As the result of the price competition from large-scale agricultural farms in the neighboring countries, property fragmentation and emigration of the young workforce, agricultural production in Albania has declined significantly. Frequently, collection of the medicinal and aromatic plants is a major contributor to the income of the families in mountainous areas. Due to a lack of diversification of the income generating sources, collection pressure on the wild population of these plants is beyond the limit that these ecosystems can support. The continued availability of many of these plants is in jeopardy. Habitat destruction and over-collection means sources of medicinal plants are becoming increasingly scarce.
The availability of medicinal plants particularly affects women. Women are frequently responsible for the collection of medicinal plants and have to walk increasingly greater distances to gather these as availability diminishes.
Small-scale cultivation of medicinal & aromatic plants with low economic inputs can be a response to declining local stocks, generating income and supplying regional markets. Measures should involve varied approaches, including cultivation of plants in home gardens to remove pressure on wild populations, limiting trade in medicinal plants to sustainable levels, halting the destruction of plant habitats, and documenting and promoting medicinal plant use.
This project is part of a cluster of projects that will be implemented in the Prespa National Park. This project consists in the cultivation of the mountain tea Sideritis sp. in private lands of 15 farmers in the village of Gollomboc.