Butrint National Park

Coordinates: 39°44′51″N 20°1′13″E / 39.74750°N 20.02028°E / 39.74750; 20.02028
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Butrint National Park
Parku Kombëtar i Butrintit
Official logo
Map showing the location of Butrint National Park
Map showing the location of Butrint National Park
Location within Albania
Map showing the location of Butrint National Park
Map showing the location of Butrint National Park
Butrint National Park (Europe)
LocationVlorë County
Nearest citySarandë
Coordinates39°44′51″N 20°1′13″E / 39.74750°N 20.02028°E / 39.74750; 20.02028
Area8,622.2 hectares (86.222 km2)
Designated2 March 2000 (2000-03-02)
Governing bodyNational Agency of Protected Areas
Websitebutrint.al
Official nameButrint
Designated28 March 2003 (2003-03-28)
Reference no.1290[1]
TypeCultural
Criteriaiii
Designated1992
Reference no.570

Butrint National Park (

ancient civilisations
.

Vivari Channel. The channel connects the lake to the Ionian Sea through a narrow sandy bar. Located in the direct proximity to the sea, the park experiences mild Mediterranean climate. This means that the winters are mild and the summers are hot and dry.[2]

The archaeological heritage of

antique baptistery, a great basilica, Roman theatre and two castles. The ancient city is situated within a natural woodland with a complex ecosystems
which depends on the nearby lake and channel. Nevertheless, it is this combination of cultural monuments and natural environment which makes Butrint such a unique place.

The

Plant Area, because it abundant to significant bird and plant species of international importance.[4][5]

Administration

Vivari Channel

The Butrint National Park was established with ordinance number 82 on 2 March 2000 in order to preserve the natural

other parks
around the country.

Nowadays, it is now a major centre for archaeology and conservation training schools organised by the Butrint Foundation in partnership with the Albanian Institutes of Archaeology and Monuments, foreign universities and international specialists and consultants. There is an active program of events in the theatre, concerts and performances, and outreach programmes for local schools and colleges. In 2010, national authorities demolished over 200 illegal structures in Ksamil that violated the town's master plan and the integrity of Butrint National Park. The remains of the demolished buildings have yet to be removed by authorities.

Geography

Lake of Butrint
makes up the core area of the Butrint National Park.

The Butrint National Park comprises 9,424.4 ha (94.244 km2) in Vlorë County located in the southwestern corner of Albania alongside the Ionian Sea within the Mediterranean Basin. It lies mostly between latitudes 39° and 44° N and longitudes 20° and 1° E. By road, the remains of Butrint are some 18 kilometres (11 mi) south of the city of Sarandë and few kilometres north of the terrestrial border between Albania and Greece. According to the Köppen climate classification, the park experiences Mediterranean climate (Csa and Csb) with rainy winters and dry, warm to hot summers. Located in the south of the Albanian Ionian Sea Coast, the park receives 1,500 millimetres (59 in) of precipitation annually.

Butrint is part of a diverse

hydrographical network, composed by the courses of several rivers, lagoons and lakes. The rivers are short, steep and characterised by high water volume.[8] The park comprises Lake Butrint in the northwest, Lake Bufi in the southeast, Bistrica River in the north, Mile Mountain in the west and Pavllo River in the south.[9]

Vivari Channel connects the lake with the Ionian Sea.[8] Lake Bufi lies about 2 m (0.0012 mi) above the Adriatic in the southeast of Lake Butrint, with a total surface area of 83 hectares (0.83 km2). Its excessives waters are then discharged into the southern Lake Butrint through a former channel.[8]

Biodiversity

Flora

The central part of Lake Bufi is free of reed beds and a good sheltering and feeding site for various bird species.

Due to its diverse geological and hydrological conditions and the mosaic distribution of various types of habitats, the location of the park is also one of the main reasons for the great variety of

phytogeographically within the Illyrian deciduous forests terrestrial ecoregion of the Palearctic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub. The availability of water in forms of rivers, lakes and wetlands, influenced by the configuration of the terrain, has a great impact on the biodiversity of this area. The vertebrate flora of the park consists of more than 800 up to 900 species, which constitute 27% of the total number of species in Albania.[10]

The shallow coastal lagoons are rocky with extensive

purple loosestrife
.

zostera noltei are widely found along the mouth of Pavllo River.[10] Along the cliffs, the salinity and rocky terrain have caused the decreased or poor the floristic composition. They are composed of species such as crithmum, elymus pycnanthus and golden samphire.[10]

Fauna

The common bottlenose dolphin is often seen in the waters of Butrint and one of the main attractions of the park.

The park contains a diverse assemblage of

amphibia and 105 species of fish
are known to occur within the park's boundaries.

The park's

grey wolf occurs only during winter in the park. Outstanding is the presence of the otter, found in the streams and lakes, that is protected by international conventions.[12]

The coastal waters around the park are frequented by

short-beaked common dolphin and occasionally by the striped dolphin.[11][13] The park provides one of the last remaining nesting habitat for the endangered mediterranean monk seal that is present in the rocks and caverns of the park.[14][15][16] Sea turtles are not really that uncommon in the shallow coastal waters of the park.[11] There are two species of sea turtles, such as the loggerhead sea turtle and leatherback sea turtle, that are listed as endangered or threatened by state authorities.[13][17]

The european pond turtle is often found in the wet and dry areas of the park.

The park is rich in bird life with over 246 species living in different habitats throughout the territory.

remiz pendulinus. The marshes offer feeding sites for the little egret, grey plover, european golden plover and dunlin. Most of the waterbirds are concentrated in the coastal marshes such as the eurasian curlew, common redshank and sandwich tern
.

10 species of

In regard to the

.

Attractions

The theatre of Butrint with its Proscenium

The rich history of Butrint has left important vestiges across the territory of the park. The principal architectural monuments in the park includes a Roman theatre, Dionysus altar, Nymphaeum, Thermae, Gymnasium, Forum, Aqueduct, the temples of Minerva and Asclepius, the Lion Gate and a Baptistery situated in Southern Albania and declared a UNESCO's World Heritage Site in 1992.

The

Vivari Channel. The theatre was built in the 3rd century BC, possibly on the walls of an older and smaller theatre. During the Roman period, it underwent many renovations and extensions. They built boxes
for the upper-class above the two entrances of the theatre. The auditorium was also enlarged to accommodate the growing population of the town at that time.

Ksamil Islands
in Ksamil are part of the national park coverage area

The

Dey of Algiers
in the seas. The castle is a small rectangular structure with battered walls. Along the corners, there are two battered round towers with cannons on its seaward side and two irregularly sized battered square towers equipped with firing loops or windows.

Another major attraction is the Lion Gate and one of the six entrances to the city from the 4th century BC. The inscriptions shows a lion, that is about to eat a bull. The lion symbolises the inhabitants of the city and the bull as their enemies. The gate has a very narrow passage to allow as few people as possible to enter at the same time.

In the west of the park, there sprawls the rocky

are often seen in the waters.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Butrint". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  2. ^ Zotaj, Albana. "BUTRINT NATIONAL PARK MANAGEMENT PLAN". academia.edu. p. 33.
  3. ^ Ramsar (August 4, 2010). "The list of wetlands of international importance" (PDF) (in English and Spanish). Ramsar. p. 5. Retrieved 14 August 2010.
  4. ^ BirdLife International. "Lake Butrinti". datazone.birdlife.org.
  5. IUCN, World Wide Fund for Nature, Plantlife. "Important Plant Areas of the south and east Mediterranean region" (PDF). portals.iucn.org. p. 75.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  6. ^ "PER SHPALLJEN PARK KOMBETAR NE MBROJTJE TE SHTETIT TE ZONES ARKEOLOGJIKE TE BUTRINTIT" (PDF). imk.gov.al (in Albanian). p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-10-27. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
  7. ^ "VENDIM Nr.693, Datë 10.11.2005 PËR SHPALLJEN E KOMPLEKSIT LIGATINOR TË BUTRINTIT "PARK KOMBËTAR"". Albanian Ministry of Environment, Forests and Water Administration. Archived from the original on 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2011-04-24.
  8. ^ a b c d "BUTRINT NATIONAL PARK MANAGEMENT PLAN" (PDF). researchgate.net. pp. 34–35.
  9. Digital.csic.es
    . p. 7.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Zotaj, Albana. "BUTRINT NATIONAL PARK MANAGEMENT PLAN" (PDF). academia.edu. pp. 36–43.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Zotaj, Albana. "BUTRINT NATIONAL PARK MANAGEMENT PLAN" (PDF). academia.edu. pp. 43–74.
  12. ^ Alessandro Balestrieri, Simone Messina, Francesca Pella, Claudio Prigioni, Nicola Saino, Mauro Fasola. "Eurasian otter Lutra lutra in developing countries: a resurvey of Albania 22 years after the fall of communism" (PDF). cambridge.org.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^
    S2CID 129305625
    .
  14. ^ "DISTRIBUTION OF MAMMALS IN ALBANIA". italian-journal-of-mammalogy.it. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-09-23. Retrieved 2017-11-22.
  15. ^ Lefter KASHTA, Sajmir BEQIRAJ, Virginie TILOT, Violeta ZUNA, Eno DODBIBA. "THE FIRST MPA IN ALBANIA, SAZANI ISLAND – KARABURUNI PENINSULA, AS A REGIONAL PRIORITY CONSERVATION AREA FOR MARINE BIODIVERSITY" (PDF). zrsvn.si. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2018-07-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ "Protected area gap assessment, marine biodiversity and legislation on marine protected areas" (PDF). undp.org. p. 32. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-02. Retrieved 2018-07-22.
  17. .
  18. ^ Euronatur. "Adriatic Flyway". euronatur.org. Archived from the original on 2020-09-18. Retrieved 2018-07-22.
  19. ^ Euronatur. "ADRIATIC FLYWAY - BIRD CONSERVATION ON THE BALKANS" (PDF). euronatur.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-05-16. Retrieved 2018-07-22.