate rights of common usage, leases or rights of use, as provided in the Law
No. 7917 For Pastures and Meadows and Law No. 7623 For Forests and Forest
Police.
The same process, overseen by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Water
Administration, has been used to transfer both forests and pastures to communal and
municipal control. In the "Green Strategy" the goal has been set to transfer 40 percent of
all forests (ca. 400,000 hectares) and 60 percent of all pastures (244,000) hectares to the
communes and municipalities (CoM, 1999). The procedure has involved the following
stages: The technical staff of the Forest Directorate works with the communal or municipal
officers to define the size and boundary lines of areas to be assigned to the
commune as a whole and to each village within it. This involves careful technical
work and negotiation. The historic traditions of families and clans in different
villages are taken into account, along with the recent changes in village and
communal administrative borders, as well as assessments of the topographic and
ecological situation and the boundary lines of private and state lands. The terms and
conditions of the right of use, by which the commune or municipality takes
possession and control of the lands is worked out These agreements provide a 10-
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categories. This work was carried forward in 2000, with the adoption by the government
of the National Strategy on Biodiversity (CoM, 2000).
Ownership of land within the protected zones can encompass private and stateownership; however, in most of the sub-categories, the land has been kept under state
ownership and most often falls into the categories of forests and pastures. The
jurisdictional authority and procedures for administration of these areas is defined in the
Law No. 8906 (For Protected Areas). It requires that each zone be managed by an
Administrative Unit, which is defined by a Council of Ministers decree. Generally, the
broad policies and regimes of land use in these areas are set by the MEFWA which is
also responsible for the administration and management of these territories.
Representatives of local government and civil society organizations can also be elected
members of the Administrative Unit. Article 15 of this law (Law No. 8906), provides that
the MEFWA or the local government, in cooperation with third parties, may draft a
management plan for each zone. The plans should contain the objectives of protection,
mechanisms of regulation and management, and permitted activities within the area.
1.5.7. Village lands and properties
Within the village boundary lines, houses with accompanying garden plots have been
transferred into ownership of their residential occupants. This has taken place by the
preparation of an inventory and list of house owners in each village, prepared in
accordance with a special decree of the Council of Ministers (CoM, 1995). Trade and
service lands are susceptible to ownership by their tenant enterprises or other juridicalpersons under the programs of "privatization," however, few such transfers of land
ownership have taken place. Vacant village land, designated for trade and services or
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income. Based on the statistics, the Ministry has defined three groups of farms by their
production capacities. The first category comprises 21% of all farms and those are the
small farms insufficient to meet family subsistence needs. These farms produce cerealsand livestock forage but they are located in remote areas and have no opportunity to link
to markets. These farms are a primary source of migrating families. The second category
included farms that provide subsistence for families with some potential to generate
profits from sale of products. This category constitutes 64 percent of the total number of
farms. These have a more mixed production, but remain dominated by cereal and
livestock forage crops. The third category, market oriented farms, constitutes 15 percent.
These tend to be involved in vegetable, livestock and orchard/vineyard/olive production.
Table 1. Structure of Agricultural Land Holding, 2002
Farm groups Number of farms Percentage
0.1-0.5 hectare 142,600 33.9
0.5-1 hectare 101,600 24.2
1-2 hectare 126,200 30.1
Above 2 hectare 19,600 11.8
Total farm units 420,000 100%
Source: MoAF (2002).
Based on the statistics of the Ministry, the active use of cultivated land has declinedsince 1998 but there is more intensive use of the land, accounting for the increase in
production of vegetables, milk, eggs and other crops. Two are the main reasons causing
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substantial property transfer tax, this has discouraged formal, legal transactions (World
Bank, 2002).
The reluctance of farm families to engage in any long-term arrangements - sale, lease,exchange of fields - has been confirmed in several studies in which farmers and their
families have been interviewed. In the long term, it appears inevitable that young people
will continue to migrate out of the village and, over time, will lose their emotional and
social security ties to the land. In the short to medium term it appears that the best
strategy may be to help families gain income from off-farm activities- forestry, tourism,
handicraft industries. These activities require the completion of the programs of forest
and pasture land transfer and the evolution of stronger legal and economic mechanisms to
guarantee families stable, long-term access to resources and clarification of their rights,
responsibilities and costs.
1.5.9. Inventory and transfer of state properties
The program of inventory and transfer of state properties to local governmentsreflects the policies of improved state management and decentralization of authority to
local governments, which the national administration of Albania has elaborated in several
domestic and international policy documents. In 2000, Albania became a signatory of the
European Charter of Local Self Government. The Council of Ministers has adopted the
Strategy on Decentralization and Local Autonomy (World Bank, 2004b). This strategy is
a subordinate policy document to the National Strategy on Social and Economic
development, in which the principle of decentralization is stated (CoM, 2002c).Decentralization of authority and the transfer of assets to municipal level governments is
a key commitment of the government in its European Stabilization (EU, 2004). The basic
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for agriculture, commerce, industry, and housing or are otherwise not needed for state
functions. This land and properties have an equal juridical regime with private
property. Law No. 8744 provides the conditions for the transfer of the public properties,which fulfill local government functions, and the transfer of most categories of the non-
public lands to communal and municipal control.
In the framework of the Forestry Project, the fourth national inventory of forests and
pastures resources (the last inventory has been carried out in 1985) has taken place. In
this framework, an analysis of the status and trends in resource use across the country has
been performed. The inventory provided the government with an invaluable tool to assist
in planning for sustainable management of the forests and pastures and development
policies. The project established a geographical information system (GIS) to support the
forest management planning process. Agreement on how best to institutionalize, update
and maintain the national inventory and the GIS need to be further elaborated.
The process of inventory of state owned land and immovable property is described in
Law No. 8743, while the transfer of properties to the local governments is described in
the Law No. 8744. For administrative purposes, the two procedures have been combined.In order to oversee the tasks and set the standards, the Council of Ministers has
established the Agency for Inventory and Transfer of Public Property, a subdivision of
the Ministry of Public Order. The agency is in charge of supervising the work of the
communal and municipal administrations, which are responsible of carrying out the
inventories and identifying the properties subject to transfer. The larger municipalities
have set up specialized planning units to carry out this task.
The inventory and transfer of land and immovable property to municipal administrations
is a nine-stage process:
Th il h i f ll i i hi i i Thi
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The State Committee prepares the draft decision on the division of the properties
and returns the list to the commune.
In the commune, the list is publicaly displayed for 90 days to receive objections orcorrections.
The division of properties is approved by the Council of Ministers.
Registration of the immovable properties in the IPRS.
The law originally set a timetable of two years for the completion of the process,
however, implementation has moved slowly. The State Committee for Inventory and
Transfer of State Property was organized only in 2002. By May 2007, this work wasunderway in 353 communes and cities and 160 had obtained the Council of Ministers
decree (CMD) on approval of the inventory lists of local government units. In 50 of these
are approved the preliminary list and in 12 is approved the final list. About 80% of land
and other property objects are inventoried in all the country.
Several reasons have been given for the slow progress. First, it appears that the State
Committee has given priority to working with the ministries, clarifying their property
claims and has delayed working with the local governments. On their part, many local
governments have been reluctant to push for the transfer of properties on which there has
been deferred maintenance for many years (Urban Institute, 2003). Because of this, it
appears to be a substantial flaw in the process. Many communes, municipalities and the
State Committee are carrying out the inventories on the basis of data taken from the
different ministries. Inventory working groups in most communes work with the records
provided by the rural land administration office of MoAF. Since these records werecompiled prior to first registration, they do not contain the accurate boundary lines of
properties, fixed and coordinated with survey points, or the code numbers assigned to
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1.6. Communal forestry [(from the top to the bottom: Ministry, DFS,Communes, Villages (fshati), Neighborhood (mehalla), Clan (fisi),
Household (shpija)]Community forestry was initially defined, by FAO, as any situation which intimately
involves local people in a forestry activity. It embraces a spectrum of situations ranging
from woodlots in areas which are short of wood and other forest products for local needs,
through the growing of trees at the farm level to provide cash crops and the processing of
forest products at the household, artisan or small industry level to generate income, to the
activities of forest dwelling communities (FAO 1978).
While this definition focuses more on the fulfilment of needs of local people, Burley,
(2007) says: "Community forestry, social forestry and rural development forestry are
more or less equivalent and reflect Abraham Lincoln's view of democracy - government
of the people, by the people, for the people". Seeing as such
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