Today, NGO Green Home organized a round table in Ulcinj on the topic: Bridge on Bojana river – ecological challenge. The reason for the organization of this event was the need to open a discussion about the infrastructure project: building an interstate bridge on the Bojana River from an ecological aspect.

The round table was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Urban Planning, Spatial Planning and State Property, Municipality of Ulcinj, planners, non-governmental organizations and the media.

The participants presented a number of arguments that point out that this project is problematic. First of all, the fact that, as many times before, the idea of realizing the bridge construction project on the Bojana River did not come from strategic and planning documents, but strategic and planning documents are adapted to project ideas, is problematic.

Thus, the Government of Montenegro established the proposal of the Law on the confirmation of the agreement between the Government of Montenegro and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania on the construction of an interstate bridge over the river Bojana/Buna, which was signed by the previous Government. Recently, this Law was also adopted by the Parliament of Montenegro.

The agreement states that:

“The general goal of the project is to improve the connection in the cross-border area between Montenegro and Albania by creating conditions for maximum use of natural and cultural potential, as well as strengthening economic and social development in the region”, while ignoring the fact that it is an extremely valuable natural area as both nationally and internationally.

What is particularly worrying about this agreement is the fact that the signatories agreed that the parties undertake to “accelerate and facilitate procedures for approving appropriate permits and fulfilling social and environmental obligations.”

For Montenegro, the situation during the construction of the bridge on the Tara River during the construction of the highway is a serious warning and an indicator of the lack of developed mechanisms for monitoring the impact on the environment during the construction of such facilities.

Based on everything that was said, it was concluded at the round table that:

• Despite understanding the need for traffic and economic connection with neighboring Albania, before signing the interstate agreement on the basis of which the law was passed, it was necessary to conduct additional research and assess whether the construction of a bridge in this ecologically extremely valuable area, possible at all. Further research is definitely necessary before taking any further steps in relation to this project;
• It is necessary to insist on compliance with all prescribed procedures and international obligations without the possibility of shortening or facilitating the procedures for obtaining permits related to the impact of this project on the environment and the nature of this area;
• The implementation of this project entails serious environmental risks for this area, which include: degradation and fragmentation of habitats, conversion of space, felling of trees, urbanization, alteration of hydromorphology, canalization and drainage of water bodies, disturbance of species, photo pollution, chemical pollution, sound pollution, suffering on the roads and numerous others that need to be evaluated and analyzed with extreme care.

The bridge is planned just above the fork of the two branches of the Bojana River, where Ada Bojana is formed, which represents the largest complex of flood alluvial forests on the eastern coast of the Adriatic. The Bojana Delta area is the most important natural or semi-natural wetland in the Eastern Mediterranean. In this area there are unique and threatened natural landscapes, habitats and species as well as very rare psamo-halophyte plant communities that are no longer found in other parts of our country. There are also mixed deciduous forests of Skadar oak, as well as meadows with daffodils and orchids, which are protected species in Montenegro. The Bojana River is a corridor for migratory species, including rare and endangered species such as the European eel, which has the status of a critically endangered species.

This activity is organized within the project “Support for better management of the Bojana delta in Montenegro”, which is supported by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF).