Northern forest initiative: Forest restoration in North Macedonia and Albania

According to Global Forest Watch, North Macedonia lost 5,5% and Albania 6,5% of total tree cover in the last 20 years. Same negative trends are recognizable in high biodiversity value regions like core areas of Critically Endangered Balkan Lynx and in crucial wildlife corridors. Climate change consequences contribute to increased wildfire damages in the whole region. The diversity of stands and resilience of the forest ecosystem has decreased, leaving it exposed to the adverse effects of pests and diseases. The NFI Project aim is contribute toward preventing further net loss of forests in Albania and North Macedonia through initiating restoration work in key biodiversity landscapes outside the protected areas and strengthening capacities and commitments toward sustainable forest management. The project will be implemented by applying Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for forest landscape restoration in areas of importance for the conservation of the Balkan Lynx, specifically Bukovikj in North Macedonia and Pashtrik-Morina in Albania. Forest landscape restoration work will have multiple benefits as direct outcomes, such as carbon sequestration, ecosystem resilience, etc. At the same time, this project serves not only to contribute directly to compensate forest loss but also to raise capacities and commitments to future restoration efforts, pledges and achievements under the Bonn Challenge and sustainable management of forest in both countries. The restoration measures in the Bukovikj region were implemented on 20ha. 10ha of beech forest were afforested with 21.000 beech seedlings and another 10ha of beech forest were thinned, where 250m³ of tree mass were extracted. The restoration activities took place from the mid of April until the end of June, 2025. The afforestation site was previously degraded from illegal logging and forest fires. The thinning as a sustainable measure, is undertaken to improve the growth rate and the health of the remaining trees in the forest and to positively impact wildlife, by allowing more sunlight to reach the forest floor. This results with an improvement of the habitat overall. The key strategy for the implementation of the project activities was the holistic approach and involving all of the relevant stakeholders in the process through workshops, forums, meetings and the restoration activities on field.