The Albania is Biodiversity campaign kicked off Monday with the unveiling of the campaign’s key element, the redesigned mosaic at the National History Museum in Tirana. The mosaic is designed to initiate an open dialogue bout Albania’s charismatic and endangered species, and it urges the public to engage in this dialogue.

Seeing art is a powerful medium for expression and interpretation, the artwork is designed to incite curiosity and provoke thought on the precious biodiversity of the country.

“Albania, often seen as home to Europe’s biodiversity, transcends its modest size thanks to the variety of life it supports. Although with an area less than 29,000 square kilometres, Albania is home to an unique biodiversity of over 3200 species of plants, 800 types of fungi, 300 species of fish, 350 categories of birds, 70 categories of mammals and a number of other species that remain to be discovered,” the head of Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA),  Aleksandër Trajçe said.

PPNEA is a non-governmental environmental organization that operates nationwide, known to be the first environmental organization in Albania.

On his part, dr. Goekhan Tuncer, the head of the Heinrich Boell Foundation, Tirana office, focused on Albania’s importance as one of the last countries in the continent with a good part of it still remaining intact and free of an irreversible impact on the environment.

“The situation of Europe’s natural ecosystems is a worrying and need to recover urgently. Only 15% of European habitats can be classified as good quality, with lagoons, dunes and coastal areas being particularly endangered. Albania offers opportunities for the entire continent, providing concrete examples through unaffected habitats, which not only highlight the wild beauty of life on the planet, but also offer opportunities to further deepen scientific research work,” Tuncer said.

The wilderness of Albania was celebrated with the display of the unique artwork, the unveiling of which, marks the beginning of a three-week campaign that aims to raise awareness of the fantastic species and ecosystems that live in the country.

This project is a partnership between PPNEA and Heinrich Böll Stiftung Tirana, kindly supported by the Embassy of Switzerland in Albania, European Union in Albania, German Embassy in Tirana, French Embassy, AICS Tirana and Vodafone Albania.

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