Until the end of the 1960s the Maliqi Lake in Albania formed an integral part of the region?s lake system including Ohrid and Prespa lakes. The Maliqi Lake was bordered by extensive marshlands of several 100 has, fed by the Devolli River that originates in south-eastern Albania forming the only continental swamp in the region. The Devolli river was channeled at the end of the 60s resulting in subsequent draining of the Maliqi Lake and the desiccation of the swamp.
Only about 45 hectares were preserved in a semi natural state that forms today the Maliqi forest. This forest is the only patch of flooded forest ecosystem that remains in Albania and the logical centerpiece of any wetland restoration project that might be implemented into some future.
The forest today has the status of the natural reserve and needs some interventions consisting in elimination of tree species that were introduced in the past and that are not suitable for the area such as spruce, fir and Canadian poplar. In parallel with the above the project will experiment the planting of Alnus sp. and Fraxinus sp. in an effort to restore the original forest.
Part of the project will be also promotional events and materials