Why do we need a tree nursery?

Production of our planting material is essential for our reforestation efforts in the highest protected areas of the national park due to the requirements on the quality of the saplings.

Planting material requirements

Lurë-Dejës Mt. National Park is a protected area under the management of Agjencia Kombëtare e Zonave të Mbrojtura (AKZM). The AKZM sets requirements for the planting material allowed during planting operations within the national park.

These requirements are based on the planting area's location location within three protected zones. The zones above 1 500 a.s.m.l. fall within the highest protected zone, lower altitudes in the remaining two. We aim to plant in the most protected area (most destroyed) with the strictest requirements.

Conifer species allowed to be planted in the national park are Pinus nigra, Pinus Peuce Pinus Heldreichii, Pinus Silvestris and Abies alba, and as for deciduous species, it is Fagus silvatica.

The saplings are required to be:

1. one of the allowed species
2. produced from the local seeds
3. grown at a similar altitude as the planting area

Such saplings are currently not produced in Albania or within the Balkan peninsula. Therefore, the only way was to establish our tree nursery and produce saplings ourselves.

Economical advantages

Apart from the regulatory requirements, our production of the samplings brings significant economic advantages. These financial savings may not be evident at lower volumes (< 5,000 saplings), but as we scale up our reforestation to more than 10,000 saplings per year, the savings become quickly significant.

The cost per sapling grown in the nursery is currently €0.92, comparable with commercial offers from other nurseries before the discount. Our costs are currently higher than the discounted price of €0.67 we pay for the sapling. The higher cost is due to the investments we had to make to establish the nursery. These investments will be fully depreciated within three years, and the cost per sapling will drop significantly.

Another significant saving is the saplings' transportation cost from the lowlands nurseries to the planting areas in the Lure-Dejes Mt. National Park. Producing the saplings in the nursery cuts the buying and transportation costs, which are much more significant for larger numbers of saplings.

Tree species we grow?

In the table below, you can find details about the species we grow in the nursery. We focus on the combination of species we can use in the high-altitude reforestation projects in Albania.

How we growing our trees?

Thanks to our tree nurseries we can grow out saplings in the same environment where they will be planted. We also collect all our seeds locally and process it ourselves to ensure the quality of seed material.

Seed collection

Everything starts with collecting quality seeds from forests around our tree nurseries. Each species has a different time when the pine cones or seeds are collected. Once the cones are collected, they are dried and placed in a warm environment to open up and release the seeds.

Seed cleaning & processing

Seeds must be cleaned of pine cone debris, seed wings and other impurities. After cleaning, the seeds are processed to separate dead seeds from viable ones.

Seed stratification & germination

Stratification is the process of exposing the seeds to a cold and moist environment to simulate winter conditions. This process is required to break the seed dormancy. The processed seeds are placed in the stratification boxes and stored in the fridge for the necessary period of time. The seeds are monitored to maintain the correct moisture level and temperature.

Planting seeds into containers

Once the seeds are stratified and begin to germinate, they are sown into BCC HIKO V120SS growing containers filled with the planting substrate. Seeds don't germinate at the same time despite the stratification. We plant the early seeds separately from the main batch.

Growing saplings and replanting

The containers are placed in our greenhouse, where the seedlings are grown for the first year. The greenhouse is essential for the seedlings as the weather in Lurë provides a very short vegetation period compared to the nurseries in the lowlands. A greenhouse protects the seedlings from rain, winds and hail and allows us to control the watering.

The first two months are crucial as the seedlings are susceptible to fungi and root rot. At this stage, we apply a low dosage of fungicide to protect the seedlings. In the 2nd half of the vegetation period, we use mild bio-stimulants to boost the growth.

After the first year, the seedlings are replanted into larger BCC HIKO V256 growing trays, where they grow in the greenhouse into saplings for another 1—2 years, depending on the species. The saplings are watered and fertilized regularly.

Ecology and sustainability

Standard practice in Albanian nurseries is to grow the saplings in plastic bags or growing containers/trays suitable for single use. This practice generates a lot of plastic waste which is not recycled in Albania and ends up in landfills. The same problem applies when buying the saplings from the nurseries as they are sold in the plastic bags they were grown in.

For example, for our 1st year 5,000 seedlings, we required 35kg of plastic growing bags which can't be reused. The 2022 batch of 10,000 trees bought from the nursery generated more than 100kg of plastic waste.

We decided to use the growing trays designed to last for many years. Our containers from the Swedish company BCC are made from recycled plastic and rated for 10 years of use.

These trays allow us to significantly reduce plastic waste and the cost per sapling in the future.