Electronic Access to Protected Areas (AL0038)

Electronic access to a registry of protected areas increases the participation and the inclusiveness of the public opinion and interested stakeholders for activities related to protected areas, hunting areas and national legislative initiatives in the field of nature conservation and biodiversity. The access to the portal will allow consultation of legal documents related to environment protection, a database of new Protected Areas (PA) or extension of existing PA, information on Hunting Areas and associated GIS digital maps. The creation of this portal will strongly contribute in the increase of transparency and public participation; in fact the portal will allow interactive exchange of opinions on draft laws, regulations, and strategies in the field of protected areas.

For Commitment details, see Albania Mid-Term Report 2014-2016.

Commitment 3.1. Electronic Access to Protected Areas

Cluster 3: Open Access on Natural Resources Data – 2.2 and 3.1

This cluster is composed of two commitments, as follows:

Commitment 2.2. Electronic Portal on Water Resources Administration and Management

Commitment 2.2. Text: The interested parties applying for a license or authorization for the use of water resources face a complicated and long procedure of application. The lack of a national inventory of permits for the use of water resources is also a disadvantage that causes conflicts between the institutional stakeholders and the interested parties. The Ministry of Environment, through the Directorate of Policies for Water Resources, will undertake the creation of an integrated water management system that will improve the cooperation of public and private actors through the use of new technologies for license applications and control. This system will help increase the transparency on the use of water resources in Albania. This commitment seeks to improve governance of natural resources for a better water management by reducing the cases of corruption, strengthening the public awareness on water management. The creation of an online register of water resources users will positively affect transparence and public access to information.

Responsible institution: Ministry of Environment

Supporting institution(s): N/A

Start date: 2014 End date: 2016

Commitment 3.1. Electronic Access to Protected Areas

Commitment 3.1. Text: Electronic access to a registry of protected areas increases the participation and the inclusiveness of the public opinion and interested stakeholders for activities related to protected areas, hunting areas and national legislative initiatives in the field of nature conservation and biodiversity. The access to the portal will allow consultation of legal documents related to environment protection, a database of new Protected Areas (PA) or extension of existing PA, information on Hunting Areas and associated GIS digital maps. The creation of this portal will strongly contribute in the increase of transparency and public participation; in fact the portal will allow interactive exchange of opinions on draft laws, regulations, and strategies in the field of protected areas.

Responsible institution: Ministry of Environment

Supporting institution(s): N/A

Start date: 2014 End date: 2016

Commitments Aim:

These commitments were proposed by Albanian civil society members, and they aim to improve transparency in the administration and management of natural resources, such as water and protected areas. The commitments entail the publication of concessions to private companies to use natural resources and the creation of a public database on polluted areas. Additionally, the commitments call for awareness-raising campaigns to inform citizens on the consequences of pollution in their communities.

Status

Commitment 2.2

Midterm: Limited

The Law on the Integrated Management of Water Resources (2012) mandates the creation of an electronic portal called the national register of permits, authorizations, and concessions. At the time of the action plan adoption, there was a water use database on the website of the Ministry of Environment. ^{Available at bit.ly/1W7xVCN.} The database showed authorizations on the use of water resources and was available in Excel format. The portal on water resources administration and management represents a much more comprehensive undertaking. It is part of a complex assistance project initiated by the World Bank in May 2013 in cooperation with respective ministries and the Technical Secretariat of the National Council of Water. The project provides assistance to the government in designing the national strategy of integrated water management, developing the water cadastre, and creating the electronic portal on water resources administration and management.

At the midterm, the electronic portal on water resources administration and management was in the early stages of development, and its progress depended on the development of water cadastres. The government’s midterm self-assessment reported this commitment as not implemented. ^{IRM progress report, http://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/Albania_Second%20IRM%20Report_for%20public%20comment.pdf.}

End of term: Limited

The government’s end-of-term self-assessment states that this commitment was transferred from the Ministry of Environment to the Ministry of Agriculture, but no further action has taken place.

The design of the portal has not advanced since September 2015. The water cadastre remains at an early stage of development. In early 2016, the Ministry of Agriculture opened a tender for technical supervision, verification, and independent validation of a Geographical Information System (GIS) water cadastre. ^{APP, Bulletin No. 4, 1 February 2016, https://www.app.gov.al/ep/DF_DocumentViewer.aspx?id=e74ba95d-41c0-43ed-9df6-fcdf288185b7.} According to the terms of reference, this service contract will be carried out through 34 working days over a 12-month period, thus extending into 2017.

Commitment 3.1

Midterm: Limited

At the time of the OGP action plan's publication (July 2014), a database of protected areas was online at the Ministry of Environment’s website along with a map of protected areas. The development of this portal was entrusted to the National Agency of Protected Areas. At the midterm, the development of the portal was at an early stage. The portal was meant to provide more detailed information on every protected area, including plans, activity, flora, fauna, etc. The government’s midterm self-assessment suggests this commitment was partially implemented. However, it does not report on specific implemented activities, with the exception of creating the template database for electronic access to protected areas. As the commitment’s description suggests, the portal will serve also as a channel for public consultation of legal documents related to environmental protection. ^{IRM progress report, http://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/Albania_Second%20IRM%20Report_for%20public%20comment.pdf.}

End of term: Limited

Although the National Agency of Protected Areas has carried out significant work to establish a database of protected areas, the commitment’s implementation remains limited considering its intended scope. The agency has designed a complete database (HTML format) of protected areas as a subsection of its website, including basic descriptions and information about each of these areas. ^{See section at http://akzm.gov.al/index.php?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&layout=category&task=category&id=5&Itemid=289&lang=en.} However, it does not include digital maps, and it did not hold an interactive consultation forum on draft laws, regulations, and strategies on protected areas.

Did it open government?

Both commitments are highly relevant to OGP values and are in line with civil society recommendations to improve transparency and to open access to natural resources data.

Commitment 2.2

Access to information: Did not change

Commitment 2.2 had limited progress, which has resulted in limiting the actual results of this important initiative. CSO stakeholders stated that although the commitment had good intentions the timeline for implementation was unrealistic.

Commitment 3.1

Access to information: Marginal

Civic participation: Did not change

The complete implementation of the commitment would have improved access to information via the portal, as well as GIS links and civic participation through consultations. The national agency offers basic information on protected areas, which marginally improves access to information as these facts were not publicly available prior to this commitment. ^{http://akzm.gov.al/index.php?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&layout=category&task=category&id=5&Itemid=289&lang=en.} Since the portal does not provide a way for the public to comment on legislation, this commitment has not created any opportunities for citizen participation.

Carried forward?

Commitments were not carried forward in the new action plan.