NEWS

Update 37: Spring season in Voskopojë and Lurë

Launching our Research projects

In 2025, a severe drought and a long-lasting forest fire in Lurë-Dejës Mt. National Park significantly reduced the survival of saplings planted during the 2024 autumn planting season. These challenges highlighted the increasing vulnerability of restoration projects to climate change and reinforced the need to improve both techniques and resilience of newly planted saplings.

Alternative planting methods project, investigates whether planting 1-year-old saplings using slit-planting method instead of 2-year-old saplings planted in pits can improve survival rates and reduce costs.

We established 2 permanent sample plots in Voskopojë and in Lurë, which will allow us to track the survival rate, soil moisture, soil temperature and microclimate temperatures. We are observing 6.8–7.7% improvements in soil moisture as well as temperature extremes for the 1-year-old saplings.

Soil cover as drought mitigation project, investigates whether natural soil cover materials can improve soil moisture retention and increase sapling survival during prolonged dry periods.

We established our pilot site in Lurë, where we had large amount of waste material from seed collection we used for soil cover. We applied the soil cover in the difficult portion of the 2024 planting area (where we replaced trees in 2025) and we are monitoring the soil moisture and temperature for a sample plot against the control plot without soil cover. We are observing 13.9% improvements in the soil moisture levels for covered trees.

Seed collection

During two seed collection periods, our local team of seed collectors in Fushë-Lurë gathered significant quantities of seeds for native species Black pine (Pinus nigra), Silver fir (Abies alba), Macedonian pine (Pinus peuce) and Bosnian pine (Pinus heldreichii), from carefully selected mother trees growing at elevations of 1,300–1,400 metres. To further diversify our tree production, we also collected Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra) seeds from the Pukë region and purchased Silver fir (Abies alba) seeds from Lubonjë, Korçë.

In March we had the opportunity to visit the Seed processing plan in Týniště nad Orlicí, part of Lesy ČR, Forests of the Czech Republic, State Enterprise. We got valuable training on how to properly execute the seed processing, preparation, quality control, and stratification of the different species.

We purchased small amounts of European spruce (Picea abies), European larch (Larix decidua), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica) from them, allowing us to test reproduction of these new species in our nurseries while we find suitable mother trees locally in Albania.

Currently, we are growing a total of nine species of coniferous and deciduous trees, from local and international seeds. You can read more about our local seed collection in Update 33.

Tree nurseries highlights

Once again, we celebrated Earth Day in our tree nurseries by sowing seeds and transplanting seedlings together with the local women and men who make our restoration work possible in both Lurë and Voskopojë. Nurturing the planet, from seed to seedling, feels like the best way to honour it.

Between March and April, the Trees for Albania team split between the two nurseries to kick off the 2026 spring season. The work focused on two essential stages of nursery production: transplanting 1-year-old seedlings into larger BCC V400 trays and sowing new seeds into BCC V120SS trays, creating the proper planting material for the next generation of native trees.

Transplanting

Voskopojë

Although we carried out the first seed sowing in the Voskopojë tree nursery last year with Astrit, the nursery caretaker, as well as family and friends, this spring felt like the true beginning of nursery operations as local workers joined the seasonal activities, led by Ersan.

Between 20 and 22 March, the team transplanted young seedlings into larger growing trays. Together with Astrit, they carefully separated and moved each seedling, giving it more space to develop a strong root system and improve its chances of thriving once planted in the mountains. After transplanting, the trays were moved outside the greenhouse, where the young trees will spend the rest of the year exposed to natural conditions and gradually hardening.

Like in Lurë, during the early years of the project, building trust and familiarity within the community takes time. We are encouraged by the growing local interest and hope that even more women from Voskopojë will join the nursery activities in the years ahead.

Lurë

A few days later, the same work continued in our Lurë nursery. Between 27 to 29 March, Anisa and Imer coordinated the transplanting activities together with 8 local women from the surrounding villages, in no time tree nursery was filled with vibrant chatting and dedicated work.

Each 1-year seedling was carefully separated and transplanted into larger growing trays, reducing competition for nutrients and giving every young tree a better opportunity to grow strong and healthy. As in Voskopojë, the trays were then moved outside the greenhouse, where the seedlings will continue their development.

Sowing new seeds

This spring, we have planted nine species across both tree nurseries. These collective efforts will result in the production of up to 60,000 seedlings, ready to be planted during the autumn and spring reforestation seasons in both regions.

In preparation for the season, we purchased and transported additional growing trays for both nurseries. We expanded our capacity in Voskopojë as well as expanded our range of reusable and recyclable BCC trays to better accommodate the different growth requirements of the species we cultivate.

Alongside the BCC V120SS and V400 trays already used in both nurseries, we introduced the V50 and V250 tray sizes. The BCC V50 is suitable for slow growing or low germination rate species allowing efficient use space in the tree nursery. On the other hand, the BCC V250 is ideal for fast-growing species, providing ample space for seedlings to develop strong root systems and healthy growth.

Voskopojë

On 4 to 5 April, the Voskopojë nursery team sowed the stratified seeds. The work progressed quickly, and within two days, two women and one man from the local community completed the sowing process, setting the stage for another generation of seedlings.

Lurë

From 13 to 18 April, seed sowing continued in Lurë, marking the start of another growing season. After several years of experience, the local nursery team is now fully capable of carrying out the entire sowing process independently. Anisa joined the women of Lurë during the week, supporting the work of another productive spring season in the nursery.

Replacing dead trees

The beginning of March brought us back to Lurë, where reforestation is not only about planting trees, but also about ensuring they have the best chance to survive. In 2024, together with the National Forestry Agency and the Municipality of Peshkopi, we executed our first planting project on municipal land, planting 1,700 Black pine saplings in Pregj-Lurë.

After a challenging summer with a prolonged drought, many of the young trees did not survive. This spring, we returned to the planted area to replace the lost saplings with an additional 1,225 Black pines. Read more about replanting in Pregj-Lurë in Update 34.

By monitoring and caring for previously planted areas, we are helping build more resilient forests and demonstrating that successful reforestation requires long-term commitment, not just a single planting event.

What’s next?

This summer, we are looking forward to welcoming a Scout group from Belgium that will be visiting Albania and volunteering with our team. We are currently preparing a list of tasks that will allow the Scouts to contribute directly to our work on the ground. Their support will be incredibly valuable, but just as importantly, it is an opportunity to introduce young people to environmental restoration and demonstrate how local action can contribute to global challenges.

At the same time, our regular field and nursery activities continue. Throughout the summer, we will monitor seedling development in both our Lurë and Voskopojë tree nurseries, ensuring that the trees remain healthy and on track for the autumn planting season. Equally important will be to perform the survival rate monitoring in all the restored areas, once in July (Voskopojë monitoring already happened, Update 39) and again in September after the summer season.

We will also update detailed base maps for all areas planted and replanted in 2025. These maps will serve as a foundation of our first-year monitoring programme, allowing us to track survival rates, growth, and overall site performance across our restoration areas.

We hope the trees will withstand the summer season’s weather conditions and achieve good survival rates, fingers crossed.