PARC NATIONAL DE BUTRINT

This national park (Parku Kombëtar i Butrintit) was created in 2000 and covers an area of 94 ^km2. Located opposite the Greek island of Corfu, it is home to the archaeological site of Butrint and the village of Ksamil. More than 240 species of birds and 100 species of fish can be found here, as well as a wide variety of landscapes: salt lakes, coastal strip, marshland, natural channel, plain, forests, scrubland, mountains and hills. The park begins south of the Bay of Saranda. It runs along the Ionian Sea for 17 km to the hills of Cape Stillo (240 m above sea level), where the land border with Greece passes. This part of the coastline includes the mouth of the Vivari canal and the Ksamil peninsula. To the east, the park extends as far as the Mile Mountains (845 m altitude). To the southeast, it includes swamps, Lake Bufi (1 ^km2) and the Vrina plain, as far as the villages of Vrina, Shëndëll and Xarra.

Lake Butrint. The main feature of the park is Lake Butrint. Shallow (11 m on average), it stretches over 16 ^km2 between the Ksamil peninsula and the Mile Mountains. Its waters are relatively salty. This is because Lake Butrint and Lake Bufi are linked to the sea by the Vivari canal (2.5 km long). The Vivari channel is unique in that its current fluctuates according to the tides. Even if the tides are small, this is enough to cause freshwater to flow towards the sea at low tide, as seawater rises towards the two lakes at high tide. This tidal bore makes the park's wetlands a rich environment for aquatic fauna and flora, with a vast colony of seabirds such as the great cormorant, the great crested grebe and the curlew. Lake Butrint is one of four sites in Albania listed under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance for Birds. The lake is also ideal for Mediterranean mussel farming, with some 60 mussel farmers. But production has fallen from 6,000 t per year in the 1990s to 2,000 t today. This is due to global warming: in summer, water temperatures now frequently exceed 25°C, favoring the development of parasites that make mussels unfit for consumption. Global warming is also causing water levels to rise, which could soon threaten the lower parts of Butrint's archaeological site. Nearby, the Sotira hill (214 m above sea level) is the park's main wooded area (holm oak, Greek oak, Midi ash, field elm).