Forests of Kosovo
[1][2] Most of the forests are located in southwestern Kosovo, including the outskirts of Peja, Deçan, Istog, Junik and Gjakova and are protected by particular laws of the Kosovar Constitution.
The largest protected area is the complex of Sharr Mountains with a total surface of 60,000 hectares (148,300 acres) and there have been plans to declare the Albanian Alps as a national park.
The municipality of Leposavić is also located close to the woodlands of Kopaonik, thus the surrounding villages can serve as yet other examples of inhabited Kosovar forests.
Besides for damaging the woodlands, this activity poses serious risks to the endangered species of flora and fauna that populate the areas subject to illegal felling.
Furthermore, fires that tend to take place during the hot summer months cannot be properly traced if only one-fifth of the entire forests are covered by estimation reports.
The next evaluation is set to take place ten years after the last assessment and it will possibly cover a larger territory.
[22] There are current attempts by the Kosovar authorities for switching to renewable energy and the reduction of firewood usage is part of the strategy.
[23] It is planned to upgrade to energy production from biomass, mainly forest wood, since this would decrease the emission of carbon dioxide and other potentially poisonous gases.
[7] The woodlands of Šar are the habitat to 86 vascular plants of international significance, while the Albanian Alps house 128 endemic species.
[34] Additionally, forest fires are exceptionally dangerous for the reason that they can trigger series of other natural disasters, including landslides.
As a result of such activity, large forested areas have been transformed into lands for agricultural purposes throughout the entire country, especially on the region of Prizren.
[39] Several governmental projects have been organized in order to prevent illegal use of forests and to identify the territories that are the largest victims of this activity.
A recent joint project of the EU and the government of Kosovo has fighting illegal logging of woodlands as its main priority and it is expected to yield satisfying results.
[40] Gërmia is a regional park located in the northeast of Pristina, the capital city of Kosovo, and has a total surface of 6,200 hectares (15,320 acres).
